CQ Q3 2024 - CareCo Newsletter by CareCo

A little look back at the ups and downs of last year, and a big look forward to the future

Rebuilding CCHQ

Rising from the ashes with Project Phoenix, and what’s in the works for the rebuild

Welcome to the inaugural edition of CQ!

A new way to reach you all

Borne out of one particular frustration – namely that there’s always so much to tell you all, and hardly ever enough time – CQ is our new company newsletter. It stands for CareCo Quarterly, so it’ll arrive in your personal email inbox, in your breakout areas and in your showrooms at the beginning of every quarter, and it’ll be filled with the things that make us who we are.

The name also harks back to the world of wireless radio communications, where the use of CQ signifies the beginning of a broadcast or a “general call” to anyone listening. So, if you’re reading this and you’re not from one of our teams, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to you too! My hope is that this first edition of CQ gives you a little insight into what it means to be part of CareCo.

As I write, we’re approaching 10 months since the fire at our head offices and primary warehouse. It’s been a period of significant upheaval and adversity, but one which has undoubtedly brought out the very best in everyone inside CareCo. At different times along the way, I’ve witnessed all of you go beyond the call of duty to make sure we can still help everyone out there find their way to a better day. I can’t thank you enough.

And that’s mostly what this first issue of CQ is all about. Celebrating the day to day stories of the people who keep the cogs of CareCo turning, alongside a little look back at what we’ve achieved in the past three months or so, and a big look forward to what’s on the horizon as we rebuild CCHQ.

My thanks to the team behind this very first issue of CQ, and I hope you enjoy the read!

William Harrison FOUNDER

Our CSR plans

With great power, comes great Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility is all about businesses playing their responsible part in society and giving back. Here at CareCo, our CSR policy includes the environment, the promotion of the welfare of others, the economy and the community.

To move forward in our CSR journey, we’re building a culture that promotes employee volunteering and fundraising.

Last year we raised over £6000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. But this year we’ve pledged to raise a minimum of £10,000, with tons of ideas on how to achieve that, and how to promote volunteering too!

To support our environmental responsibilities, we’ve gathered people passionate about the environment to bring their ideas to the table and help us become a more sustainable business. This fits nicely with our recent move towards calculating our carbon footprint and kickstarting our carbon reduction plans.

A CSR committee has been formed to engage with all the above, with representatives from all corners of the company meeting once a month to brainstorm ideas. Our first meeting was on the 1st May 2024, and we were kindly joined by Macmillan.

The committee will be arranging opportunities for you to volunteer, starting with a litter pick across the country for all staff and showrooms to take part in. We’re also looking at the impacts our business may have on the environment and how we can reduce these impacts, to help us achieve ISO140001.

ISO14001 is an internationally recognised standard and, for CareCo, being certified to this standard demonstrates our commitment to managing and improving our environmental performance.

By implementing an ISO14001-certified Environmental Management System, we’re able to identify and mitigate our environmental risks, foster an eco-responsible culture, support the responsible growth of our business and accelerate our progress towards a greener, more sustainable future, all while benefiting the communities in which we operate, and caring for our planet.

ISO14001 also supports us in our move to become Carbon Neutral, and we’ve already started to work towards this target with the calculation of our 2022-23 Carbon Footprint and plans to define a companywide Carbon Reduction Plan in the coming weeks. Head to Nettie and search ‘carbon neutral’ to find out more about our plans.

Our CSR committee is: Jane Bunting (Head of HR), Natalie Hays (Head of Quality & Compliance), Gillian Airey (Showroom Manager North), Robert Bigg (Multi-Sites Showroom Manager South), Scott Markham (Showroom Manager South-West), Zuzana Pearson(Showroom Manager Central), Harriet Elsdon (Returns Administrator), Aimee Latham (Logistics Administrator), Samantha Hawke (Warehouse Administrator) , James Line (Engineer), Zak Wilby (Engineer), Susan Dawes (Customer Experience Administrator), Taz Richards (Systems Support Administrator), Carmen Alcón Gardner (Systems Implementations Analyst), Jon Wade (SEO Executive), and Leah Osman (Content & Soc ial Media Executive).

Our fundraising efforts so far

Last year, we worked together to raise a total of over £6000 for our chosen charity. What a fantastic effort – a huge thank you to everyone who donated and participated in our Macmillan Coffee Mornings across the UK!

This year, we’re holding a few larger events including hiking half a marathon across the Jurassic Coast and holding a black-tie Gala dinner. We will also be joining the rest of the UK, holding another Macmillan Coffee Morning on 27th September.

Our next coffee morning will be held on 27th September 2024.

Macmillan Cancer Support is a British charity that provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer. It also looks at the social, emotional and practical impact cancer can have, and campaigns for better cancer care. Macmillan Cancer Support’s goal is to reach and improve the lives of everyone who has cancer in the UK. They help people affected by cancer navigate through the system to get what they need.

Martin Everett, the winner of the CCLS bake off

Louise Ranson, crowned Star Baker from head office

Mental Health Awareness

Championing movement for mental health

The 13th-17th of May was Mental Health Awareness Week, promoting the miracle of movement in making our minds a little healthier.

Each day that week, you’ll have seen a series of posters on Nettie and in various spots in our workplace designed to get you thinking about how you could introduce more movement into your day.

We’ve also invested even more into our own understanding of mental health as a business, training 5 CareCo employees to be our Mental Health First Aiders.

Our Mental Health First Aid team is available any time to talk to anyone with regards to mental health, or to be contacted should you personally feel that a mental first aider is required. As part of our investment, we’re also arranging for our showroom Area Managers to receive this training, too.

And don’t forget, you can always access our EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) for help with any issues affecting you both in and out of work, while CareMiles features a Wellbeing Hub filled with tips and recommendations.

Our new mental health first aiders are: Jane Bunting (Head of Human Resources), Chris Hurley (Stock Controller), Chantelle Gray (Warehouse Manager), Chelsea Owen (Warehouse Administrator), Donna Cheung (Human Resources Generalist), and Rozella Challis (Warehouse Returns Processor).

Charity Gala

9th November 2024

This year, we’ve pledged to raise £10,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. And that’s a target, not a limit. So, to add some much-needed elegance to our lives and support a great cause, we’ve organised a Charity Gala Dinner.

The date is Saturday, 9th November 2024 at 7:00pm, and the event will be held at Little Channels in Chelmsford, with carriages at midnight. This elegant venue will provide the perfect backdrop for an evening of sophistication and charity.

There are 90 places available on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are £85.00 per head, which includes a welcome drink to start the evening, followed by a 3-course dinner, and dancing until midnight – cheaper than your regular night out, and you’re giving to charity! The dress code is Black Tie, so it’s a perfect excuse to dress up and enjoy a night of elegance.

To purchase tickets, please contact Jane Bunting via email.

Summer Celebrations

To show appreciation for all the hard work throughout our busiest period of the year, we’ll be organising a handful of different celebrations for your departments.

Our showrooms, Contact Centre and CCLS will be given a budget to go out and have some fun, with a get together planned for our other teams at CC77.

More info will be coming your way soon, so keep an ear to the ground!

Rising from the ashes

Project Phoenix and the work to rebuild CCHQ

The first stage of Project Phoenix was to find all of us a new home for the foreseeable future. A tough ask, but one that was completed at lightning speed. It’s hard to believe that only 21 weeks after the fire, we moved a huge majority of our operations to brand new, fully kitted out and pretty swanky new units back on the Horizon 120 park in Great Notley!

It now means that all our attention can turn to the rebuild of CCHQ. The spectre of it certainly looms large – it’s right there just over the road for a lot of us!

John Pryor , our Managing Director , offers the below update on the ongoing works at CCHQ.

Following the fire and the salvage operation, the building was handed over to our Projects team on 23rd March.

Works commenced immediately with the full site establishment installed (comprising offices, meeting rooms and welfare facilities) in the first two weeks, followed by the internal H&S barriers and protection.

The NE curtain wall has been removed and a large platform installed for access to the first and second floors for goods in / out. Works packages are being tendered and awarded.

Shot blasting (using 60 tonnes of grit) and priming of the structural steel is in progress soon to be followed by the removal of the roof and wall cladding.

The order for the new roof and cladding will be placed by 24th May and will start later in the year.

Over the last two months we have been dealing with the technical challenges of how we repair the concrete slab and the profiled metal decking and will have detail of the rectification works by early June. These works are considerable and time consuming.

The design team is on target to have the bulk of the new design completed by 5 July. This will be followed by a full procurement schedule by the end of July before a full construction programme is issued by mid-August.

Target completion date is end of September 2025 with relocation from CC51 and 77 taking place early October 2025.

John Pryor MANAGING DIRECTOR

When it comes to finding silver linings in the clouds of the CCHQ fire, there aren’t many.

But one thing it has given us is the chance to have another go at making our headquarters an even better, more uplifting, more inspiring place to work.

Not many businesses get the chance to have another go at something like that.

The rumours are true – we will have a gym on site. And while Recharge won’t be making a return, there’s something even better in the pipeline…

I’m really excited to confirm that we’ve partnered with a local business to build a brand new cafe on the ground floor of CCHQ, with freshly made food and expertly brewed coffee on the menu (plus lots more!).

We’re keen to get everybody’s opinions on how we can make this a massive success, so keep a lookout for a survey coming your way soon.

So, what are the teams up to over at CCHQ?

Here’s Will with an update:

“

We are of course still in the very early stage of (re)development, with initial sketches and concepts still being worked on. Hopefully the sketch to the left and the images below give you a kernel of where we’re going, but in the coming months I’ll be able to give you all much more detail, new photographs, and other exciting developments ahead of our 2025 reopening.

An early sketch of the new atrium at CCHQ

Showrooms in focus

CareCo Stoke opened on the 1st of March 2024. It’s a bright and beautiful showroom, with some new design elements to help bring our products to life.

From Recruitment to Warehouse, Procurement and all the way through to Supply Chain, Systems and Central IT, the support given to the Retail team leading up to the launch was incredible.

Here’s Craig Kennedy , our Northern Regional Manager , with more on the opening:

The start to the showroom opening in Stoke couldn’t have gone any better!

The setup went incredibly well, and we couldn’t have been in a better position on opening day thanks to a super motivated team working hard to deliver a showroom that everyone could be truly proud of.

The showroom and the team have progressed tremendously well and although some days have been a challenge (as always in retail), the team have risen to every single one of them.

The showroom is really starting to come into its own and with the support of our Marketing team it is really finding that consistency in performance while delivering the exceptional customer journey that we strive for every single day.

We cannot wait for the Golden Quarter and are really excited to reach the dizzy heights that the next 12 months can take the showroom and the team.

It’s been a great CareCo journey so far for our Stoke showroom – now we move on to the next chapter!

”

A smashing story of recovery

On Sunday 17th of March, the quiet of the evening was disrupted when a car crashed through the front window of our Brighton showroom at around 11:00pm.

The accident left significant damage and posed a big challenge to our team!

Vicky Brooks from our Retail team arrived at the scene within minutes of the incident, working tirelessly until 2:00am to oversee the removal of the car, coordinating with the police to board up the shattered window, and ensuring the building was secure. Her commitment set the stage for the remarkable recovery that followed.

Early the next morning Vicky, Chloe and Joan returned to the showroom well before their usual hours. They cleared the store of glass, set up safety signs, and prepared the space to welcome customers by opening time. When Lewis, our Southern Regional Manager, arrived at 8:30am, their efforts were evident – the showroom was almost perfect apart from the visible damage to the window and some structural impairments!

Remarkably, the showroom achieved £13,000 in sales that day – a testament to the team’s resilience and commitment. The boardedup window and signs of the accident was a topic of conversation throughout the day for our customers, whose understanding and support only strengthened the resolve of our team to continue providing exceptional service.

The showroom still bears the marks of that night, with the boardedup window serving as a reminder of the incident. But it also stands as a symbol of the Brighton team’s resilience and dedication. Their response to the crisis exemplified their ability to overcome adversity and maintain high standards of customer service.

Like the fire at CCHQ, this could have been a significant setback. But again we witnessed unwavering dedication and teamwork from Vicky, Chloe, Joan, and the entire Brighton team. Their extraordinary efforts turned a potential disaster into a story of triumph, highlighting the exceptional commitment of the Brighton team to CareCo and its customers – and that’s what we’re all about!

Spotted: CareCo In The Wild

Have you ever had your head turned by a wheelchair, mobility scooter or rollator while you’re out and about? No? Just us, then…

But if you want to get published in our new feature, you’ll have to start training your eye.

On the beach, down the high street or literally out in the wild, if you spot one of our products just snap a photo and share it with us to get it published in the next issue!

Who knows, we might start running this as a little competition...

Spotted in the audience of BBC’s Question Time (Sent in by Jon Wade)

Customer Photos

This feature is all about highlighting the joy and satisfaction our customers experience when they bring our products into their lives. Every month, we’re sent so many lovely photos from our showrooms, showing customers beaming with pride alongside their new purchases. These heartwarming moments truly capture the essence of what we do and why we do it, and the difference our products can make to somebody’s life.

So, to show our appreciation for the team members who go above and beyond to capture these special moments, we’ve decided to introduce a monthly reward system. The team member who snaps the photo that receives the most likes on our Facebook and Instagram pages will be celebrated!

We also want to extend our gratitude to the customers who let themselves be photographed. Each month, the customer featured in the winning photo will also receive a bouquet and some chocolates to show our appreciation.

We’ve started to capture the moments of our team members and customers receiving their delightful surprises. These heartwarming snaps will be featured in our newsletter, celebrating the genuine connections that our showroom teams make with their customers.

Two donated wheelchairs at Buckhatch Garden Centre in Essex (Sent in by Joe Abbitt)

Ken Whitehouse receiving his gift from Brighton Showroom (winning photo taken by Victoria Brooks)

Cycle To Work

Save on a brand new bike and equipment and start cycling to work today!

There’s nothing better than a good review from a customer to make you realise that we really are making every day a better day for the people who need our products.

We’re almost at 50,000 reviews on Trustpilot –by issue 2 of CQ, we should be there! And in the meantime, CareCo Canterbury deserves a big shout out. They’re the first showroom to reach 1000 Google reviews with a 5-star rating!

Our People Pinboard

This is where we celebrate milestones reached, knots tied and babies born! For issue 1, we’ve gone back over the last 6 months to make sure everyone gets a mention… If you’ve got something to stick up on the People’s Pinboard, send us an email and let us know!