SPARKLE review of 2014 | ISSUE
07
Welcome to the 2014 Edition of Sparkle. We thought we would give you an overview of some of the things that we have been up to this year and we hope you find it an interesting read.
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january saw our annual appearance at the LAmmA Show. This year for the first time the venue moved to the Peterborough Arena. LAMMA is the UK’s largest farm machinery, equipment and agricultural services show. Held in January each year it attracts over 900 exhibitors and with around 40,000 farmers from around the country and overseas it is by far the biggest show of it’s kind.
Tim and Keith made the annual pilgrimage to BeerX.
We will again be exhibiting at LAMMA in 2015.
A Drama not a crisis It's not everyday that you get a chance to star in a well known BBC drama but one of our internet orders played a major role in an episode of Holby City.
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The BBC's props department purchased a Numatic Cleaning Trolley and it took centre stage as a disgruntled doctor who has just received a bouquet of flowers from a patient discards them. The director specifically wanted a cleaning trolley that had a large bin at the front which they sourced via the website from our Google Adword campaign. It was a bit of a drama in getting it to them as it wasn't a stock item but it all arrived safely in time for its starring role.
It was held in Sheffield for the second consecutive year but this time at the city’s Ice Arena. BeerX is the UK's premier festival of award-winning beers, music, sport and food offering something for everyone under one gigantic roof. An exhibition is held at the event each year and covers two of the three day festival. It is the showcase event for the Caskwasher and it gives us a great opportunity of demonstrating the benefits of our machines to the brewers who attend. This year the MP for Great Yarmouth Brandon Lewis was guest speaker fulfilling his role as Minister for Pubs. The event also offers an exclusive opportunity to mingle with independent brewers from across the UK as well as enjoy the opportunity to sample over 250 award-winning beers. Tim and Keith will be attending the event again in 2015 on 20th and 21st March.
A round-up of the latest news from hugh crane If you have an interesting story that you would like to share with your workmates, then please let Nessa know and we can include it in the next edition.
SPARKLE review of 2014 | ISSUE
07
APrIL
mAy The British Pig & Poultry Fair May saw us return to exhibit at The British Pig & Poultry Fair at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. Robert & Jim manned the stand where they promoted our range of Commando Pressure Washers which are designed predominantly for the pig and poultry industry. The event was well supported by Pig World having run a number of adverts and editorial promoting the event in the lead up to it. We were positioned on Stand 327 in the Blackdown Building in between Kilco and Bodo.
Sparkle raleigh In April we welcomed joe Perrett and Liam Stones two of Team raleigh’s professional cycling team. Both riders competed in this year’s Tour of Britain. It is the uK's biggest professional cycle race and the country's largest free-to-spectate live sporting event. Joe and Liam stopped off at the office as it formed part of their 37 mile ride around Norfolk with local cycling club 53-11. Pete Moorhouse rides for the team who are based at Molly’s Cycles a Premier Raleigh dealer in based in the city. We made a donation to the team which included adding our logo to the back of their racing jerseys. The route took the riders out of the city and towards Loddon before heading east. They crossed the River Yare at Reedham Ferry and then came back via Acle arriving at Molly Cycle’s early afternoon.
The event is held every two years and it is the premier fair for this industry.
Also in may we visited The Suffolk Show which signals the start of our Show Season and this year was no different. Pete had the opportunity of riding the actual bikes that the team used on the tour and was measured for it a couple of weeks prior to the event. Pete is seen with Joe and Liam outside the office with members of his team and other club riders from across the city. We covered the event on Twitter which help raise our profile and it gave a boost to both Molly’s Cycles and Team Raleigh during the event.
However the last two years have seen some pretty dramatic weather with the 2013 show being abandoned due the safety concerns. Again mother nature didn’t disappoint with a rather wet and windy couple of days at Trinity Park, Ipswich. Although the weather wasn’t particularly pleasant the stand was busy and Robert had more enquiries than in past years.
A round-up of the latest news from hugh crane If you have an interesting story that you would like to share with your workmates, then please let Nessa know and we can include it in the next edition.
SPARKLE review of 2014 | ISSUE
07
juLy
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The Show goes on On your Bike cereals and The royal norfolk Show follow hot on the heels of the Suffolk and are key shows for us in the calendar year.
During this month matt, Andy and Pete from the Whittlesey branch took part in the Breakthrough charity London to cambridge bike ride.
Both shows were again very successful and it gave customers the opportunity of seeing new product developments and meeting the team outside of the normal office environment.
Breakthrough Breast Cancer is more than a name. It is a force, a force of thousands of people across the UK working together with a single-minded ambition to stop women dying from breast cancer. Breakthrough aims to stop breast cancer for good by improving early diagnosis, developing new treatments and preventing all types of breast cancer. The guys cycled over 60 miles along quiet country lanes on vintage bikes.
Robert, William and Jim covered Cereals which was held in Cambridgeshire. Our promotional Hugh Crane baseball caps went down well and it was good to see a number of customers wearing them as they toured the showground.
AuguST Speedway at Peterborough Arena Saturday 23rd August saw us support the 1000cc sidecar racing at the Peterborough Arena. Following the success of sidecar racing at the venue earlier in the year as part of the BMF Show, audiences experienced the thrills and exhilaration of 1000cc sidecar racing.
Reigning Track Racing and British Masters Champions Mark Cossar and Carl Blythe took part in the event that was well attended. Matt Biggin looks after the Peterborough Arena and when Jason Lunn Head of Operations approached him for us to cover the event we duly obliged.
Andy was on a 1948 Raleigh Pete a 1966 Royal Enfield and Matt completed the trio on a 1932 Raleigh. Starting at 9.30am in the morning they eventually finished after numerous watering hole stops at 4.30pm. Not a record breaking time but a great day out. The highlight of the ride was when coming behind RAF Duxford a vintage tiger moth came into land. The route started at Ponders End in North London and snaked out of the City past rolling green fields and idyllic small towns until pedalling to the big finish in Cambridge. There were plenty of supporters and spectators to see the boys across the finish line where they collected their medals.
World cup In celebration of the World Cup we produced our customary Mug that was intended to capture a flavour of the competition and arouse discussion with our customers. Although the quality of football was high alas England didn’t make it past the first fence.
This brand new event attracted speed fans and visitors from across the region – and they saw some of the country’s top class riders in action.
A round-up of the latest news from hugh crane If you have an interesting story that you would like to share with your workmates, then please let Nessa know and we can include it in the next edition.
SPARKLE review of 2014 | ISSUE
OcTOBEr you can’t have your cake and Eat It… Eat Expo is norfolk's Premier Trade Show for the catering, hospitality, Food, retail and Leisure Industry and it was held at De vere Dunston hall hotel, Ipswich road, norwich on monday 20th and Tuesday 21st October. As part of our ‘Tastes of Anglia’ membership who were also instrumental in promoting the event we decided to test the water by taking a small exhibition unit. Chris Roll manned the stand, which saw us promote the latest products in this sector to aid more efficient cleaning techniques aimed at saving time and reducing cleaning costs. With over 50 trade stands sold, including national names like ‘Rational’ and with free parking plus free entry we expected the event to be busy. Although there was a large amount of clients committed to attend the numbers were very poor. It may have been down to the very inclement weather although lack of promotion by the organisers was probably to blame.
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mAc International Dealer Day jim attended the mAc Open Day in Darlington in november. MAC International is one of the UK's fastest growing industrial and commercial cleaning equipment suppliers. The MAC range of industrial pressure washers specialise in hot and cold machines from their Washmaster range, with a large choice of mobile and static machines.
They also provide a wide variety of pedestrian and ride-on floor sweepers and scrubber driers from the MAC Floormaster range. There were a number of dealers on site and the event was well supported.
midlands machinery Show A new show for us this year, The midland machinery Show 2014 held at the newark Show ground Lincolnshire, provided us with an opportunity to showcase our products at a time of year not really associated with trade agricultural shows. robert & jim again manned our stand SS16 in the Stanley Sheldon hall. The show was organised by the Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural society, and was a platform for the small and medium sized agricultural businesses to show their diverse range of machinery and innovation to those who work in agriculture. The show was a success with over 5,000 people visiting the 160 exhibitor stands during the two days.
A round-up of the latest news from hugh crane If you have an interesting story that you would like to share with your workmates, then please let Nessa know and we can include it in the next edition.
SPARKLE review of 2014 | ISSUE
07
DEcEmBEr All I want for christmas… We have had some strange requests from customers over the years but one of the strangest was a call taken by Tim from one of our caskwasher customers.
Marcus placed an order for our 300E3K machine. It is capable of cleaning both casks and kegs.
It is going to be a surprise present for his father.
The White Hart Thatched Inn and Brewery has been owned and run by the Coles family since 1994. In 1999 brewing beer began, followed in 2011 with cider production. The Inn itself was built in 1371. Many interesting legends surround this wonderful building, where HRH Prince Charles, Dylan Thomas and many other famous people have visited on their way west.
Nothing too out of the ordinary you may think until he asked us to gift wrap the machine prior to dispatch.
The village was famous for its Llanddarog Fair, where cakes were made at the White Hart Thatched Inn
Marcus from Coles Family Brewery, based at the White Hart Inn, Ilanddarog, Carmarthen was keen to order one for Christmas.
using beer from the cask, for the drover to eat. The beer preserved the cakes for many months. Animals and poultry would have been traded during the fair. The poultry would then have to be walked through tar, then sand, to protect their feet, before commencing the long journey home. As we go to press the machine is well on it’s way to South Wales and we hope Marcus and his father will be very happy when they open it on Christmas Day.
A ho ho ho
Early December saw the arrival of our Product Brochure.
Finally on a christmas theme we have our own real life Santa! nigel martins has been practicing his ho ho ho’s as he again mans the local great yarmouth Lions float as they raise money for local charities. If you were visiting B&Q in great yarmouth on December 7th you would have had a glimpse of Santa in his giant sleigh touring the car Park.
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This was months in the making and has been our largest single promotional investment to date. Totalling 188 pages it took a large amount of effort to complete and with so many products to be added it was a mammoth task. The brochures includes a selection of machines, our chemical and janitorial range along with the automotive division and it gives us a chance to showcase the majority of our products in one single publication.
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One lucky employee David Brown and his family managed to meet Santa and it gave Dave’s children the opportunity to ask what they wanted for Christmas. We aren’t sure what they wished for but if a 25 litre container of TFR arrives on Christmas morning then I’m sure Nigel’s cover may be blown.
And finally we would lie to wish you all a very merry christmas and a happy new year.