The new contracts are, of course, incredibly important to us and show the true breadth of our agency. The United Biscuits work, for instance, involves multiple parts of our agency working together including brand development, graphic design, copywriting and translation.

Welcoming on board three new PR clients is also very exciting especially as they cover such different sectors and are all Leicestershire-based organisations. It’s always good to be working with talented neighbours!

Further afield, Richmond Solutions is a London-based consultancy who are really getting to grips with the power of the web and social media. We have been commissioned by them to shoot and edit a series of videos which really demonstrate their expertise in a memorable and accessible way.

Finally, but by no means least, we have just completed a brand development project for Bulwell Academy which is all about celebrating students’ success in a very tangible and real way around the Academy. As much as it is about brand it’s also about communication and how messages are communicated in an accessible and engaging way.

As well as new business wins we’ve also seen an upturn in repeat work from long-standing clients including film and video work for BP and T.M.Lewin, a re-run of their hugely successful Incentivise-me online reward and recognition campaign for Sequel UK – the UK distributors for GUESS Watches and Jewellery, several new event bookings and an increase in design work from Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) and Northern Gas Networks (NGN).

… and we’re also talking to several other Leicestershire-based organisations about their PR and marketing work at the moment so we hope we’ll be able to report more new business wins very soon!

It’s a great way to celebrate our tenth birthday and launch our eleventh year in business.

I remembered the bright yellow top of the young girl running next to me. Through the haze of sweat and the flashes of sunlight through the passing trees I’d seen her glancing at her watch.

“How are we doing?” I’d managed to gasp. “One hour and fifteen minutes,” she’d replied. (She hadn’t sounded breathless like me.)

“Good,” I’d said, “looks like we may be under the two hours.”

“I hope so. That’s what I’m aiming for.” (Funny. I’d just wanted to finish.)

The 2012 Loughborough Half Marathon started well for me. The morning was cool, but not cold; the sun was bright, but not relentless; and I’d felt very strong.

Dressed in my London Marathon top with matching shorts, sporting my usual Oakley sunglasses and encased in my new Adidas running trainers that I’d been breaking in over the last two weeks, everything had felt comfortable.

That was why, within five minutes of the start, I’d found myself running near the front. As I’d turned onto Brown’s Lane, near the Loughborough Leisure Centre, there they were — the front-runners.

That didn’t last long. As they settled into their six-mile a minute pace I’d found my more familiar eight and a half minute speed and dropped away. Houses turned to trees and before I knew it I was heading out into the countryside.

I’d managed some dialogue with other runners but most of the time it was a case of getting on with the run; getting on with the strength-sapping hills at Hathern; getting on with the poorly manned water stations; and keeping that precious pace and rhythmic breathing that would see me through the remaining miles to the finish.

Later, on the third hill ascent away from Hathern, finally heading back to town, was when I’d caught up to the girl in the yellow top.

We’d run in sync and at the nine-mile mark she’d glanced again at her watch and chirped, “One hour and eighteen”. (Phew, this was gonna be close.)

I couldn’t risk having run so hard to lose it at the end so I’d extended my gait and quickened my pace. I had to come in under the two hours. My running partner had fallen away behind me.

Returning to the University grounds I’d negotiated earlier, I was surprised to see my father-in-law in the crowd. He was the one who shouted my name, spurring me onward. That was when I had almost cramped.

(One more mile…)

I gritted my teeth and pushed on. Buildings came and went; a hill here, an underpass there, and before I knew it the town centre was coming into view.

(One more mile…)

As the crowds thickened, the applause and whistles got louder, I could feel the end approaching. I dared to go faster, the burning in my calves tantalisingly close. (Who cares if it gets worse? I can hobble. Or crawl.)

Finally, bursting past Iceland, with the spectators shouting along the sides of the streets, I powered for home. Under the towering, inflatable finishing gate I dived, greeted with my water, goody bag and medal.

Everything was a blur. Runners, spectators and race stewards were everywhere. The noise was incredible; someone was shouting. (Was that my name?)

I stumbled along, legs heavy with every step. Through the jumbled sea of faces I could see someone jumping up and down, waving frantically. “Matty. Matt-ty! You did it! Under two hours, Matty!”

And there she was — my wife. “You did it! You were very fast.” She paused, beaming her special smile while looking me over. “How do you feel?”

I laughed. (Well, I’m in one piece. More or less.)

Matt managed to finish in 1:48:58 — a personal best for him at this distance — and in the process raise money for Leicester Charity Link to help them continure their crucial work.

Pardon? Do I hear you asking, “How do Zoe and I look?” Well perfect of course! I’m pedigree don’t you know and a mere whipper-snapper at only 49 and Zoe (whilst not pedigree — really don’t hold it against her – it’s not her fault) is just a dot at 28!

28 – that was how old Rach was when she first started thinking about setting up The Phoenix Partners. Her passion and desire then was to set up an agency where each client really was placed firmly at the centre of everything the agency did; where those that worked with The Phoenix Partners were encouraged and supported to be the very best that they could be; and where her two dogs could come to work with her. Ten years on and that passion and desire hasn’t abated despite the highs and lows of having run a business through one of the worst economic times known to man… and dog!

But enough about the past, what do Zoe and I think that the future will hold? Where will we be in 10 years time? Will Baby Stokes be coming in for work experience soon? Will he / she have run his / her first 10K? Will he / she have a brother / sister? Will he / she like dogs? How many more office dogs will there be and will we have to share our comfy bed and biscuits? (“Nooooooo,” I hear Zoe cry.)

Clearly these are all big questions that need answering but fear not friends, Zoe and I are on the case. As I doze here in the sun outside the office in our yard I am thinking of the next iteration of our business plan. How can we fit so much in when time passes so very, very quickly? Who will take over from me as top dog when I retire and who will look after Rach and the others here and make sure they remember to go home sometimes? Stay tuned for our thoughts.

Until next time friends… I’m off for some birthday cake!

Dyson and Zoe
x

We’re 10 years old today and we’re in the mood to celebrate. So here are 10 things we’re most proud of at The Phoenix Partners;

1.) We continue to work with a diverse range of companies from huge multi-nationals to small, fledgling startups – helping them to communicate their vision, passion, products and services to their chosen audience(s)

2.) We’ve actually worked in 58 countries around the world ensuring that our clients’ message(s) work culturally and, at times, politically too

3.) We’re active supporters of Leicester Charity Link and have pledged to raise £10,000 for them in this, our tenth year — www.charity-link.org

4.) We remain crazy about the power of story. Yes! KPIs, business vision and mission statements are all very important but, when you want to attract the media’s attention for all the right reasons, you’ve got to have a powerful, well-articulated, newsworthy story – and that’s where we come in. We root out your story and make sure the world hears about it

5.) Stories are told through the written word but also through stunning photography and beautifully created imagery, as well as through film and video. So it may come as no surprise to you that we are skilled at using all these media

6.) We love that our clients’ wonderful stories can now travel even further with the help of social media and the web. Even if you are a small company based in Leicestershire, you can still rock out your message and sell your products and services across the world. All with the help of a little web wizardry; we love it and can’t help but think “Whatever did we do without it?!?”

7.) One job that we are still very, very proud of was taking a lady who had never spoken publicly before and helping her to develop speaking skills so that she went from a terrified lectern hugger to an engaging and powerful speaker who walked that stage, educating 300 of her peers on the latest technology her department was bringing out, and literally stole the show — and all the time we had was just 5 hours!

8.) We’re still joined in our office everyday by our lovely office dogs. Dyson and Zoe are the regulars but Harley and now Morris also pop in when they feel like inputting into the team. We should also remember beautiful Jess who sadly passed away earlier this year aged 17. Gone, but most definitely not forgotten!

9.) We remain actively involved with the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Leicestershire and, indeed, across the East Midlands. Rachel hands over the Chair in August but we’ll still be a part of the scene via our sponsorship of the institute. Any institute that has at its core the desire to develop this country’s directors, and enable them to be world class, has our full backing

10.) …and finally, we’re going to have a Phoenix baby later on this year! Matt ‘Coach’ Stokes and his lovely wife Nikki will be welcoming their first baby into the world round about end of July / beginning of August. Dubbed, ‘Corilanus, Tia Maria, Coke, Phoenix, Stokes’, — Mum and Dad may think that we’re joking… Oh, little do they know!

The world has certainly evolved over our 10 years but our passion remains the same — to produce world class brand, design and PR work which ensures that our clients really do stand out from their competition, and which, in turn, helps them to develop their businesses by increasing their turnover and profitability.

Sounds like a good way to spend our time. To the next 10 years!

New commissions include the design of a behaviours booklet for United Biscuits, PR projects for Compass Fostering, Delphinus tmc and The City Rooms, a brand development project for Bulwell Academy and a series of new videos for Richmond Solutions.

Says Agency Director, Rachel Hargrave, “These new contracts are of course incredibly important to us and show the true breadth of our agency.  The United Biscuits work, for instance, involves multiple parts of our agency working together including brand development, graphic design, copywriting and translation.

“Welcoming on board three new PR clients is also very exciting especially as they cover such different sectors and are all Leicestershire-based organisations.  It’s always good to be working with homegrown talent!

“Further afield, Richmond Solutions is a London-based consultancy who are really getting to grips with the power of the web and social media, and we have been commissioned by them to shoot and edit a series of videos which really demonstrate their expertise.

“Finally, but by no means least, we have just completed a brand development project for Bulwell Academy which is all about celebrating student success in a very tangible and real way inside the Academy.  As much as it is about brand it’s also about communication and how messages are communicated in an accessible and engaging way.”

The Phoenix Partners is also reporting a flurry of repeat work from long-standing clients including film and video work for BP and T.M.Lewin, a re-run of their hugely successful Incentivise-me online reward and recognition campaign for Sequel UK – the UK distributors for GUESS Watches and Jewellery, several new event bookings and an increase in design work from Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) and Northern Gas Networks.

Adds Rachel, “We are also talking to several other Leicestershire based organisations about their PR and marketing work at the moment so I hope I’ll be able to report more new business wins very soon!  It’s a great way to celebrate our tenth birthday and our tenth year in business.”

After making sure we understood the products in question (lots of sampling of McVitie’s Digestives, Jacobs Crackers and McCoys crisps) we came up with some proposals for documents that clearly got across the Behaviours, their importance to their business and how these Behaviours had already had a positive effect on the company.

Some internal work on promoting the Behaviours had already taken place, so we worked with some existing imagery but also sourced and tweaked some images to get the quality of the printed document spot on to truly reflect a company that delivers quality products.  The Behaviours were emphasised with some choice quotations from the workforce and everything brought together in a pocket-sized concertina leaflet with a wrap-round cover – no stapling allowed in UB’s scrupulously safe and clean production areas.

All this followed by a quick turnaround for a conference launch and the Behaviours are well and truly in the business.  All that remains is to get the French, Dutch and Hindu versions printed – we’ve already arranged for the translations – and we’ll be ready for that next cuppa… and a few more biscuits of course!

My wife, Terri (or Mrs Bradshaw as she likes to be called at school) is a technician in the design department and one of her annual tasks is to design and make all of the costumes for the school play and it’s a job that she really enjoys.

I thought I’d grab the camera and go along and take a few record shots of her designs coming to life, just as a bit of a keepsake for her initially. Three hours later and with 50 or 60 great shots in the can, it seemed a waste to just file them, especially as staff and students were putting in such a lot of hard work — and on a Sunday!  So I printed a stack of A3 photos for them to put up in the foyer in time for the performances and as a great way of letting the students who were taking part see themselves in the same (spot)light as their audiences.

Mrs B. has said the photos have created a lot of interest and some great comments around the school. We’ve sent them a disc of all the printouts and hopefully they’ll be using them to promote other great productions and some of the great work that goes on at the school.

A huge well done from us to everyone who took part and see you next year!

Talk about falling on my feet!  I spent the entire morning up at Loughborough University and the National Cricket Performance Centre watching T.M.Lewin fit the under 19 England cricket team with tailored suits. The suits will form part of their uniform for their Summer tour of Australia. In all 17 of the squad were fitted plus the team’s coaches and physiotherapist, and we were there to capture the action and get up close and personal with some of those who are being tipped to be at the forefront of English cricket very, very soon – including the incredibly talented Daniel Bell-Drummond and identical twins Craig and Jamie Overton.

Three of T.M.Lewin’s finest were there to ensure each member of the squad was looked after and fitted with their suit: Cliff Burgess, Head of T.M.Lewin Corporate, Bianca Wright, Store Manager for Leicester and Andy Makin, Store Manager for Meadowhall.

We will edit the footage into a one minute video which will be used on T.M.Lewin’s website to demonstrate their tailored service and the support they are giving to the under 19 England cricket squad. Watch this space and we’ll share it with you as soon as our client and the squad have approved it.

The grant takes the form of a match funded grant payment of between £2,000 and £3,000 and represents a maximum subsidy of 50% of the project costs. So, if your business commissions a £4,000 e-commerce website, it could be eligible for £2,000 in grant assistance!

With grant funding an option what are you waiting for?  At The Phoenix Partners we can help you with all aspects of website design and build including e-commerce sites.  Let’s learn a lesson from our retail colleagues who are all experiencing huge increases in e-commerce trade (even when life remains tough on the High Street) and build you an e-commerce site that brings in business for you no matter what the time of day or night!

If you are interested in hearing more please do contact us either via email — rachel@thephoenixpartners.com — or via the ‘phone on 01509 815 026.

Our Graphic and Digital Designer, Matt Stokes, and his lovely wife are expecting a baby. Cue HUGE congratulations and a furore to “wet the baby’s head” as soon as possible — with the due date in early August we’ll be sure to get a few practice runs in before the BIG DAY.

We’ve been helping by throwing a number of names in to the pot, including of course “Phoenix” as a firm favourite. We’re assured our suggestions are being taken on board and being given due consideration, but for now I give you…
…Corilanus Tia Maria Coke Phoenix Stokes. Doing very well indeed…