The Pier to Pier is an annual swim event held in Dorset between Bournemouth and Boscombe piers, and will have more than 1200 entrants.

Our guys will be swimming a whopping 1.4 miles down the coast and are all currently participating in major training at the local swimming pools. The full distance of the swim is the equivalent of around 92 lengths of a 25 metre pool!

The team consists of Amy Blackwell, Chris Cheshire, Andy Crathorne, Kelly Barlow, Michael Pursey, Jon Syrett and Harry Price.  They have recently stepped up their training and are now undertaking weekly practice swims in the sea. From what we’ve heard, it’s very hard work, and for the moment, very cold!
In order to raise money for this amazing cause, the guys have set up a Just Giving page, which can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/pier2pier2011

They’re currently just over halfway to reaching their target, so any donation, no matter how small, could help prevent people all over the UK from dying prematurely of heart disease. Your donation will help the British Heart Foundation achieve this through pioneering research, vital prevention activity and ensuring quality care and support for everyone currently living with heart disease.

The training and sponsorship for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is in full swing now, with a range of activities going on.

So far, each one of us has walked roughly 130km for our training, and there’s still more to come with Dartmoor and Snowdon on the horizon. We also have Yoga on the cards to help us with our breathing techniques.

Our last walk consisted of 45km over 2 days, trekking over the Purbecks and South West Coastal path, and camping out at Norden Farm.  This was certainly a test for all of us as we climbed over and around very steep hills, and were put through our paces by Paul Barrett (IT Developer and Climbing Guru), being forced to climb an incline that was so steep that stopping was just as painful as walking… and not being allowed to take the stairs either was torture for all of us!

None of us have admitted defeat so far, even though we have had a few (including myself) trekking in socks or flip flops as part of the ‘Sock Crew.’ Most of us have struggled a little with the weight that we have been carrying, but with 2 and a half months worth of training still left to go we are confident that we all be running up that mountain.

So far, the whole experience has seen the team really pull together to help each other through the toughest of obstacles.

Jolanda Baldwinson - FLM Quick Underwriter

Our 2011 charity adventure is set follow in the footsteps of last year’s massively successful project; a fresh team of brave RG members are heading to the world’s tallest free-standing mountain, taking the tough Machame route up to the peak over a period of six days. Once back at the base of the mountain though, the trek takes an exciting turn as the team flies to Nairobi before making the 100km+ journey to Mwala District, where they’ll meet with the community surrounding the Kombe Primary School and see what a difference their fundraising efforts are making to the people there.

In choosing a charity to support with our fundraising, RG looked at a range of charities around the globe before finally deciding on Build Africa. The charity focuses on working with communities in Kenya and Uganda, helping young people escape poverty through education and income generation. In raising money for the Kombe Primary School, RG will cover 100% of the costs for building two new classrooms, sanitation facilities and provide new equipment that will benefit the entire school.

“It’s an amazing cause,” says James Benamor, RG’s Managing Director, “and I’m looking forward to spending time with the kids that are going to be using the new school – probably more than
I’m looking forward to anything else I’m going to be doing this year.”

With the Kilimanjaro climb and visit to the Kombe Primary School set for August 2011, training is already underway with the final elimination hike – after which the final 16-strong team will be chosen – happening in mid-April. Further training across Dartmoor and Snowdon is also planned, while RG will be once again have an altitude simulator in-house to help team members get used to walking in high-altitude situations.

To donate to RG’s Build For Africa 2011 project and help us hit our £20,000 target, please visit our JustGiving team page and give whatever you can afford.

The Best Company awards, handed out by The Sunday Times on a yearly basis, help to identify the companies that offer their employees the best opportunities, treat their staff with the most respect and ultimately represent everything that a great company should. Of the 1,165 firms surveyed for the Best Medium-Sized Company awards, 912 applied to be considered – only 100 were selected for honours, however, with The Richmond Group securing 66th place among the group.

It also did particularly well in many of the categories surveyed, with 80% of RG employees feeling that their workmates cared a lot about them, 77% feeling there was a strong sense of family within the company and 79% saying they go out of their way to help others. RG’s leaders also scored highly, with RG scoring in the top 20 of all companies surveyed when it came to managers giving appreciation for people doing a good job, and landing in the top 25 through RG MD James Benamor being seen as an inspiration to the staff.

On top of the Sunday Times accolade, RG also walked away with yet another Best Companies accreditation – the fourth time the company has won such an honour.

With a total of eight Best Company awards to its name now, The Richmond Group’s reputation for being a great place to work has been further cemented. As usual though, the award serves as a stepping stone for further improvement rather than a laurel to rest on, and we’ve already got high hopes for appearing in the 2012 listing…

The awards, held during the company’s Winter Wonderland Christmas party at Bournemouth’s Studio Bar, highlighted some of RG’s best and brighest stars, allowing the directors to reward all the effort given throughout 2010 with cash, gadgets and even holidays to Paris, New York and the Maldives.

The 2010 tickets were awarded as follows:

• James Benamor’s ticket went to one of RG’s.net developers, Adam, for his huge role in putting our Debt Line business online; he won tickets to any gig, show or festival of his choice.
• Marc Biles’ ticket went to Loanfinder developer Ashley, for his dedication to improving Loanfinder’s architecture and scale; he won £500 in cash.
• Sam Wells’ ticket went to Matt from our Measure & Improve team for being a massive part of every project he’s been on and his hard work helping us secure more funding; he won 2 premium Merlins annual passes.
• Trevor Frankeiss’ ticket went to Gemma on Debt Line core team for improving the quality of Debt Line’s marketing tenfold and doing it all within budget; she won £200 in cash.
• Mourad Malki’s ticket went to Richard, leader of FLM’s Outlaws team, for smashing every target set before him and being an inspiration to his colleagues; he won £200 in cash.
• Lewis Chandler’s ticket went to Beth from FLM Quick’s sales department for getting the best from her team and setting the standard for all would-be managers to come; she won a weekend for 2 in Paris.
• Mark Burgess’ ticket went to IT hero Rob for his tireless commitment to improving RG’s IT infrastructure. Rob won 2 premium Merlins annual passes.
• Liz Benamor’s ticket went to Anna from our rbucks kitchen, for her amazing work with the rbucks desserts range; she won £200 in cash.
• The Finance department ticket went to Finance manager Anthony for being “one of the best finance managers [we've] ever worked with”; he won a 40-inch 3D TV and a 3D Blu-Ray Player.
• The RG Project Of The Year ticket went to the FLM pack improvement team of Emma, Mike and Jamie for setting the future standard in RG’s written communication; Emma won an iPad, Jamie won a Macbook Air laptop and Mike won a Virgin Experience package worth £500.
• The Manager Of The Year ticket went to rbucks manager Sammy for making rbucks the wonder that it is today; she won an Xbox 360, an Xbox Kinect camera and a 19-inch LCD TV.
• The Employee Of The Year ticket (voted for by RG staff) went to Nathan from Debt Line’s IT Enhancements group, for being one of the most adaptable people at RG and never being too busy to help people; he won £200 in cash.
• Finally, the RG Salesperson Of The Year award was a four-way tie between Shane from Debt Line’s Omega team, Amy in Debt Line account management, Patrick on the FLM Regulators team and FLM sales expert Michelle, who all did amazing things in 2010 such as smashing targets, driving sales and inspiring their colleagues. Shane won £500 in cash, Amy won an iPad, Patrick won a 7-day holiday for 2 to New York and Michelle walked away with the biggest prize in RG history: a 10-day holiday for 2 to the Maldives.

RG naturally offered congratulations to all those who won.

“I was incredibly impressed by the quality of this year’s winners,” said Marc Biles, RG’s Special Projects Director. “By reducing the number of categories this year, it made it a little more difficult for people to win a ticket, but those who did can be really proud that they’ve achieved something truly great.”

Created from the ground up by RG’s internal development team, the new rbucks system (which runs online through the RG intranet) isn’t just easier to understand and use, but offers a wider selection of meals too. Menu listings detail what goes into each dish, ordering is as simple as clicking a button and hot drinks such as coffee can even be customised using handy drop-down lists offering extra shots, soya milk and more.

Already considered as one of the best reasons to work for RG by its staff, rbucks has been offering amazing food at heavily subsidised prices ever since it was initially conceived in 2008/9. Since then, the service has grown to incorporate more kitchen staff, a wider array of meals and even an in-house cafe offering homemade cakes, sandwiches, milkshakes and smoothies.

“Relaunching rbucks has really enhanced its value,” said Liz Benamor, RG’s Facilities Director. “Much care and attention to detail has gone into making it look good and work well, which relieves the rbucks team of many tedious tasks and issues that we had with the old system. They’ve created a great new platform for rbucks, providing everyone at RG with a much improved experience overall.”

Supporting the charity’s Breast Cancer Awareness month, RG staff came to work adorned in pink on varying scales – some kept it minimalist with headbands and underwear, while others went all out in pink from top to toe. The ever-supportive rbucks team also did their bit by creating a range of pink milkshakes and cakes for people to buy, with a portion of the money going towards the total.

The day proved a massive success and thanks to everyone’s help, RG raised a total for the day of an impressive £627.42 for Cancer Research. RG thanks everyone who took part and is hoping to continue supporting the charity in the future.

James’s previous victory at the August event qualified him as a finalist for the national awards, pitting him against some of the UK’s top consumer industry minds for the overall prize. Winning gives him his second personal award in just 6 months, as well as bringing RG’s awards cache up to 6 for 2010 and an impressive 14 overall for the last 4 years.

“A natural innovator, James has built from scratch a string of national businesses currently valued at over £200 million from a £100 investment,” Ernst & Young said of the RG MD. “[He's] adaptable, [and] has twice shifted the group’s core business entirely, leading his companies to thrive throughout both boom and bust.”

Sitting proudly in the rbucks cafe alongside the company’s other trophies, it stands as a reminder not just of how far RG has come in such a short space of time, but how far it can go in the future. Luckily, the awards cabinet isn’t quite full yet…

By becoming part of the initiative that’s seen the likes of David Cameron and Boris Johnson take to the streets on two wheels, RG hopes to not only offfer staff big savings on new bikes, but also encourage them to be healthier and seriously reduce their carbon footprints.

With over 6 million people in the UK using cars and buses to travel less than 5 miles to work, even a small percentage reduction in that number would lead to considerable health and carbon-saving benefits. As such, RG is keen to do its part in helping where it can.

Savings on bikes for RG employees are typically around 30 per cent, although the actual amount depends on the employee’s tax band: the more tax they pay, the more money they’ll save. What’s more, employees can choose from any bike – including electric bikes, folding bikes and other specialist cycles – providing that one of Cyclescheme’s 1,600 partner shops can source it for them.

James, who built RG from the ground up using just £100 of investment money, took the London and South title after battling it out with a number of other high-profile industry heads from consumer service firms offering everything from pet care and advertising to greetings cards and chocolate.

Naturally, James was thrilled to win but is also modest, as proven when asked about how he felt about the award. “I can’t believe I’m still ‘young’,” he said. “This is the best thing that’s happened to me all day.”

Victory in the regional awards now sees James move forward to the national ceremony, to be held in October; everyone at RG waits with baited breath for the results.