There is an air of anticipation in the office today….
This evening the Deaf Umbrella office staff and invited guests will be descending en masse on the Pullman Hotel, St Pancras, for the 2015 Federation of Small Businesses London Business Awards 2015. We are finalists in 3 categories:
Apprentice of the Year – Charlie Springer
Best New Business – Deaf Umbrella CIC
Training and Development – Deaf Umbrella
We are very proud of ourselves; once again it has been a year of tremendous efforts, change and innovation. Not least, Deaf Umbrella has relocated from Bexley, our home for many years, to the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Moving a business lock, stock and 2 smoking barrels is no mean feat, especially whilst trying to ensure that customer service is not interrupted. We think we deserve an award for this alone!
In order to prepare for this evening, we were kindly driven to work early this morning by our lovely CEO, with
Deaf Umbrella - the instrument of your success!
all our luggage carefully stowed in the boot of her car. From approximately 3 pm this afternoon we will be taking it in turns to scoot along to the Travelodge next door, where we have a room booked to allow us to shower, change into our assorted finery and generally ensure we are “awards ready” for tonight. Ladies will be applying makeup, back-combing hair and using any amount of hairspray.
Gentlemen will be wondering what all the fuss is about?! In the interim the corporate facilities look like a stock room from an upmarket fashion house, as everyone has hung up their dresses/dinner suits/dress shirts etc… to let the creases drop out! I suspect that by the end of the evening some of the staff may need to be hung up to let the creases drop out!
We will be celebrating in style tonight. Whilst we would love to win (ideally in all 3 categories) we are very aware that it is an honour and an achievement for a business to reach the finals at all. Competition is strong and we wish all the nominees an enjoyable evening and every success (as long as we actually win of course ……)
