So what's been happening in our world? What cool and creative things have we been up to? In a word, plenty. From new additions to the team to new business added to the client list, here's the news from our neck of the woods.
London, lycra and a bunch of Bikers...
For this year's charity endeavour, we have decided to head to the capital, don the lycra and burn some rubber with the Nightrider 100km cycling challenge! Nightrider is a one night cycle around over 50 of London's most famous landmarks, taking an average of 6-8 hours to complete.
Please visit https://www.justgiving.com/freshnightonthetyres to donate - your donations really will make a difference.
Introducing our courageous cycling challenge chiefs:
Antony Wilson
Kate Doyle
Roy Gaterell
Simon Myatt
Jack Woodcock
Jade Taylor
Gemma Shuttleworth
Rick Matthews
Chris Smith
Sophie Parkinson
Craig Bennett
Juliet Macfarlane
And why would they sign up for this madness? Well, it's for a good cause - our nominated charity Francis House. Based in Didsbury, South Manchester, Francis House provides care for children and young adults with life limiting conditions, as well as offering support and friendship to the whole family. Receiving only a small proportion of funds centrally, the hospice relies on donations to make up the rest of the substantial running costs to provide the services families desperately need. On 5th July 2011, Francis House announced the building of a new facility adjacent to the existing site on Parrswood Road which will increase the amount of respite care it can offer, especially to older teenagers. The benefits of medical advances has meant an increasing number of teenagers and young adults require the services of the hospice but with a little more independence in an environment more suited to their age and needs, and as Francis House never put an age limit on their care, their resources are more stretched than ever before.
So anything you can donate really will make a difference to lots of families in our area. Our crack team of cyclists are generously giving up their time, their energy and their delicate behinds for a good cause and knowing they are making a good chunk of money for Francis House will surely help them towards the finishing line!
Posted: Jan 16th, 16:19
fresh gets the ball rolling at the Manchester Derby!
fresh is the official match ball sponsor at the Manchester Derby this Saturday as Manchester City take on United at the Etihad Stadium. Watch out for Nick, our Chairman, and his daughter Isabel as they hand the ball over before kickoff!
Posted: Jan 6th, 17:18
RAR ranks fresh at No 1 of top 100 agencies!
After months spent collecting and collating financial and client data of hundreds of agencies based outside London, the Recommended Agency Register’s definitive Top 100 list of marketing services companies has now been revealed and it places The fresh Group at No 1 (see news story here).
This comes at the end of an incredibly strong year for us which has seen our business grow to 65+ team members, the establishing of a robust Senior Management Team, the launch of an exhibitions division, retaining and growing our long-standing clients, winning new business in retail and banking sectors, and the collection of a number of prestigious awards, including Event Company of The Year for the third year running!
Client Services Director, Patrick Howells said, “The primary criteria at the heart of this poll are to rank agencies on how profitable they are, how well they are growing, and how efficient they are in terms of turnover per head of staff. The pre-cursor for entry into RAR in the first place is that businesses must deliver a high-level of customer satisfaction. It is due to this and our on-going relationship with our clients that has aided our growth year on year. So, on behalf of the whole team at fresh I’d like to thank our clients for putting us where we are.”
Finance Director Antony Wilson added, “Our focus on client development has been key to fresh’s growth over its seven years but to be recognised specifically for our robust key performance indicators, such as year-on-year growth, gross profit and turnover per employee, is truly rewarding.”
Posted: Dec 9th 2011, 11:08
Three times in one night! (surely that's some sort of record?!)
We at the fresh group have nerves of steel, waiting nervously at not one, but two awards do's in London last night. But the ravaged nails paid off, and we took home two gongs from the UK Event Awards - Best Experiential Event for M&S Start, and Best Use of Technology for our Santander Wonderwall. And across town from Wembley Arena, we collected the Best Fashion Brand Event award at the Brand Event Awards at Shakespeare's Globe. So an excellent night was had by all and three more awards in one night tops off what has been a great awards season for the fresh group!
Posted: Dec 1st 2011, 12:47
Building a better world with The Co-operative...
The United Nations have declared 2012 the International Year of Co-Operatives, and our client The Co-operative Group, as founders of the co-operative movement, are hosting a week long series of events right here in its home city of Manchester.
As part of these events, we have been comissioned to produce an interactive exhibition, highlighting the difference co-operative organisations make. Named Home Town, the zone will feature a life size Co-operative Town, demonstrating how co-operatives can build a better world.
Watch this space for further developments...
Posted: Nov 23rd 2011, 16:04
Wahooo - fresh scores a hat trick!
It was champagne a plenty last night as we won Agency of the Year - for the third year running - at the Marketing Industry Awards in Manchester! We also proudly took home our finalist certificate from the MEN Business of the Year awards, with both sets of fresh award attendees meetng up for some celebratory drinks! As you can imagine, the bacon sandwiches have just arrived in the office... but another great result!
Posted: Nov 18th 2011, 11:19
Avon gets fresh... for two more years!
After a successful few years working together it was time to re-pitch some fun and invigorating ideas to win the Avon contract for a further two years. A great example of our joined up approach, the pitch touched every department within fresh and we're delighted to announce we'll be working with Avon for the next two years on a range of exciting projects! A great result as what has been a great year for fresh draws to a close.
Posted: Nov 14th 2011, 17:37
fresh Awards!
We’re in popular demand on the awards scene at the moment with a plethora of award do’s to attend! So far we’ve got highly commended at the C&IT Awards in the Business and Finance Event of the Year category for Santander Convention 2011, and we’ve still got the MEN Business of the Year, Brand Event Awards, UK Event Awards, Eventia and Mi Awards left to attend. Watch this space (and our mantelpiece) for updates!
Posted: Nov 9th 2011, 14:41
Five times fresh for Santander
fresh has been awarded the Santander Convention for the fifth year in a row. The event for 2500 delegates will take place in February 2012 at Earls Court London.
Fresh first worked with Santander on the annual event in 2008, and successfully pitched and won the business again in 2009, 2010 and 2011. This success clearly demonstrates not only the positive effect of the fresh joined up approach but also the high level of service offering to deliver an event of this size and the creativity involved in approaching the same event in a different way, year on year.
Account Director, Becky Dewhurst said; “We’re thrilled to be working with Santander again on the Convention for 2012. We were proud of our pitch and felt we demonstrated our knowledge of the brand and our ability to think creatively and approach this event with as much enthusiasm as we did the first time we pitched.”
Operations Director, Damian Besbrode added, “This win comes towards the end of another successful year for the fresh Group and ensures that the beginning of 2012 will be busy and productive with new and old clients alike.”
Posted: Oct 31st 2011, 09:22