Low key Christmas at OWB

We have deliberately decided to keep it low-key this Christmas and not really overdo it with the decorations, just a few tasteful fairy lights and the like....wishing all our readers a very Happy Chrimbo!

Good on the Girls!!

Despite desperate attempts from Andy to thwart her, Shari currently holds the highest score in the 'Desktop Rugby Championship'. In a tense lunchtime competition, Shari held her nerve and planted 2 out 3 conversions, leaving Andy reeling in his lame attempt to compete and as usual, he completely missed the mark!


More practice required me thinks!!

SHOCK CALL UP TO NATIONAL TEAM!

....after a disappointing, well very disappointing, well frankly absolutely awful Autumn series I was rather amazed to get the call from Twickenham this morning. I am to turn up for the January squad sessions at Pennyhill Park. I will therefore be embarking on a highly nutritious pre-Christmas carbohydrate fuelled diet with plenty of fluid intake, and will be following a strict series of carefully planned speed, stamina and contact drills. I have been released from Whittington Veterans (pictured) who have terminated my full-time contract whilst I look for a Premiership Club contract. If anyone has a spare gum shield it would be appreciated!

Leading Commercial Vehicle Hire Group turn to OWB

Prohire, one of the UK’s leading providers of commercial vehicle contract hire and fleet management systems for national brands including retail, pharmaceutical, business to business and consumer, has appointed the Birmingham based marketing and digital communications agency OWB to handle their account.

Andrew Morley, Sales and Marketing Director for Prohire commenting on the appointment stated, “OWB provided the innovation and expertise we were looking for from a marketing partner in driving the Prohire brand forward for the next 5 years. Their ability to translate our business growth plans into both direct sales promotion opportunities and online digital opportunities will strengthen the Prohire brand as we look to capture new markets and exploit new technologies and also extend our customer portfolio”.

Prohire, a Fast Track 100 business operates from its HQ in Fenton, Staffordshire and has successfully built the business that extends nationally throughout the UK. The business manages some 2000 vehicles and offers a range of services including Commercial Vehicle Contract Hire, Fleet Management and Purchase and Leaseback.

Initial work to be undertaken will include a direct marketing campaign to target new prospects looking to find a partner in-step with their business to handle their total fleet requirements. This will be followed by an overhaul of the Prohire website and online activity to raise the profile of the business brand.

“This is a tremendous win for OWB”, comments Andy Wilkinson, Managing Director. “We are looking forward to working with this highly driven business who have an exciting ethos going forward, a young management team who want to grow the Prohire brand and take it into many different avenues. We look forward to an exciting and rewarding partnership with the Prohire team”.

Event of the century

Usually 'e-boy' jonesy has turned into 'tea-boy' & suprised the studio by making a brew.

This is a very rare occurence & needed documenting - so here it is for all to see!

And nat missed it!!

Nice one jonesy!

£43,000 raised for Opportunity International

OWB sponsored Lloyds TSB Commercial's team to raise funds for Opportunity International. Out of 60 teams, Rob and crew won the event both in terms of fund raising and overall event winners. A total of £43,000 was raised on the day.

New Product Centre Created for Aerospace Giant, Mettis

A Top Night out at BELLA!

There's no better place to enjoy great Italian favourities, the kids love it, the team in Stafford are Number one and the Christmas table-talker copy is pure class (ahem!) Nice menu creative too......www.bellaitalia.co.uk

OWB is a Quality Organisation...

...For the third year in a row we have retained our accreditation as an ISO 9001 recognised organisation. The audit was driven through the entire business by key team members Natalie and Shari and a big thanks to them for making it happen.

Teaching Shari Football Songs

Great fun last night (until the comedy job's worth doorman at Pride Park, but that's another story) the only I shot I managed to get of Blues 1-1 draw against Derby....pretty uninspiring game really but the Pedigree and Wine flowed and Jonesey taught Shari the words to infamous Birmingham City greats such as; "Keep Right On", "We're Birmingham" and "**** on the Villa" (as an Albion fan I kept my head down!) Andy

Work Experience Works.....

And here's the testimonial to prove it! India was with us for a fun-packed two weeks and this is what she thought about life in OWB....

My OWB experience

Work experience can often be thought of as being a coffee making, photocopying fortnight, which doesn’t sound appealing. So I tried to sort out a two week placement that would challenge me but at the same time, get a real working experience and have fun. I definitely found it.
Walking into the office at OWB I felt the atmosphere straight away, a friendly, buzzing team, ready for a challenge. After being introduced to them in turn, I realised they were all really lovely and ready to have fun whilst they worked.
On my first day, taking me out to a business meeting I realised that this team were set for the challenge ahead, each of them playing a vital part in the job.
Every member of the team had something different to bring to the table, which is why they are so successful.
Their creative minds and ‘head on’ attitude (as well as a fair few cups of tea along the way) served them well when pitching for a new project.
After the two weeks, I had memorised everyone’s orders for coffee and tea, which was hard as Andy always changed his mind.
The two weeks at which I worked at OWB put advertising as a strong contender for job prospects in the future as I had such a good time.
The team at OWB exceeded my expectations and I wasn’t looking forward to having to go back to school.

I would like to thank the whole team for making the experience worthwhile.

Thank you.

After the Pitch...

..there can't be anything better than regrouping, gathering thoughts asking the eternal questions of "did they like..", "will they go with...", "why did I forget to say.." by the side of a canal in a beer garden watching people try to park their canal boats! This couple of laughing boys took over 25 minutes to bring in their boat, at one point it was wedged across the entire canal. QUALITY!!!!

GET RECOGNISED TODAY!

We're working with Midlands Excellence, the leaders in helping business improve performance...... if you're business is looking for exposure and reward in the region's premier business awards get online TODAY http://www.investorsinexcellence.org/

Top five entrepreneurs act as ambassadors for West Midlands

Five of the West Midlands’ top
entrepreneurs have been named as business ‘ambassadors’ for the region.

The ambassadors programme, launched
by Business Link in the West Midlands, hopes they will showcase the value
of advice and specialist support, and encourage greater collaboration between
public and private sector organisation.

The five ambassadors are:
■ Nigel Eades, managing director of Tri-Ridium Limited, which focuses on the prevention of credit card fraud for retailers
■ Jagvinder Kang, co-founder and director of national law firm, Technology Law Alliance, which specialises in IT, e-commerce and outsourcing contracts
■ Deb Leary, who started Tamworth-based Forensic Pathways on the back of a hotel receipt in Canada and has seen
worldwide success
■ Nick McKay, whose fledgling MHL Support went on to attain Fast Track 100
status five years after being launched, before being sold in December 2006 for an
undisclosed eight-figure sum
■ Andrew Wilkinson, managing director of Oakley Wilkinson Bryan, independent
Birmingham based marketing and digital communications agency, founded in 2001

The ambassadors will be working to ensure Business Link offers new enterprises the right help they need. They will be charged with promoting the service at key events, during best practice visits and in creating specialist forums to boost local performance.

Kul Sanghera, head of supplier development at Business Link in the West Midlands, said: “Our first five ambassadors represent a number of disciplines, including law, accountancy, human resources, payment processing, product storage and fulfilling, marketing and even forensic science.

“All started a business from scratch and can empathise with the challenges and opportunities faced by entrepreneurs. They have also been supported by Business Link so can talk about the benefits of external expertise.”
Over a year, he is hoping to identify more successful entrepreneurs as
ambassadors.

He added: “Business and professional services are the fastest growing industry in the region, with more than £222 billion generated in annual GVA.
“It is also the second largest (behind wholesale and retail) in terms of employment with 362,700 people working in 50,267 companies.”
“It’s not just about Birmingham; there are lots of excellent firms in Coventry, Shropshire, the Black County and rural areas. It is important we build on this and make sure we work with the industry to provide the support businesses need and, importantly, make sure their expertise can benefit the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.”

OWB First Blog Post

Welcome to the fine world of OWB, on the same historical day as the Large Hadron Collider is switched on to recreate the aftermath of the BIG BANG, here I am editing our first blog (H you never thought this would happen....!)

www.owb.uk.com