Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Worldwide comes to Rheged

Last night myself, David, Sandra, Alison and Jackie together with some guests had the great pleasure of attending an exclusive event at Rheged to celebrate the centenary of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the fundamental contribution of marketing to business success.

Susanna Boccaccio, director of Brilliant Trees Media Ltd and a winner of multiple Royal Television Society awards did a fantastic job hosting the evening.

In support of the event, Kevin Roberts CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, one of the world’s leading creative organisations kindly agreed to give something back to the area where he was born by giving us an insight into the power of effective marketing.

Kevin is a leader in his field and is dedicated to activating world-changing ideas that improve human wellbeing and as such leads one of the world’s leading creative organisations. Saatchi & Saatchi's focus is to fill the world with Lovemarks – an idea that reinvents brands. Lovemarks are owned by the people that love them - not by companies or marketers. Great brands have passed their destiny over to The Consumer. "Like" is not enough, "admire" won't cut it. Lovemarks infuse mystery, sensuality and intimacy to win loyalty beyond reason.

Kevin’s presentation was brilliant – it was interesting and exciting and was delivered with a true passion that showed marketing as a key factor in any business success.

The Cumbria Chamber of Commerce once again staged a fantastic event... in a great venue with great company and delicious food.

(Billy Mallinson, Sandra Gowling, Chris Strutt)

I’d like to thank all those who were involved, in particular, Kevin Roberts. He brought something fresh and new to Cumbria – he showed the power of ideas and how they can ultimately make a difference.

Sara Deans

Rugby Match Sponsorship Day

Saturday 10 December saw David Allen return to Aspatria Rugby Club for our annual sponsorship day.

Every year, we like to invite friends and clients to join us for an afternoon of corporate hospitality as a thank you for supporting us over the past year.

Guests arrived promptly at 1pm, coming from all over the county with many arriving by train. Michael Peile who will officially take up the position of associate on 1 January delivered the official welcome before inviting guests to sample a drink or two whilst enjoying a bite to eat from the fantastic buffet, laid on by the club’s ladies committee... then the match kicked off.

This year the team was up against Wirral, a team who earlier in the season had beaten the Aspatria side, however, this time it was a very different story. Wirral made a strong start with Aspatria fighting off the attacks but as the half time whistle was blown Aspatria had secured a 10-5 advantage. In the second half, Wirral piled on the pressure by again making a strong start and were even ahead 10-15 at one point but a late show from Aspatria saw them snatch a 17-15 Victory.

After all the excitement we headed back into the clubhouse where Derek Baty, the new MD of David Allen Wealth Management announced the winners of our Guess the Score competition.

Many of our guests have said they had a fantastic day and they were happy to see so many of our staff present on the day to meet our clients and soak up the atmosphere. A special thank you to the staff and the ladies committee for ensuring we had such a fantastic day.

Julie Walsh

SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) Diversification Event - in connection with Rural Skills Cumbria

I was invited by Emily Maclean of the SAC to be a guest speaker at an agricultural diversification event held at Crooklands, near Kendal on Wednesday 7 December.

The event attracted a number of delegates in farming and rural business, all of whom were looking at ways to boost their income and improve their business position for the future. There were 7 speakers including myself, who covered a range of topics including renewable energy, food marketing and tourism. In the evening a similar event was held at Mitchell's auction, Cockermouth, with Michael Peile presenting our topic; Diversification Start Up and Development.

It was a really enjoyable day/evening and a great opportunity for both Michael and I to speak at such an important event - a big thank you to Emily for the invite and for organising the event.

Sandra Gowling

Cash for Kids at Carlisle Racecourse

As keen supporters of the local community, David and I were delighted to be invited to the annual CFM Cash for Kids Christmas lunch at Carlisle Racecourse as guests of Joe and Shirley Wilkinson.

Cash for Kids delivers initiatives for sick and underprivileged children in our communities, to benefit local children and give the neediest a better and brighter future. All cash raised during the event will go to bring happiness to children in our local area.

On arrival at the racecourse, Santa took time from his busy schedule at the North Pole to greet us and accept the gifts that we had taken along – he said that these will then personally deliver these to the children in our area at Christmas.

The meal we had was fantastic and afterwards Robbie Dee put things into perspective and reminded us why we were there. The stories he highlighted are an inspiration to others – in particular, Olivia Story. Olivia was running around the room without a care in the world, full of smiles and happiness and when her mum stood up to deliver a speech to thank everyone for their support and best wishes, there was not a dry eye in the room.

Cash for kids is a fantastic charity – during the day they raised funds through an auction, a raffle and by playing games and topped the afternoon off with some spectacular entertainment and dancing.

We would like to thank Jo and Shirley, CFM and Carlisle Racecourse for hosting what we thought was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Alison Allen

Christmas Party

Saturday night marked the explosive start of the Christmas party season for all the staff at David Allen. Our annual Christmas party was hosted by Carlisle Racecourse and wow… what a night it turned out to be.

On arrival with were greeted by the racecourse staff together with a several young ladies from the cabaret act, dressed in an array of fantastic 70's outfits. Bubbles started flowing early on… followed by a delicious 3 course meal which included the traditional Christmas dinner of turkey and all the trimmings.

Shortly after our meal the entertainment began. Explosive productions filled the room with a fantastic selection of 70's, 80's and 90's music and entertainment, before bringing us back to 2011. What a fabulous show it was... in no time at all the dance floor was packed and by the end of the night everyone was on their feet.

A special thank you to Explosive productions and all the staff at the racecourse for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Julie Walsh