The Provide Group News

With 60 teams limbering up, clouds and rain looming on the horizon, excitement was building at the waters edge of Willen Lake, Milton Keynes at 8am on 29th June 2008.

The Dragonboat Race had arrived. The challenge: 5 heats of rowing in a 16-man, 40 ft long-boat over a gruelling 250-metre course of the lake.

The crew from Provide had been training hard for this day. After just missing out on first place at last year’s event, the team were determined to win.

This was the seventh Dragon Boat Festival in Milton Keynes and the turnout was better than ever. Over 14,000 spectators came along to support the teams and enjoy the day’s attractions despite the threat of a downpour, which was unexpectedly replaced by glorious sunshine instead.

Staff, clients and friends of Provide came along with their families to cheer on the crew making for a great atmosphere.

The races were tightly fought and the competition was fierce but Provide flew into the finals without a worry.

The final heat was intensely close all the way with Provide leading through the first half. At the last moment, the other team came through and won the race, just pipping Provide to the post by less than quarter of a second.

“It may not have been a win but it was a tremendous result. The crew had done exceptionally well beating 58 of the 60 other teams”, said Dan Brazier, Managing Director of Provide.

Fundraising was the other objective of the day and Provide embraced the task with equal enthusiasm to the race itself. Leading up to the big event, all the consultants at Provide had been busy gaining support from friends, clients and family to generate cash for the chosen charity: Keech Cottage Children’s Hospice www.pasque.org

Keech Cottage Hospice is an invaluable cause that voluntarily supports families trying to cope with the inevitable loss of their child – children who are sadly expected to die from life-limiting illnesses before they reach adulthood. Many of the staff at Provide are parents and so this was a charity very close to their hearts.

With the help of sponsorship, donations and a very unpopular swear box at the office, Provide raised an impressive £2300 for charity. We would like to give a special thank you to Coutts for their most generous donation and congratulate Lorna Alcock of Provide who raised the most money. We hope she will enjoy the prize of a meal for two at a restaurant of her choice in Milton Keynes.

Provide recently attended the Annual HBOS charity Golf at Mentmore Golf and Country club to enjoy a few competitions in aid of local charity CHAT.

With guests and employees of HBOS and Provide’s own Director, Hayden Male, competing for the titles of Stableford King and Texas Scramble Gods, the event was a great success.

Organiser Darren Evans, Manager at HBOS, was delighted with the how well the corporate day turned out: “The golf day went extremely well and we all managed to raise over £2,500 for CHAT which will go towards helping to supply much needed specialist electric beds at the Wing Unit. We appreciate the continued support from our sponsors; without companies like Provide offering their support the day would not be as successful.”

Hayden added: “Darren Evans and Terry O’Toole (CHAT) managed to organise one of the best corporate golf days I have ever attended…and I’ve been to quite a few. It’s great to see companies like HBOS willing to support such great charities in conjunction with their annual golf day. Despite supplying over 180 golf balls for the event but managing to lose all of mine by the 14th hole, I can honestly say it was a great day and look forward to next year when we can help raise even more money.”

CHAT is an extremely worthwhile charity that provides a respite facility in Aylesbury for young children with disabilities. They continuously need support to maintain this level of care and support. For more information, please visit their website at www.chat-charity.org.uk

Hayden Male and Organiser Darren Evans

Source: www.providedesign.co.uk

When it comes to web design and development there is always two paths to take - the bespoke service or the ‘off-the-shelf’ package. Personally I feel there is always the right option for the right job.

Take our new site for example, have a look around, poke a stick at it, kick its tyres and click a few links. On the face of it it looks like a fairly simple site but to achieve this it has taken a lot of hard work. However, a lot of this hard work had already been done for us by courtesy of the kind folks at the WordPress camp and its steadfast community.

Started in 2003, WordPress has since grown to become one of the most popular Open Source publishing/blogging platforms who’s developers are entirely focused on aesthetics whilst achieving web standards and accessibility. Its user friendly experience - you don’t need to be a ‘php guru’ use its content management system, built in Search Engine Optimisiation and the ability to entirely customise pretty much everything, make it extremely flexible for the designer, the developer and ultimately the client.

Their ethos towards web development is comparable to ours and when it came to re-developing our site there really was no option but to construct it on the WordPress platform. Sure, a bespoke, personal option would perhaps make us feel a little more special and all warm inside but put up against WordPress and its 5 years of development, its community of developers and constant security and functionality updates, it would seem a little over the top and a waste of resources to fulfill our requirements.

To utilise established, Open Source platforms such as WordPress, CubeCart, Joomla, Vanilla as well as other applications and frameworks such as MooTools, Script.aculo.us and jQuery is like having someone lay down the foundations for a building for you. The hard, messy, yet hidden parts are done and so, as web designers, we are able to focus upon the form and the function of the rest of the “building”. Afterall, we like making things look pretty, that’s why we became designers.

Open Source applications are becoming more and more accepted as viable, cost effective, alternatives to commercial software. We, as many others, now think of it as our 24Hour, One-Stop web development team. They have given us more tools to produce the desired results and meet the demands of our clients.

Our such recent examples include www.shipmanagementinternational.com and www.forgeracing.co.uk. Both sites have different demands but both began as a basic WordPress site. With WordPress anything is possible, that’s why I think it rocks!

However, I must add that with all this talk it probably makes me sound like I am dissmissing a bespoke service, I am not. Yes, I won’t deny we like and regularly build sites on WordPress but there are a lot of benefits of commissioning a bespoke site that shouldn’t be ignored. I am mearly pointing out that today’s web developers and designers need to assess each job on its own requirements and restrictions to choose the most practical solution.

After all, we still go all warm and fuzzy over custom sites.

Source: www.providedesign.co.uk

Source: www.providepeople.com

Good people are hard to find. Headhunting has become commonplace. If you employ highly technical, specialist people it’s likely your competition are eyeing up your top people and instigating strategies to tempt them away. Now, more than ever, companies are looking for ways to retain their most valued asset.

Employee satisfaction is the hot topic of the moment: The Times give national recognition for the ‘Best place to work in the UK’ and the City and Guilds have just conducted their annual study for the ‘Happy Workplace Index’ which worryingly found our region to be ‘…below average for happiness at work’. They obviously didn’t survey local company Provide who, despite being in an incredibly competitive market and doubling in size over the past year, have made it into the Regional Finals of the National Business Awards for ‘Employer of the Year’.

Provide are in ICT recruitment. Their consultants are under pressure every day. It’s hard work with ambitious targets in a fast moving sector and yet they continue to attract the best people. I caught up with Provide at Woburn Golf Club to find out how they’ve achieved it:

It’s been reported in the local media that your business is soaring, as is your headcount. How do you manage to do that whilst looking after your old and new employees…and still find time to play golf?
“As a nation, we are spending more hours working than ever before so it makes sense to introduce ways to make it less stressful. It’s enjoyable to converse on the golf course, meet in the boxes at the big football matches or discuss requirements over lunch at great restaurants. It keeps our clients happy and our consultants love their job – doing business this way has not only helped us to build solid client relationships but attract and keep the best team around”, explained Dan Brazier, Managing Director at Provide.

Chris Murdoch, Senior Consultant at Provide, added: “Provide is a great place to work. Where else do you get to do the things you love doing in your spare time and get paid for it? It’s not an easy job though – we work hard to deliver an exceptional service - but the directors are young and switched on – they give us the flexibility to find our own way of achieving results. Provide enthusiastically encourage us to meet clients on a social level which makes my job really enjoyable. They put their trust in their consultants and invest a lot into career satisfaction. By allowing us to build relationships with our clients away from the office, we get to appreciate our customer’s needs to a much deeper level – everyone wins”.

To what do you attribute your success and recent recognition for employee satisfaction?
David Freeman, Head of Operations and Staff Development, explained: “We value our staff and want them to feel happy about coming in to work. We do that by giving them excellent training and development, a clear career path to progress, lots of recognition and a work environment that inspires them. We operate a ‘healthy’ workplace and reward our employees with incentives to genuinely improve and enhance their life”.

David, what advice would you give local companies to help improve staff satisfaction and retention?
“Be flexible and creative, listen and encourage input. Ask your staff how they feel. Our staff regularly tell us what they want from their career and their workplace…we take that feedback and act on it. We specialise in people and careers – that’s our business – we have to get it right and set an example.”

All companies suffering from high staff turnover, take note – we need to make the South East a much better place to work. Clearly, Provide have the formula and are on course for success in 2008 - with or without their golf clubs. We wish them the best of luck at the National Business Awards 2008.

If you are interested in working for Provide, contact us for vacancy details.

Source: www.providepeople.com

Source: www.providedesign.co.uk

Welcome to Provide Design’s brand new website. We have been working hard into the wee hours under the Milton Keynes gloam to put together a comprehensive collection of our work and all the information you could want to know about us and what our capabilities are.

This website is based on the WordPress platform allowing us to keep it regularly updated at the drop of hat, no matter where we are. As such, make sure you check back on a regular basis as we will be posting new projects hot of the press, fresh to your screens.

As well as posting new work we will be regularly posting new photographs, helpful hints and tips on web design, development and seo, design industy musings, service reviews and much more (maybe even the odd competition). Be sure to sign up to our newsletter or the rss feed before your leave to stay ahead of the rest.

Enjoy our website - and if you have any questions - please drop us a line.

Sam & Rob - Provide Design

Source: www.providedesign.co.uk

Source: www.providepeople.com

If there was an award for the healthiest company in Milton Keynes (now, there’s an idea), ICT Recruitment specialists, Provide, would not only be the winners but would probably sponsor it too.

Daily deliveries of organic fruit to Provide HQ have been a popular addition to the diet of a growing number of consultants for over a year along with a company fitness coach and discounted gym membership. It’s all part of the heath & fitness initiative introduced by Dan Brazier, self confessed healthy-living fanatic and Managing Director at Provide who kicked off April 2008 with a new focus on helping his consultants stay healthy.

For this, he enrolled the services of Jane Preen – super fit lady and nutrition expert of Storm Health. Jane’s mission was to come in and detox the boardroom…and maybe get everyone to try a few Brussels sprouts along the way too. A brave woman indeed.

Armed with a whole heap of fruit and veg, Jane didn’t beat around the bush – she told the 20 strong team how it is: “1 in 3 people will get cancer at some point in their lives – however, 80% of ALL cancers are preventable through diet.” That got the attention of the crowd.

After scaring and depressing everyone by pointing out the real ingredients in chocolate, alcohol, popcorn, ham sandwiches and even milk, Jane explained how we could all improve our diet with little effort. She is, after all, proof of how easy it is to eat nutritionally no matter how busy you are: Mother, wife, dog walker, author, business woman and ranked in the top 5 of the UK’s 5km runners. We are not worthy.

Jane enlightened us to the fact that we actually need to be eating TWENTY servings of fruit and veg per day, not five, which left us wondering how on earth we’d cram all that in, in one month, let alone one day. Throwing the dreaded Brussels sprouts, skins and all, into the juicer with some big chunks of pineapple, orange and other blurs of brightly coloured good stuff, she showed us how easy it actually is to consume that many portions. She then passed glasses of this super juice round the room to prove it tastes good too. Every glass was finished. Who’d have thought it? The Brussels sprout juice was a unanimous hit.

In a matter of minutes, Jane had also whipped up a very tasty guacamole, a big pot of hummus and a spinach, apple & carrot smoothie. Everything was enthusiastically received…even the carrot sticks disappeared amidst lots of crunching and nodding. Maybe we can give up the deep fried Mars Bars after all.

Jane’s message is a clear one. Change your diet and you’ll not only have more energy, clarity and concentration but you’ll live longer. Most importantly, you won’t hit that dreaded sugar slump in the afternoon, you’ll be able to work for longer periods of time and you won’t pick up all the colds and bugs – something Dan was keen to impress on the consultants: “The sharper and healthier they are, the better the results, the higher the productivity, the lower the sick leave and the happier the clients”.

In other words, carrots and sprouts will make you all rich and successful! You read it here first.

Disclaimer: Author would like to make it clear that, as good as they are, carrots and sprouts cannot make you rich all by themselves.  You need to work hard too. If you’re interested in joining Provide and want to be part of a fun, energetic, successful company, visit www.providepeople.com.

Source: www.providepeople.com

Source: www.providepeople.com

Ever wanted to know where the happiest place to work is in the UK? Well, the City and Guilds have recently conducted their fifth year of research to find the answer to that very question.

This colourful map shows exactly where the happy and disgruntled people are up and down the country. Results show that the chirpiest employees are in Newcastle whilst the workforce most likely to sob into their pillow as the alarm goes off is in Leeds and York.

Worryingly, almost 5 million people said they had a fear of work ‘ergophobia’
with those in HR, law and secretarial professions rating themselves as the unhappiest of all.

We all accept that the occasional bad day is part of life, however there are
many easy, low cost initiatives employers can implement to make their staff smile. For example, the study showed one in six Brits simply wanted a more flexible working day, while 8% said that training and development would make their job more satisfying.

As a popular employer in the area, one of Provide’s top priorities is to make sure their staff are happy.

David Freeman, Operations Director at Provide explained: ‘We value our staff and want them to feel happy about coming in to work. We do that by giving them excellent training and development, a clear career path to progress, lots of recognition and a work environment that inspires them. Our employees even have fresh organic fruit delivered to their desk everyday and a personal trainer on-call to keep them fit and healthy!’

Whilst our region didn’t come last in the happiness ratings…we didn’t come out top either. Figures from the South East were pretty thin on the ground and Provide, for one, believe Milton Keynes is a happier place to work than the study showed.

‘Our staff regularly tell us what they want from their career and their workplace…we take that feedback and act on it. We specialise in people and jobs – that’s our business – and we want to know how the rest of the companies in Milton Keynes treat their employees. We will be carrying out a survey over the coming months to find out exactly how satisfied people are in their jobs locally.’ Said Mr Freeman.

Alternatively – if you aren’t happy in your job, let us help you find a better one.

Source: www.providepeople.com

Source: www.providepeople.com

When Provide said they were ‘going places’ everyone assumed they were just talking about the incredible growth the company had experienced in the past year …that is until their signature blue cabs were spotted cruising round the city of Milton Keynes stating the same thing.

These eye catching Hackney Carriages can be found in the usual popular haunts and drop offs – you’ll have probably seen them or been chauffeured in one if you’ve been to the train station, Xscape or The Hub over the past few weeks.

The message on the taxi invites passengers to jump in and join Provide…either as a candidate on the search for a new job in ICT or as a member of the growing team at Provide.

Provide’s mission, if they haven’t already achieved it, is to become the best employer in the region. Their reputation is spreading like wildfire. Most people in the local recruitment industry will no doubt be fighting for the chance to work for this exceptional company – not only do they promise the best perks in the business which include trips to Dubai and daily treats to keep the staff happy and healthy, but each employee also has the chance to buy shares in Provide and make money as the company does (a great investment opportunity if past results are anything to go by).

So, if you see one of these special taxis, stick your hand out and jump on for the ride…Provide really can take you anywhere you want to go.

Source: www.providepeople.com

Source: www.providepeople.com

“The success story continues for ICT recruitment specialists, Provide. Their growth has been explosive over the past 10 months and with the launch of their Contract Division and fresh new website, you get the distinct feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Click here to read the rest of the Inside Business magazine article.

Source: www.providepeople.com

Source: www.providepeople.com

Provide entered the 2007 Dragon Boat Race on Willen Lake, Milton Keynes.

Click here to see pictures and a feature PDF article.

Source: www.providepeople.com