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Marcus hits the big 3-0!

Posted by Nick on 28-01-2010

Today we all helped Marcus celebrate turning 30 the only way we know how - by giving him a massive chocolate cake that we could all tuck into!

Marcus's birthday celebrations - which were held early because he is not in on the big day itself - started when Lil' Lou surrounded his desk with banners and balloons.

He blushed somewhat at being centre of attention - but not as much as he did when the cake and his birthday present came out in the afternoon.

Once Marcus finished hiding away in his birthday card, he got round to unwrapping his gift from the Theme Group team - a signed picture of his Arsenal hero Cesc Fabregas, which he said will go in son Miles's room.

We then divided up the huge chocolate cake, which was - as past winners of Who's the Fatty will testify - delicious.

Please join us in wishing Marcus a very Happy 30th Birthday by leaving him a message.

Posted by Nick on 28-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Hectors Heroes' come-back!

Posted by Amy on 26-01-2010

I can write this week's Theme Dream blog with my head held high today because the highest scorer was… me!

The 107 points I got in the last week (how did that happen?) have pushed me up the table to seventh, my best position and way ahead of certain people who claim to know about football (Nick and Marcus, to name just two!).

Wayne Rooney helped Mark to an impressive 105, much to his relief, but the main story of the week is that Richard Jee, having clawed his way to the top of the table, is now back to second.

He had managed to bridge the gap of several hundred points when Natalie Dobson had a poor Christmas, but 82 points for Thoresby Terriers compared to Hectors Heroes' 98 saw his hard work undone.

Not only does that put her back to first, but it also makes her early favourite for another manager of the month award - although Chloe Gee's Marmite side only managed one point less than Natalie for the week.

The current top five are as follows:

• Hectors Heroes - 1,580
• Thoresby Terriers - 1,561
• 12 Disciples - 1,469
• Down in Albion - 1,411
• Rookie Rangers - 1,397

Posted by Amy on 26-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Circus celebration at Affinion

Posted by Mark on 21-01-2010

Affinion International marked their annual ACE Awards ceremony with a circus themed evening at Portsmouth's Guildhall - and what an event it was!

We were already really pleased to have helped them out on the design front by producing a Cirque du Soleil-esque concept for the posters, invites and more.

But on top of this, we were invited to attend the prize giving itself - an offer which I accepted, and which involved enjoying a lovely meal followed by top drawer entertainment from a troupe of circus performers.

And what a sight that was! Impressive doesn't even come close to describing some of the things these guys can do. As a schoolboy, just climbing once up a 15-ft gym rope wore me out, yet this lot whizz up and down them, spinning and tumbling as they go, without any effort whatsoever. It was tiring just watching them!

Believe or not, I'm in that picture somewhere. I have to say, it's one of the most flattering photos I've had done in a while!

I had a great evening with everyone from Affinion. We were pleased to be involved with the project and pleased to be invited to join the celebrations - well done to all the ACE Award winners!

Posted by Mark on 21-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Signature launch great fun

Posted by Lil Lou on 15-01-2010

Yesterday saw the grand opening of South Lodge, the latest state-of-the-art care home from Signature Senior Lifestyle - and what an evening it was!

When Mark, Nick and I arrived in Leicester just before two - having stopped off for a yummy fry-up en route - the staff were rushing around putting the finishing touches on everything.

There were at least three hoovers on the go to ensure the place was spick and span, and carers were busy learning their lines for the guided tours or making sure the wine, juice and bubbly were all in place.

We got to take a sneaky early tour, and I have to say the place was lovely - you could blindfold someone and take them to the reception, and they would swear they were in a hotel!

And from the huge apartments through the little touches on the dementia floor that helps the residents easily find their bearings, everything at South Lodge was really well thought out.

When the opening itself came round, 120 locals, dignitaries and future residents arrived to get a first look at the place. There were some touching and amusing speeches, followed by the ribbon cutting - and then the delicious buffet! Filled us up nicely for the long journey home - handy because the greasy spoon was shut by then!

Posted by Lil Lou on 15-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Top manager curse finally strikes

Posted by Nick on 14-01-2010

There's a superstition in professional football that says the manager of the month winner will always follow it up with a run of bad results - a superstition that quite often comes true.

And it seems that this same curse has finally hit Royal Holloway's Natalie Dobson, although it has taken a hat-trick of manager wins before she finally felt the effects.

Because not only was Natalie way down the list when it comes to points scored throughout December, denying her a fourth manager of the month gong, but her poor festive period has also seen her knocked off the top spot.

Richard Jee's Thoresby Terriers - who topped the monthly results with 384 points - has now usurped Natalie at the Theme Dream summit, and although it is only a nine point lead, it's still impressive given Hector's Heroes' early dominance. Natalie managed 259 for the month - the lowest in the top five and ninth out of the non-Theme Group members.

There have been some strange results of late thanks to the amount of cancelled games in the last fortnight, but for now Theme Dream has a new frontrunner. And as far as the week goes, I was top scorer with a staggering 22 points!

The current top five, coupled with their monthly scores, are as follows:

• Thoresby Terriers - 1,397 (384 December)
• Hectors Heroes - 1,388 (259 December)
• Down in Albion - 1,297 (302 December)
• Manchenster - 1,277 (275 December)
• Rookie Rangers - 1,242 (299 December)

Posted by Nick on 14-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Oh snow, not again!

Posted by Steve on 06-01-2010

Having had several nightmare journeys on the Monday before Christmas, we were all less than delighted to hear that more snow was on its way over Tuesday and Wednesday (except Marcus, who was up before 6am for a snowball fight with the neighbouring kids!).

Many of us did not manage to make it into the office - I made it all the way to work before getting my car stuck - so we thought we would show you how deep the snow was in our area.

Norm the gnome even came out of hiding to measure the depth in our front carpark, and it was a staggering eight inches - no wonder I got stuck!

If you have any pics of your office in the snow (or if you have pics of the snowman you made because you couldn't get to work!), we'd love to see them - just send them to differentbydesign@themegroup.co.uk

Posted by Steve on 06-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Happy New Year

Posted by Lil Lou on 04-01-2010

Presents have been unwrapped, far too much food and drink has been consumed, and now we're all refreshed and ready for 2010!

We've welcomed in the new year with a wonderful new sign, and the whole Theme Group team has packed away their Christmas jumpers and headed back to the office.

We've got some great new projects already lined up for the coming months we are both proud and excited to be working on. And on top of that, I have some news of my own - my boyfriend Adam proposed to me over Christmas, so he is finally going to make an honest woman of me!

So may we wish everyone a happy new year - may it bring everyone much luck - and we hope to hear from you all soon!

Posted by Lil Lou on 04-01-2010 | 0 Comments | Leave a Comment…

Snow joke delivering Yules the fatty prize

Posted by Mark on 05-01-2010

Our 2009 final Who's the Fatty winner - who correctly pointed out that Rudolph is the one with a red nose at Christmas, not the Theme Group team - was Polly Chapman from Epson.

And given that Epson is based in Hemel Hempstead - a journey that usually takes around 45 minutes from the Old Chapel - I think I can be forgiven for being surprised that my drive to drop off the festive goodies ended up taking 12 hours!

Things started out well enough - Polly and the team were over the moon with their well-earned treats. Polly thought they were fantastic, and was so excited to get them before Christmas. I left her and the team debating whether or not to share the cakes with the rest of the office because they looked so scrummy!

But it was when I left the Epson office - and the snow arrived - that things went slightly awry.

Six hours of sitting in traffic on the motorway and another two-and-a-half hours without moving en route to Basingstoke were made slightly livelier by being towed out of a ditch and then having to move a tree out of the road.

In hindsight, I wish I had taken Epson up on their offer to take one of the cakes with me - I was starving by the time I got home at 1am.

The journey to work the next day was surreal too, with cars deserted along the roadside, but at least that never-ending journey home led to some interesting tales - and we weren't the only ones.

Most of the team had experienced long journeys home - even those who only live 20 minutes away were stuck in traffic for up to three hours, and many decided to stay with friends and relatives instead of risking the snow.

Let's hope January's a bit less eventful!

Posted by Mark on 05-01-2010 | 1 Comment | Leave a Comment…