Grovelands News category
Grovelands Emulate Arsenal’s “Invincibles”
2003/04 marked what was without doubt the most historic season in English professional football history. Arsenal completed a remarkable unbeaten campaign, on their way to a record-breaking title; never before had a team gone close to this feat, and almost all pundits and fans believed it would never happen again. It is therefore all the more extraordinary that Grovelands United repeated Arsenal’s achievement and claimed a richly deserved Premiership title of their own.
Grovelands began the campaign with uninspiring draws in the opening two games. They then went on a winning run to the end of the season (interrupted only by an incredibly hard-fought draw against a technically superior opposition) and finished the season with a trademark 2-1 victory. Grovelands had been priced at a generous 10/1 for the title before the season started, and in the end made the bookies look foolish by winning with a game in hand.
The Invincible Arsenal team of 2003 possessed a cacophony of big name stars who matched immense talent and skill with power and grit; Lehmann, Campbell, Vieira, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp – the list of stars was endless. Throughout the course of this season many of the Grovelands team have displayed marked comparisons to those Arsenal legends. Jeffery showed all the mad talent that encompassed Jens Lehmann, Marker and Ives formed a strong centre-back pairing reminiscent of Campbell and Toure, whilst Gardner played the Gilberto role well. Throw in Wilson as Freddie Ljungberg, Henderson as Robert Pires, the Bailey brothers as Vieira and Bergkamp and you’ve got a good picture. Thierry Henry scored 30 league goals in the 2003/04 season, and whilst he couldn’t boast those figures, Darren A’Court netted a better-than-a-goal-a-game tally of 11 goals.
All in all it was a magnificent season for a side tipped to head straight back down to the Championship. The new season starts on Monday and who would write Grovelands off from repeating their success?
Grovelands backs Firebrands
For the past 3 years I’ve played for the University of Bristol Ladies Hockey Club, representing the first team throughout, and captaining the squad last year. We won the South League in 2009 and reached the National Cup Semi-finals in 2010. In the local league for the West of England, we were promoted to the Premier Division in 2010 and maintained a solid mid-table place during our first year in the League.
I moved out of Bristol in July and decided it was time to move hockey clubs too, to play a higher level of hockey and meet new people along the way. I chose to play for Firebrands, a friendly hockey club in the West Conference League (equivalent to the Championship in football). I was accepted into the first team and have enjoyed playing with the squad ever since. The team train and play home matches on a recently laid water-based Astroturf pitch at Clifton College. This is a new venue for fixtures and a wonderful surface to play on.
Despite the many new faces in the team (including mine), we quickly gelled. Both pre-season matches went well, with wins against Bath and Exe, two rivals in the West. The first match in the West Conference League was away against Gloucester City. The match was very close; we had to fight for a 3-3 draw in the dying seconds. This was a very competitive first match and I was delighted to be nominated Man of the Match (or Girl of the Game) by my new team mates.
Having beaten Exe in the pre-season warm up, we were expecting it to be much easier facing them again than it turned out. It was a scorching hot day and in the end we had to settle for another 3-3 draw. Top of the table Buckingham were a different kettle of fish, the following week they showed why they are holding the top spot, beating us 4-1.
Mid-October away at Bath, we really had to win this fixture as points on the table were lacking and the coach was becoming more and more theatrical on the sideline! Some excellent play meant a 4-2 win against our closest rivals and setting us up to give Southampton’s Trojans a good game the following weekend.
Unfortunately, it was not to be, they took away a cheap 3 points but we are determined to present them with more of a challenge at our next encounter! On the same weekend we had a Cup match against the University of Birmingham, this team was fourth in the National Premier League (like the Premiership in football) at the time so we were definitely the underdogs. We picked ourselves up after our poor performance against Trojans and actually managed to give them a run for their money. They won 3-1 in the end but our coach said it was the best we’d played all season, and I picked up a Man of the Match win so I was doubly pleased.
After a weekend off, the next test was away against Swansea. They were second in the table, but if we could pull off a performance like we did against Birmingham Uni, it would be possible to beat them. We had numerous chances but could not put the ball in the back of the net. Swansea managed to sneak one past our keeper, leaving us feeling robbed. The Swansea team are a tough bunch and most team members came away with a bruise as well, so a frustrating day in Wales!
The most recent match was away at Staines. Again, a tough bunch of ladies (I thought I was playing hockey not rugby) but we took no prisoners and romped home with a 6-3 win. One of the girls got a hat-trick which is always a great confidence boost. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. Roll on Barnes at home next week!
Charlotte.
Let’s Get Quizzical
As the end of the weekly meeting drew to a close, the Grovelanders waited with baited breath to discover what the theme for this week’s quiz was to be. Hannah Moss took to the floor, accompanied by her glamorous assistant Kim McInally, who announced that the name of the game was the “Mr and Mrs quiz”. The loving couples battling it out were Sam Jeffery and Darren A’Court, Faith Bannier and Fiona Nunn, and last but by no means least, Mark Davies and David Leen.
Sam, Fiona and David were led into a sound-proof(ish) room while Hannah asked their partners three questions each about themselves. The questions ranged from most annoying habit to favourite pizza topping.
The three banished contestants were then brought back to guess what answers their partners had given. Much hilarity ensued as the couples’ knowledge of each other was put to the test; Sam and Darren, one of the favourites to win fell short and came joint last with Mark and David, even with David’s attempt to lure a response from the audience before giving his answers. The winners were Faith and Fiona, who proved that they knew each other inside out albeit a minor squabble over Faith’s breakfast choices!
After Faith and Fiona had claimed their prize of a bowl of (warm) chocolate coins, everyone returned to their desk wondering what the quiz would be next week and who would be crowned the ultimate quizzy rascals!
Grovelands Summit III
The third Grovelands Complaint Handling Summit was held at Vinopolis on 19th October. We had our largest turn out yet and it was good to see familiar faces from the first two summits; proof that the event is becoming a regular fixture in the diaries of Heads of Compliance and Customer Relations functions.
As the number of delegates attending had increased, and in response to feedback from previous events, the format of the event was slightly different for this summit. The delegates were sat on five tables, each with a Grovelands host, and with a guest speaker, Michael Lawrence, present from the FSA.
Following initial discussions around the current challenges in attracting and retaining permanent and contract staff in Customer Relations’ functions, we moved on to preparing questions for our guest speaker who was to arrive shortly. In order to preserve anonymity where requested, and possibly shyness, the Grovelands hosts got things started with a series of questions that had been raised in the lead up to the event. However, the discussions swiftly gained pace as the delegates fired questions at Michael covering Management Information, Root Cause Analysis, the move to a one stage complaint handling process and Quality Assurance.
Clearly the delegates were now in full flow and so after a brief break for the delicious food, Michael agreed to stay on for an extra 30 minutes to take further questions.
The feedback on the event was excellent and we look forward to welcoming familiar faces to the next event in Q1 2012.
Grovelands YouTube Launch
Grovelands has launched its very own YouTube channel!
Any videos that we make will be uploaded to the channel – whether they are of events, interviews with the teams or simply giving a tour of the office. We hope that you enjoy seeing the faces behind the company!
We have already filmed some highly entertaining videos with camerawoman extraordinaire Anna Haigh at the helm and myself conducting the interviews, although to begin with I was given the assurance that, “you’ll be off camera – it will just be your voice on the video.” Somehow I knew that with David Leen involved it was unlikely to be straight forward and hence I became Grovelands’ very own version of Michael Parkinson.
With the cameras rolling I swallowed my nerves and became the ardent professional that I am and turned the attention to Mark and David where we extracted many insights in to the world of Grovelands. The nuggets of history ranged from how they met, to the plans for opening the new London office to David’s eccentric choice of socks (worth looking out for in the video… and by ‘looking out for’ I actually mean shielding your eyes from).
The channel will be updated regularly so keep an eye out for the latest from our video team.
Click below to see our very own David Leen under the spotlight!
Ghoulish Grovelanders
Fake fur, wigs and false teeth were prevalent as the office was thrown into a whirlwind of greetings and photo-taking. Absurd scenes began to unfold; a witch’s cat answered the phone in an almost uncannily human manner; a masked psycho killer became bored of his chainsaw and was instead spotted on an iPad; a small orphan girl, the eponymous character from the horror film, was found in charge of the accounts.
Mark Davies looked scarily human until a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth gave him away as the apparition he truly is, although even in the afterlife he continued to have a penchant for the Financial Times. The small, pale-faced girl from “The Grudge” appeared sitting quietly through the excitement with her head bowed and caused one of the poor workers from elsewhere in the office building to comment that he was scared of “getting stuck in the lift with that thing”.
Even ghosts get hungry, and as lunchtime rolled around the supernatural sensations got the party into full swing presided over by a brilliantly made-up ‘Cobweb Lady’ Ella Tugwell and the ‘fangtastic’ Anna Haigh who even put together a spooky soundtrack. The monsters guzzled enough sweets to satisfy even the greediest of trick-or-treaters, and then they relaxed, satisfied they had caused enough mischief to last the rest of the year.
For more pictures please visit our Facebook page;
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.280356635330283.75186.245643085468305&type=1&l=1889a32d9f
United Are Top!
It may not be the current headline in the Barclays Premier League, but unlike the imploding Man U, Grovelands United are very much on top.
Grovelands are storming the UK’s other major division, Brighton’s very own ‘Pitch Invasion’ Six-a-side league. With 5 wins, 2 draws, Grovelands are 1st and unbeaten in all 7 ‘Premier’ division games this season, a feat made even more impressive due to our recent promotion. With only 3 games remaining and 6 points clear, unlike our Manchester namesakes, confidence is high amongst the Grovelands camp that we will not crumble and stay on target to clinch the title.
The team this season consists of the usual suspects, Captain Reid Bailey, Sam Jeffery, Tom Henderson, David-James Marker, Darren A’Court, Ben Wilson and Kieran Ives. Particular mention should go to three players. To the predatory Darren A’Court who is leading the goal scoring charts with 9. To the unstoppable Sam Jeffrey, who, largely due to a complete lack of hesitation to bring down his opponents, has been incredible between the posts this season. The final mention should go to yours truly who managed to outmanoeuvre a 6.5 foot keeper and score the most spectacular own goal any of us at Grovelands have ever seen!!
The Grovelanders enjoy a ‘Wicked’ night
The agenda was set; the stage ready, which meant it was time for the Q3 conference. The clock struck 3.30pm and the office soon emptied as everyone made their way to the dazzling lights of the West End.
We were welcomed to the city in true London style – by what can only be described as an angry, rambling woman. As soon as the Grovelands clan stepped out of Victoria station she chose to repeatedly ask Fiona Nunn how to get to Paddington station, Fiona politely said she didn’t know and directed her to the tube map, which she took offence to. Although I’m sure some people would pay good money to see ‘Angry Rambling Woman vs. Fifty Grovelanders’ we decided to take the higher ground and walk away. But hey, it’s always fun to start a night out with a bit of drama.
Before the show we headed for a lovely dinner at Dim T where we enjoyed good company and good food. The conference opened with a lovely speech from David-James Marker and ended with a final speech from Laura Real who gave us an insight into how, when organising the conference, she managed to drop her phone down the toilet and had to fish it out and clean it with soap. As you can imagine the phone did not survive.
We finally took our seats in the busy Apollo theatre ready to be enthralled by the multi award-winning stage musical Wicked. David Leen, the family man, forgetting he was not with his children settled into his seat with at least 5 bags of sweets. Fearing a sugar overdose he launched the sweets forward 10 rows to share with the other Grovelanders.
The show seemed to be enjoyed by all especially Sam Jeffery who came out of the show positively thriving and was happiest anyone had ever seen him. We all approved of his dancing in the street whilst singing ‘Defying Gravity’, the main song from the show.
We would all like to thank Laura Real for organising the whole day, she did a great job. We all had an insightful and enjoyable evening and we look forward to many more in the future.
Many Happy Returns!
We recently celebrated Grovelands 2nd Birthday by launching a Birthday Cake Competition!
The task was to draw a cake on TwitPaint, an application for Twitter that allows you to draw whatever you like, but in only 140 brush strokes. It’s not as easy as it sounds!
There were many excellent entries including cakes that looked like boats, castles, houses and pizzas!
Some of the favourites included entries from Hannah Moss, who submitted a colourful, tiered number, and Reid Bailey with his pretty-in-pink sponge cake.
But there could only be one winner!
A team of judges were assembled – it was up to Anna Haigh, Amy Rutter, David-James Marker and Jennifer Sachs to pick the best of the bunch!
After hours of deliberation they had made their decision….
Jessie Harrington was crowned the winner of the first Grovelands Birthday Cake Competition!
As her prize, she was presented with her very own cake, which was enjoyed by many!
We can’t get Kiele out of our heads
After a whirlwind six months at Grovelands, I regret to inform that the wonderfully charismatic Kiele Webb has bid the Grovelanders adieu and is off to fulfill a long-standing ambition to become a primary school teacher; she also aims to publish her children’s stories during the next few years.
We are extremely grateful to have had the pleasure of working with Kiele, and her warm and infectious personality brought an air of inspiration to the entire Grovelands team. Those who have had the opportunity to work alongside Kiele will agree that she was an asset to the company not only for her wit, integrity and good humour but for the record number of placements she made in such a short period of time. Kiele was never put-off by challenge and took it in her stride to deliver her best, through sheer dedication.
Kiele provided moments of comical genius, from her constant obsession with Zizzi’s Casareccia Pollo Piccante to the regular complaints of back and leg ache, which subsequently earned her the fitting nickname of ‘Granny Webb’.
The team celebrated Kiele’s final week with a night out in vibrant Brighton last Saturday, where we danced the night away to 50s classics. Kiele, Nairi and Kim in particular set the dance floor alight to really get the party started. To put it aptly, this provided a fantastic end to a fantastic six months.
Without question, the office will not be the same without Kiele and we can safely say there is no-one quite like her. We predict big things for this feisty red-head and we wish her all the best for her future endeavours.