Growing up in Poole I’ve sat on many barstools on Poole Quay with a beer (these were alcohol free, admittedly) and had great conversations with friends and strangers alike. This chat, on Wednesday night at an upcoming venue called ‘Salad’ was an all time favourite. By chance, we all had something in common, employee ownership.ItContinueContinue reading “Employee ownership panel at Salad”
Tag Archives: EO
Celebrating 9 years with Grapevine
Today I’m celebrating 9 years with Grapevine. My 9th year started with the huge recognition we received at the Dorset Business Awards last Autumn and we rode the wave of that through into 2024. The 2nd half of the year has presented the question “what happens when you’ve finished telling everyone that your business isContinueContinue reading “Celebrating 9 years with Grapevine”
Dorset Business Focus EO article
The press has a way of capturing the cultural zeitgeist. Select magazine coined the phrase ‘Britpop’ in 1993, Top of The Pops magazine gave the Spice Girls their iconic nicknames. Let’s not wait 30 years to credit Caroline Sharp and the Dorset Chamber team for documenting a new emerging scene in the August edition ofContinueContinue reading “Dorset Business Focus EO article”
South Coast EO spring event
My colleague Matt and I had a great time representing Grapevine at the South Coast EO Networking event yesterday, hosted by our client, and fellow employee owned business, Salad. A big thank you to the team there, as well as the attendees from other employee ownership companies, for all you do to provide a supportiveContinueContinue reading “South Coast EO spring event”
You Are The Media podcast
Yes, that is 1,300 Pez dispensers behind me.. Great to talk about community and employee ownership with Mark Masters and Rosie Sherry for the You Are The Media podcast earlier today. Rosie and I are on the bill for Creator Day at the Lighthouse in Poole next Thursday. I’m looking forward to sharing a coupleContinueContinue reading “You Are The Media podcast”
Grapevine’s 1st EO anniversary
This month had a near single focus; organise and host two events to celebrate Grapevine’s first anniversary as an employee owned business, with just a few weeks notice. Against the odds, we welcomed 60 guests to our home at 19-25 Nuffield Road on Wednesday this week. Since we made the transition to employee ownership inContinueContinue reading “Grapevine’s 1st EO anniversary”
Grapevine EO team event
Our Grapevine team event took me back to Foundry in Poole, for our first attempt at a company wide, new financial year briefing. I wrote last month about our plans for this, and how, given the evolution of our business in 2023, an in-person delivery of our strategy for the coming year felt like theContinueContinue reading “Grapevine EO team event”
South Coast EO event at Salad
I managed to make it to our client Salad’s office yesterday for the first hour of another lovely meet up with our local employee-owned business community, before heading off to see the comedian Jonathan Pie at the Pavilion in Bournemouth. Photo credit: Arabella Lewis-Smith I was gutted that these two events clashed, but determined toContinueContinue reading “South Coast EO event at Salad”
Employee ownership workshop
My Grapevine colleague Paul and I were invited to an event hosted by our client Salad at their office space on Poole Quay. Like Grapevine, Salad are an employee owned business, having made the jump a couple of years ago. Photo credit: Arabella Lewis-Smith Arabella Lewis-Smith and Harry Pocknell from Salad are running a workshopContinueContinue reading “Employee ownership workshop”
The Best Place to Work
We only went and won the award didn’t we! When I returned to work after a week off at the beginning of the month I’d fallen out of sync with the momentum of the lead up to the Dorset Business Awards. I was more focused on scrambling around to get the outfit components I neededContinueContinue reading “The Best Place to Work”
World Mental Health Day 2023
Grapevine didn’t need a formalised mental health and wellbeing strategy for 31 years. Staff stayed with the company for three decades because care and consideration for its people came naturally. Showing respect and understanding for the inevitable complications in life, whenever they should occur for each employee in the business, gave individuals the breathing spaceContinueContinue reading “World Mental Health Day 2023”
Celebrating 8 years with Grapevine
Today is my 8th anniversary of working for Grapevine. I’ve still got a long way to go to catch up with some of my colleagues, even if you add the 4 years prior that Grapevine was a client of mine.I enjoyed my previous role(s) at BU and jumping ship to work for a small businessContinueContinue reading “Celebrating 8 years with Grapevine”
Liam Toms 