News archive 2009
Chris joins The Bike Station
December 2009
Our long-standing Print Manager/Estimator, Chris Growcott is moving on to take up a post with The Bike Station. After 10 years with the co-op, he fancied a fresh challenge.
We'll be staying in touch, meeting up for the odd pint of cider after the Hibs match and hopefully coming to his summer allotment BBQ (hint).
Scamtastic
November 2009
Do you ever get letters from official-sounding companies offering to renew your internet domain name? Beware, they are usually trying to trick you into transferring your domain away from your existing provider.
We see a lot of these as we hold some of our client domains as well as our own. The latest was from a US company called 'Domain Renewal Group'. Just put "domain renewal scam" into Google and you'll find a lot more examples.
The only people who should be legitimately asking you to renew your domain are the company it's registered with (often your existing internet provider). You can see who yours is registered with by doing a "whois" search - just enter your domain name, leaving off the "www".
PS. You might also get legitimate communications about your domain name from the official UK domains body, Nominet.
Bye Bye Barry
October 2009
Our Web Projects Manager, Barry, has moved on to pastures new with a new post at the NHS Executive. He'll certainly be busy - as well as starting a new job, his second child is due in December (shame he won't be around to take advantage of our co-op's generous paternity leave allowance). He's looking forward to using a normal computer instead of the Apple Mac that we forced him to use.
Pedal for Scotland
September 2009
In a burst of pedal-powered co-op solidarity, The Graphics Company teamed up with mediaco-op to do Scotland's biggest annual charity bike ride. Pedal for Scotland was a 55-mile jaunt from Glasgow to Edinburgh and took place on Sunday 13th September.
Steve and ex-Graphics Company member Alison had their 8-year-old son in tow, and mediaco-op was represented by Louise. The weather smiled and it all went well. Our congratulations to the 7000 riders, especially the kids who took part.
Yie and Gordon's World Tour
July 2009
We said goodbye in May to our designer/photographer Yie Lim, who is heading back home to Australia ... eventually. She married Scottish fiancée Gordon then they set off on an 18-month Lisbon to Beijing bicycle tour. Some honeymoon eh?
So far they've made it across Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and into Bosnia. That's nearly 3,000 miles covered, about 9,000 to go!
You can follow their progress on their blog: www.wheelylongway.com
Worker Co-operative Code of Governance
June 2009
A year on from its launch at Co-operatives 2008, the Worker Co-operative Code of Governance is now proving its worth as a practical tool.
The result of a two-year consultation of worker co-ops, the code distills the immense experience of the sector into a useful resource. It gives a clear definition of what it means to be a workers' co-op, and how it should be run.
The code is living online document which is continuously developed in the light of feedback from the sector. It recently featured in a workshop held at Co-operatives 2009, which looked at how Suma Wholefoods (the UK's biggest worker co-op) is implementing it.
For a small co-op like ourselves, this kind of help from others in our sector is invaluable. If you are thinking of starting or joining a workers' co-op, have a shufty.
P.S. To keep up with the latest news in the worker co-op sector, see John Atherton's blog.
More Than Recycling 09
March 2009
Chris and Barry had a lovely day out in Perth when they took The Graphics Company Roadshow to the CRNS Annual Conference.
The day was a roaring success with some interesting speakers and lots of engaged delegates. Also, lunch was delicious so CRNS get a big thumbs up from us.
Taking its public bow was the eagerly awaited eco-banner (it's the one below on the right). The eco-banner is a new type of standing banner which is made from 100% recycled materials and is also fully recyclable.
It proved to be a big hit with the attendees. This might be something to do with the fact that it's lightweight, portable, eco-friendly and attractive. Being less than half the price of a regular banner was the icing on the cake.
Visibility photo-shoot
January 2009
Visibility celebrated their 150th birthday with a commemorative Souvenir Review last year. Once again we were asked to photograph a few highlights of events and special activities that were held in late 2008.
One of the events was their annual fundraising Corporate Challenge held in Loch Lomond. Another featured children with sight-loss participating in "Go! Activities" in Lochgoilhead.
And the winner is...
January 2009
First of all, we'd like to wish all of our devoted readers a Happy New Year. Then we'd like to choose some of you and hand out some prizes!
Our Christmas card for 2008 featured a "cut-out 'n' keep" snowman which we asked people to make and photograph (with the added incentive of a bottle of Fairtrade wine for the best). The results were brilliant and it was great to see that so many people got into the spirit of the thing.
Here are the best of the entries, starting with the all-important winner:
Well done to CETS, The Co-operative Party and the Woodcraft Folk for their joint effort. They will be enjoying their prizes shortly.
As for the rest...
City Litho
A big thank you to everybody who entered and, of course, to those of you who benefited from our credit-crunch-busting FREE decorations but never got round to snapping them for posterity.
