As the UK’s leading water cooler service provider, at Angel Springs we pride ourselves on delivering the best possible service to our customers through the people we employ. At Angel Springs all staff are fully trained and certified by the BWCA.

The Angel Springs employees play an integral part in the day-to-day activities of the business, from being the first point of contact to raising brand awareness. The National Account Managers in particular are a key element to the business as they are accountable for a large network of key client accounts.

It has been a busy month for National Accounts at Angel Springs with more key account wins and successful resigning’s.

Angel Springs have won a contract at the Ford Motor Company and Ford College in Daventry for 17 mains fed, point of use (POU) water coolers. This contract win was co-ordinated through the Thyssenkrupp Facilities Management Company. 

Angel have also won an account for leading advertising company CBS Outdoor for eighteen water coolers and branded small pack water.

Angel Springs are the UK’s longest established water cooler company with over 21 years of unbeaten service within the industry. Angel Springs has recently resigned the National Account Contracts; Harsco Infrastructures and Barloworld Handling. Both have a combination of bottled and mains-fed water dispensers and water boilers.

Harsco Infrastructure who have resigned on a five year contract specialise in providing construction and industrial maintenance services across 39 countries worldwide.

Barloworld Handling is the leading provider of materials handling equipment and has been established since 1956, have resigned a new contract for three years.

On Sunday 26^th June over 5000 people made their way to West Park for the annual ‘It’s a Knockout’ fundraising event held by Compton Hospice, that sees contestants dress up as seven foot tall budgies and ten foot giants to go through a series of challenges and assault courses from the original BBC TV show.

The Compton Hospice based in Wolverhampton has been providing care to patients with life limiting illnesses for the past 28 years, and to continue to provide the same exceptional level of care to patients they would like to redevelop areas of the hospice. So to help reach the target of the £3.5m programme the charity has launched the ‘Raise the Roof’ appeal to raise £1m from its supporters.

As part of the Compton Hospice ‘Raise the Roof’ appeal the soapy madness is the pinnacle of the Hospice’s family fun day, and this year Compton managed to raise an honourable £25,000.

Team Angel consisting of (from right to left) Imogen Jackson, Andrew Foster, Sophia Slater, Richard Smith, Emma Ralph, David Clark, Karina Leach, and Abby Plant managed to come 5^th again this year and achieve the £960 team sponsorship target.

Team organiser Rachel Jones, Commercial Manager of Angel Springs the UK’s longest established water cooler company has commented

“The team had a great time competing in the ‘It’s a Knockout’ competition.  The weather was scorching so they were all exhausted but exhilarated at the end.  We repeated our performance from last year by coming 5th out of 12 teams so at least we are consistent!  I am very proud of them all for supporting me in raising money for such a worthwhile cause.”

Well done everyone!!

The Cure Leukaemia Fun Run was held earlier this month at Sutton Coldfield Park in Birmingham on the 12^th June. The day was organised to raise awareness about the Cure Leukaemia Charity and their work.

The day was a huge success despite poor weather conditions due to heavy rain. There were many supporters involved on the day with 500 runners and 1 dog taking part in a series of races including the 1K, 5K, and 10K.

The Cure Leukaemia Fun Run has been held annually for past 5 years and this year was the second year running Angel Springs the UK’s leading water cooler service provider had shown their support by donating 1500 bottles of water for the runners and other participants.

Angel employees Andrea Brazier, Jane Plested, and Linda O’Kieffe all took part in the 5K run, well done girls.

Angel employee Simon Bridges, who organised the water donation and water stations for the runners commented,

“I like to contribute towards this charity as I have been in receipt of some of the fantastic work that goes into providing specialist treatment for cancer.

The fun run for me was an exceedingly great day as people genuinely do help support this charity by way of support and sponsorship. Despite the horrible day, the atmosphere was still up beat, even though it wasn’t the best turn out, there were still lots of runners dedicated to the day.

Here at Angel with family and friends we will probably raise over £340.00 which is fantastic and Linda who kindly took part in this race and completed the 5k in 49 minutes feels much rewarded.”

Jane Plested also commented by saying,

“I really enjoyed the run even despite the rain, I would definitely do it again may be even the 10k next year.”       

The fastest times on the day were 5K – 18 minutes 29 seconds and 10K – 38 minutes 15 seconds. The dog managed to complete the 5K in 39 minutes 46 seconds, on completing the race the dog gave the following comments, “Woof Woof!”

 Well done Simon, Andrea, Jane and Linda.

The British Touring Car Championship came to an amazing mid-season finish this weekend at Croft, with young hopeful Frank Wrathall having his most promising outing to date. As the season reached its halfway point before the seven week summer break, the new generation Toyota Avensis showed impressive point scoring pace throughout the weekend boosting confidence all round.

After a good day at the qualifying rounds (18^th June) Frank secured a 17^th place start position on the grid for Sunday’s race day (19^th June). Starting off well Frank went on to finish with a solid 12^th place; in wet conditions during race one, talented Frank sponsored by Angel Springs the UK’s leading water cooler service provider commented,

“That was a really good race, and easily the best one we’ve had so far. The car ran faultlessly and performed well in the conditions.”

As a result of his strong performance in race one the Toyota Avensis started from 12^th in race two which found Frank contending for a top 10 position, before contact from Alex MacDowall’s Chevrolet at the hairpin, damaged the rear wheel of the new generation Toyota Avensis sending Frank into early retirement and onto the gravel.

Hard work from the Dynojet team saw Frank back on the grid for race three, but on the second lap going into the Jim Clark Esses Frank clipped a tyre stack resulting in him going off track into the corn field. The overall result was a DNF in races two and three, but Frank was thrilled with the pace and reliability of the Avensis throughout the weekend commenting,

“It’s frustrating that we go home from here with two DNF’s, but race two down to someone else hitting me and then I made a mistake in race three. The car has been fantastic this weekend and had run faultlessly, which is really good for the team.

I now feel we have genuine top 10 pace and we also have the reliability to go with it. Croft has been a real turning point for our season as we have a good package to work with and we now have to work on coming back at Snetterton with even more pace than we’ve shown here.”

Frank and his Angel branded car will be back on track at Snetterton August 6/7^th when the BTCC resumes. Don’t forget you can catch Frank and the Toyota Avensis at the Good Wood Festival of Speed between the 30^th June and the 3^rd July.

Healthy, happy, enthusiastic, and productive; these are words every company wants to use when describing its employees. Healthier, hydrated employees are more cost efficient. They miss less days of work and call in sick less often.

Happier employees will perform better at work and display a more positive attitude to tasks they are given.  Employees with a higher morale and more enthusiasm are more productive. They feel better about themselves and take more pride in their work. Weight loss is one thing that can greatly improve the way people feel about themselves which improves performance.  Not only self esteem benefits from weight loss, overall health will see a major improvement and energy levels are also raised.

In most businesses, particularly sedentary occupations, the majority of workers would like to lose some amount of weight, so if you can offer them assistance in this your business will reap the rewards of healthier, happier employees, who will appreciate the help and support you’re offering them in their weight loss mission.

Ideas to help employees to lose weight are listed below:

1.     A Water Cooler- Access to fresh cold water will help to keep employees moving and burn calories when they go to refill, and will suppress their appetite, as often we eat when we are only thirsty.  In addition keeping refreshed and hydrated can raise metabolism meaning we burn calories faster.  A water cooler will be convenient and stop workers using the vending machine for fizzy drinks every time they need refreshment.

2.     Catering – If your work place has a catering kitchen, this should provide healthy salads and fresh fruit enabling workers to make healthy choices.  If there are vending machines at work – get rid of them.  This may be an unpopular decision at first but as workers waistbands shrink they’ll thank you for it.

3.     Companies often have sponsored events in aid of charity and to help raise their profile in the local area.  Instead of a sponsored cake sale why not take the healthy option and sign up for a fun run or half marathon.  Encourage employees to take part and make it a fun, social occasion and you’re more likely to get a positive response.  Remember that some workers will not be familiar with strenuous exercise, and need encouragement so make it an option to walk and walk along side them to show solidarity. 

4.     A weight loss challenge can be embarked upon in a non-official capacity in the office, and employees may find the motivation of each other key to their success.  Encouraging each other to stay strong and make the right food choices is important, and people will be spurred on by watching the success of those around them.

5.     Support.  Encouraging comments can go further than you might think, and people who have been striving to lose weight will feel a boost if they think someone has noticed.  Don’t be critical of those who fall off the wagon, but always commend those who are trying hard and comment when you can see a difference in their appearance.  People’s appearance is key to their self esteem and having employees who are confident in themselves will only help your business in the long term.

Frank Wrathall and the rest of the Dynojet camp are focussing on a solid finish at Croft this weekend, to end the first half of the BTCC 2011 season on a high as the championship pauses, for a seven week break over the summer.

After achieving his first race point of the season in the Independent Drivers Championship after his best performance yet in race 2 at Oulton Park, Frank’s main objectives now are to concentrate on emulating his previous strong finish at Croft.

The rising star sponsored by Angel Springs the UK’s leading water cooler service provider commented,

“Since the previous round we’ve covered around 200 miles in the car one day last week and there were no significant issues at all. It was a good day – our best yet – and though we are still not 100 per cent performance-wise, it gives me hope that we are in good shape for Croft. No predictions; I am just hoping to have a good run and three solid races.

It would be nice to end the first half of the season on a high note, ahead of the long summer break, and I have always gone well at Croft – it has a good mix of corners and I like the layout.”

Work for Frank and Dynojet will not stop over the summer, as the Next Generation Toyota Avensis will be showcased at the Goodwood Festival of Speed between the 30^th June and the 3^rd July along with several other Toyota racers.

The 24 year old Lancastrian added ““It’s another great opportunity for me to showcase Dynojet Racing and the BTCC, and I can’t wait to get the Avensis on to that famous hill climb course to see how it goes.”

Frank Wrathall and his Angel branded car, can be seen live this Sunday on ITV4 and ITV4 HD from Croft race circuit at 11:30am to 6pm with highlights on later ITV1.

Most of us spend the majority of our lives at work, and for those in sedentary office jobs this can be detrimental to your health and general energy levels.

Most complaints relate to posture and lack of exercise, so if you have a job which involves sitting at your desk for long periods of time it is important to develop habits which will keep you in the best possible health.

Get up and move:

It is important not to sit hunched over your computer all day, get up and move about, even if it’s only for 5 minutes every few hours, the movement will make a difference as it will help to boost blood circulation and burn off calories

Stay hydrated:

Office environments can be very stifling, particularly in hot weather, so it’s vital to stay hydrated at work.  Health and nutritional experts recommend drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, and unless you incorporate this advice into your working day you are unlikely to hit this target.  If your office has a water cooler it is ideal as you will be provided with fresh, filtered water and the trip to the cooler will help give you a reason to get up and move, as mentioned in point one.  In addition, if your office has an air conditioning unit that is always on, you will need to drink an adequate amount of water to compensate for the low humidity.  If your office doesn’t have a water dispenser, discuss the option with managers as it will benefit them if their employees stay in good health and energised throughout the working day.

Posture:

Many office workers suffer from problems with their spine, this is caused by a tendency to sit in a hunched up position in front of a computer for five or six days a week. The way in which your workstation is designed and set out can have an impact on your well-being. Make sure the top of your computer monitor is in line with your eyes, your chair should provide ample back support, and any accessories that you need to regularly use should all be within easy reach.

Stop snacking:

Sitting at a desk all day long can elevate your risk of gaining weight. Office workers often eat out of boredom and the most convenient foods are usually vending machines and nearby fast food places at lunch time.  If you get hungry, bring snacks from home such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain snacks, and low-fat yogurt. Avoid the vending machines and drink water instead of sugared and caffeinated soft drinks.

Stay at home if you are sick:

Many employees unwittingly spread germs around the office because they come in when they are sick. The office will function without you for a day or two.   It is often assumed that work will appreciate it if you show up when you are ill, but your colleagues won’t so do the courteous thing and avoid passing on your germs by staying away when you are ill.

Angel Springs recently donated 120 bottles of water to volunteers at the Teckles Animal Shelter, who had organised a sponsored walk in order to raise money for treatment for cats and dogs that have been ill-treated.

Teckles Animal Welfare Centre was established in 2003 after they merged with the Swindon Animal Sanctuary, to be able to provide care to animals through a wider network of shelters. They take in any cats or dogs that are looking for a home and with average vet bills totalling £4000, it’s events such as the ‘Walk for Daisy’ that provide an opportunity for  the local community to get involved and show their support.

Daisy is a tabby cat that was mistreated and found by the staff at the shelter. Her horrific injuries sparked a following of more than 3000 people on facebook. Slowly recovering from her ordeal the shelter organised a walk in the middle of Rodborough Common Park in Stroud, Gloucestershire for people who had been touched by Daisies story.

The ‘Walk for Daisy’ was held on Saturday 28^th May and the event was a huge success with the help of the supporters, the local media and Angel Springs the UK’s leading water cooler service provider keeping everyone hydrated. Teckles managed to raise a total of just over £2000 for Daisy and are still receiving donations.

If you would like to show your support please visit the Teckles Animal Sanctuary website www.teckles.org for more information.

Frank showed determination and skill with a strong 13^th place finish at Oulton Park this weekend, despite not getting off to a good start in race 1 and an unfortunate early retirement in race 3.

Frank who is sponsored by Angel Springs the UK’s leading water cooler service provider as part of the Rising Star Scheme, picked up his first point towards the Independents championship with a spectacular performance in race 2. From 24^th on the grid he manoeuvred into 13^th place through rain and slick tyres on the front of the stunning black and orange NGTC Toyota Avensis.

 “All the other cars around me were on wet tyres all round, and that made life very difficult,” explained the 24-year-old. “It was a question of managing with what I had and trying to stay out of trouble.” 

“It was tough out there on those tyres,” he added, “and my brakes weren’t ideally set up either, but that aside it’s great finally to get a decent result on the board.”

After a tremendous finish in race 2 Frank’s celebrations were short lived when he was forced to retire from race 3 due to mechanical problems after 4 laps at clay hill,

“We’re still not sure where the problem lies,” said Frank. “I didn’t have a great start because they held us for a long time on the grid and the engine was overheating a bit. After that things were going well until the fourth lap; I hit a curb and noticed a vibration, and then there were oil pressure warning lights and it was best to pull off as a precaution. It’s a disappointing end but we are taking positives from the weekend, in particular the car’s performance in race two.”

Frank and the rest of the Dynojet team are concentrating on the next round of the British Touring Car Championship to be held at Croft Race Circuit, North Yorkshire on the 18^th/19^th June.