Ian Rowlands

Ian has been with Chillisauce for 3 years and has organised over 300 events in that time. He’s a typical football mad, beer loving kind of guy who describes the worst moment of his life as Michael Thomas scoring the goal that denied Liverpool the 1989 championship. He later organised an event for the Professional Footballers Association in which he shook hands with Michael and lay 18 years of hurt to rest.

He is however a bit of a softy at heart, describing some of his happiest moments as getting engaged to his fiancée under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, witnessing Jordan and Peter’s romance blossom in the jungle and trying out new ‘moves’ at dance class

Banished to Room 101…

Unimaginative teambuilding events – let’s be honest, the words “teambuilding event” can bring back memories of bad school trips. But by spending a bit of time and effort on theming and putting unique spins on old ideas, an office away day can be transformed into a highly enjoyable event.

Poor quality & badly maintained equipment – Poorly maintained equipment instantly gives delegates a bad impression of what the event will be like and put doubt in their minds about both the quality and safety of the event.

People who aren’t willing to give something a go- There’s always a couple of people who attend events with a certain level of negativity and in some cases aren’t willing to even take part. Obviously no one should be forced to do something but most events are a chance to do something you’ve never done before and to get to know your fellow colleagues…get stuck in!

Unhelpful venue staff – Sadly, a person’s experience of an event can be spoilt by an unhelpful member of hotel staff, be it a waiter or receptionist. People should remember that good manners are free! At Chillisauce, we only use venues that we have received good customer feedback about.

And a few personal ones…

John Terry – although he is captain of the national team (and I am a member of the official England supporters club), I think Terry sets a terrible example, both on and off the pitch, to youngsters. From his constant harassing of referees to his on stage performances in lap dancing clubs, Terry would not be my choice of captain.

Public Ice Skating- What’s the point in going round and round in circles with loads of people and then falling over? (Although I do secretly quite enjoy watching Dancing on Ice)

Sports involving horses- I’m a big sports fan but only enjoy sports where it’s human vs. human. Horses cannot be trusted and have a mind of their own (also making horses jump over fences just seems cruel)

Vests- should only be worn underneath clothing and by people over the age of 50

With the average Briton eating a whopping 103kg of potato a year (about 500 medium potatoes) you can see that we clearly love our spuds!

So what better way to celebrate the nations favourite vegetable, than with National Potato Day on January 25th?

From your french fry to your Dauphinoise Potato, the humble spud is tasty, versatile and nutritious! Read on for some Potato-ey facts…

Hot Potato facts

• A medium sized potato is just 100 calories, contains no fat, 3 grams of fibre, 45 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin C, 21 percent of the daily requirment for potassium and many other nutritional elements
• Mr. Potato Head was first invented in 1950 by George Lerner. The first toys involved attaching features to a real potato
• the world’s largest potato chip was produced by the Pringle’s Company in 1990. It measures 23″ X 14.5″
• Thomas Jefferson gets the credit for introducing ‘french fries’ to America when he served them at the White House dinner during his presidency
• the first potatoes were grown in Peru
• A potato is 80% water and 20% solid

We hope you had a smashing Christmas and best wishes for 2009 from us all at Chillisauce!

Charlotte Butterfill

Charlotte has been working in the events industry for 6 years now and her forte is turning around large complex events such as awards evenings in minimal time. Charlotte always thinks out of the box and loves pancakes and cereal!

A huge adventure sports fan, she has sailed for Great Britain, broke her arm eventing, and even climbed to the top of a mountain where her husband proposed to her. She dreams of one day taking over from John McCirick!

Banished to Room 101…

Balloons – I hate them!! The little latex things are unimaginative, overused, cheap and tacky! Some organisers think they add theming to an event, but I think they just make it look like a child’s birthday party.

Star cloth – It is a poor substitute for a creative backdrop. Why go for something so unimaginative when there are so many creative options out there at a similar price?

Time consuming pitches – Events companies should be like an extra arm to a business instead of external help. Some companies waste everyone’s time and money by getting a lot of organisers to pitch again and again when they already have someone else in mind. I think they should just choose one company they like and work with them to find a solution.

Poor quality – There is no reason for producing sub standard products. I hate it when people don’t pay attention to details.

Fluffy words – Like ‘sequoias’ instead of ‘running smoothly’. Everyone can use the thesaurus to look for big words but c’mon it’s much easier if we all just speak simply.

Cost over Quality -Too many companies choose the cheapest price when it comes to event organising. I think you should always go with a recognised and established company like Chillisauce to ensure good quality. Companies may be putting their employees at risk if they choose an unrecognised events company that are cheaper as they may not have any public liability insurance, health and safety documentation or fully trained staff.

Poor quality songs – When giving an awards ceremony put some thought into
the songs that play when people are coming up to collect their awards rather than some trash from the 70′s!

So the Chancellor has reduced the rate of VAT from 17.5% to 15%. But what does that actually mean for us?

Well…banks, insurance companies, universities and housing associations cannot claim back any VAT. This 2.5% reduction represents a real saving for them. A £11,750 event will now cost them £11,500.

No companies can claim back VAT on costs of entertaining customers or suppliers. Similarly, this reduction will represent a saving for companies entertaining clients or suppliers.

So if you are a bank, insurance company, university, housing association or planning some supplier or customer entertainment, what better time than when the VAT rate is 15%?!

Visit http://www.chillisauce.co.uk/corporate-events/ for inspiration.

The team celebrated Christmas early by having dinner with our events team in Sheffield. We set off on the train, our backpacks filled to the brim with Percy Pigs and Wine Gums. Choruses of ‘blimey isn’t it cold up here’ were rife once stepping into the Antarctic temperatures that were apparent t’up North.The evening commenced with a slap up three course meal at Popolo Restaurant accompanied with lots of wine and banter between the Londoners and the Northerners. It ended with tequila shots and some funky dance moves from Spence.

All trudged back to work the next morning slightly less than 100% sprightly. But all looking forward to a great Christmas and a hard working 2009!