This time last week we were celebrating fantastic achievements in business in the stunning Courtrooms at the St Albans Museum and Art Gallery in town! at the TBC Woo Hoo 2019 Achievement Night! The third year of the TBC Woo Hoos!
The venue was absolutely perfect for the 85 of us attending and gave us great grounds for some fabulous jail, freedom and escapism jokes and music – with Bananarama kicking the celebrations off with their fabulous 80s track “Guilty” – shortly followed by Queen’s “I want to break free!” played by the fabulous Adam Shilston of My Local Dj and My Big Day Events.
Yes, it was going to one of those nights!
The fabulous David Jenkins of Brilliant Theatre Arts and Pauline Quirke Academy made a grand entrance from the cells, whilst Neil “Barraster” Smith of Total Legacy Care took stock in the witness stand for the evening – with his camping mallet and notes, he kept order in the courtrooms and kept us to schedule.
I was kept out of trouble in the docks all evening!
We’d had the most deeeeelicious canapés and fizz on arrival in the main foyer with plenty of comments on how amazing the food was (well done Richard and Paloma at Leafi who look after the events side of things at the Museum) – and there was plenty of them too – so we were well fed and watered and ready for the nights excitement.
The way that the Woo Hoos work is that TBC members from St Albans and Enfield were invited to nominate any business that they felt deserved recognition for what they are achieving in business.
It could be for absolutely anything – from things like starting a business, to going international, to making a difference, to going for it, to overcoming hurdles – we all know that running a business isn’t easy and it takes drive, determination and grit – and the Woo Hoos are all about recognising and celebrating that.
The Woo Hoo “Awards” themselves are always pineapple themed. The pineapple is the symbol of wealth and success which we thought was very apt to be celebrating business achievements. The first year of the Woo Hoos, we had beautiful golden money box pineapples sourced by St Albans Business owner, Emma Bustamante of the gorgeous Cositas on Holywell Hill.
The second year, they were again sourced by the fabulous Emma at Cositas – beautiful white pineapples, with one orange one which was sponsored by the fabulous June Cory of My Mustard.
And this year, our third year, the Woo Hoos were a guarded secret – commissioned with local, incredibly talented talent – Tom Mitchell at the Timber Club! Tom designs, builds and installs high quality furniture, props and signage for commercial and private clients. Available for Commission! This years award doubled up into a very handy bookend (we do love duel purpose!).
Andy Geldard of Willmott Dixon took to the dock to tell us a bit about the incredible renovations that they did to get the Museum and Art Gallery to the stunning place that it is now – we were lucky enough to have a tour of the venue whilst it was undergoing the transition.
First up was one of our Woo Hoo sponsors, Jo Jackson-Hale of Hays Travel who unfortunately couldn’t be there on the night as she was, guess what?, Travelling! So the lovely Karen Francis of LifeWorks presented the Woo Hoo to the very surprised Gail Carman of MacPro Design and Print for their Outstanding Customer Service!
Gail thought that she was at the event purely as a sponsor, so it was a lovely surprise for her to be called to the docks to receive her Woo Hoo and to make a speech.
Next up was the gorgeous Louise Brennan of Louise’s Antental Classes as the fabulous sponsor, presenting the Woo Hoo for Emma Bustamante of Cositas for being a real innovator in her business. Emma has fantastic determination to beat the high street slump and she is continually implementing innovative ways to promote her business and deliver an incredible service to her clients.
Our next sponsor, June Cory of My Mustard presented a Woo Hoo to Emma Ellis of Amber Mountain Marketing for running an altruistic, value-driving business. Emma’s mission is to support small businesses to succeed through great marketing support. Again, this was a fantastic surprise to Emma as she thought she was purely at the event as a sponsor. (we do love a surprise!)
Ben Schneider of BLS Computer Solutions unfortunately couldn’t make it to the event, however, Sue Wybrow accepted his Woo Hoo on his behalf for “Going For It’ in his expanding business. Yonit Lettin of Excel Beauty sponsored and presented the Woo Hoo.
Stephanie Gross of Gymboree Play and Music St Albans was represented by her team on the night and presented with her Woo Hoo by sponsor, Kavya Anderson-Tuffnell of Madison HR. Stephanie has grown her business, is a fantastic collaborator, business leader and is driven and determined.
Emma Ellis of Amber Mountain Marketing then took to the dock again, as a sponsor this time, to present a Woo Hoo to TBC Enfield winners, Andrea Krase at Sophias Diary for launching her fantastic online magazine and being a fantastic support to so many businesses in Enfield.
Our next sponsor was Claire Pope of Oaklands College who presented the next Woo Hoo to Adarsh Mehta of Let’s Talk Travel for Outstanding Service!
Another surprise was for Ruth Farenga of Mindful Pathway who was nominated for a Woo Hoo for being Driven and Determined in her growing business. Ruth was presented with her Woo Hoo by sponsors Ginny Cooper and Mel Hillbrown of STANTA
Jo Hailey of Striking Places was next up celebrating being a fab collaborator, awesome 3d and vr photography implementing new and dynamic technologies in her business – presented by Woo Hoo sponsors Claire Flawn and Nicole Sadd of Rothamsted Enterprises.
Maria Isaeva of Maria Isaeva Wealth Management was nominated for being a fab referrer – making many connections of lots of businesses across St Albans. Woo Hoo sponsor, Liz Redway of Redway HR presented her with her Woo Hoo.
Another TBC Enfield business, Bridgette Mansfield of Bridgette Mansfield Hypnotherapy was presented by sponsor Jez Levy of EYES on St Albans for Making a Huge Difference To Peoples Lives – Bridgette has literally helped people to live the lives they want to over the past 10 years of running her amazing business.
Sponsors Kevin Brammer and Sam Mathur at MetroBank then presented Roy with a Woo Hoo, who was accepting on behalf of TBC Enfield business, Nina Lewis at Platinum Performing Arts for helping young people from difficult backgrounds to achieve in the dance industry.
Woo Hoo sponsors, Anna Venitico from the St Albans Chamber of Commerce presented another surprise to fellow sponsor, Debbie Gilbert of Mums UnLtd for being an incredible Business Leader and author of The Successful Mumpreneur.
Homepreneur, Amanda Brown, was presented with her Woo Hoo by Sally Shepherd of Eve and Adam for her nomination as a Business Leader – her online Homepreneur Business Academy has meant that businesses can access information to help them in their businesses 24 hours a day.
Rebecca Sessions of The Physio Specialist Clinic was presented with her Woo Hoo by Nick Perkins, Woo Hoo Sponsor and business owner at DS Ergonomics in Enfield for “Going For It” – grit and determination for business success as well as being amazing at what she does.
We then took a break for more canapés, tipples and chit chat in the gorgeous foyer before taking our seats for the second half of an incredible night.
It was great fun with lots of banter, tailored music which David invited everyone to guess how it related to the Woo Hoo winners with easy ones like Holiday by Madonna for Adarsh at Let’s Talk Travel, to more tricky ones like Purple Rain by Prince for Gail Carman who’s business is in print – Prince – get it! I’ll get my coat!
Emoke Harmar of Emmys Brigadeiros, sponsored by TBC St Albans, created the most deeeelicious brigadeiro chocolates for the event – gluten free – strawberry, pistachio, dark chocolate, white chocolate – to name but a few – everyone was blown away with the wow factor of them as well as the taste of them – we think a few were snuck into handbags and jackets!
Gail Carman of MacPro Design and Print then stepped into the dock as a sponsor to present Zoe White of Zinfinity Jewellery for her Woo Hoo for her support and help as an active member of the business community, putting herself out to help others.
Our very own Jodie Perkins of TBC Enfield was then called to the dock to receive a surprise Woo Hoo from sponsors, Lyndsey Hooper of AJ Hooper Farming for being a fab collaborator and cheerleader for all things local in Enfield. Plus we all celebrated Jodie’s upcoming Wedding! Woo Hoo!
Woo Hoo sponsor, Aarti Parmar of AP Brand Communications was next in the dock to present a Woo Hoo to Joanne Todd of Norwex for incredible customer service and business passion.
It was then Kavya Anderson-Tuffnell’s turn for a surprise as she was there as a sponsor and wasn’t aware she’d been nominated for a Woo Hoo. Chris Cooke at Daniels Estate Agents presented Kavya of Madison HR with her award for being an amazing business supporter and collaborator.
Enfield sponsor, Katie Tucker of Tip Top Teepees presented a Woo Hoo to Jodie Perkins on behalf of Charlotte Butler at Charlotte Says for using core values and ethics in business.
Andy Geldard of Willmott Dixon took to the dock once more as a Woo Hoo sponsor, presenting to a very surprised Jeremy Banks of Jeremy Banks Photography who thought he was simply there as a guest. Jeremy was nominated for “Going for It” in his business.
June Cory of My Mustard (another surprise Woo Hoo) was presented with her Woo Hoo by fellow sponsor Christine Frith of Hour Hands. June and the My Mustard team were nominated for Incredible Business Strength and Growth over the last 12 years! That’s a fantastic achievement.
Ruth Farenga of Mindful Pathway presented the fabulous Caroline Syson at Pocket PA with a Woo Hoo for “Going For It” in her business – overcoming many hurdles to create an amazing business.
We loved seeing the surprised look on Woo Hoo Sponsors, Ginny Cooper and Mel Hillbrown from Stanta’s faces as it was announced by John Acton of Peer 2 Peer that they were winners of a Woo Hoo. Stanta has always been an incredible support to TBC as well as to many other businesses and it was fantastic to see them nominated for going “Above and Beyond” in what they do for businesses in St Albans!
New business, MilknBizz with the fabulous Danielle Wallington was presented with her Woo Hoo by sponsors Kelly Ballard of the Mercuré Noke Hotel for starting a brand new business – 7 months in Danielle has incredible energy and passion for her community and it’s members.
Debbie Stewart of TimeOut4Me was presented with her Woo Hoo by Debbie Gilbert of MumsUnLtd – it was an emotional one with Debbie being nominated for being a “Supportive Soul” – Debbie strives and cares for others and encourages people to take time out for them – which is really important in business!
We had the pleasure of Tania Young of BT presenting a Woo Hoo on behalf of sponsors Sarah Lomax and Will Glenn of Holiday Inn Express St Albans to the incredible Ruby Ruat of WUKA for her incredible business that is ridding the planet of over 2 million tons of sanitary waste with her eco and fabulous WUKA period underwear.
Unfortunately Jenny Smith of Digital Jen, Natalie Atkins of Handwriting and Herts and Meera Vinay of The Blue Speck were unable to attend, so Jez Levy of EYES on St Albans, Louise Brennan of Louises Antenatal Classes and Kavya of Madison HR accepted their Woo Hoos on their behalf. Sponsor Nic Rutherford of My Business Buddy also couldn’t attend, however Karen Crowder James of Contour Planning, Neil Barrass Smith of Total Legacy Care and David Jenkins of Brilliant Theatre Arts and PQA St Albans and Watford were there to present the Woo Hoos for Awesome app development for Digital Jen, Hiding in the shadows with their amazing business for Natalie Atkins ad being Environmentally Friendly for Meera Vinay!
Monir Ali of Little Big Ego did a fantastic job of capturing the evening on camera and it was a big thank you to a fabulous team in putting the event together before heading back to the foyer for more drinkies before heading off to what became the “after party” at The Beech House.
All of the photos taken will soon be available to view, plus there will be a photo book available – more info on this soon.
Big thank you to Matt Adams at The Herts Ad for featuring the Woo Hoos.
And look out for the big feature in Digital BizCom which is coming out in July!
If you’d like to sponsor a Woo Hoo at our new venue for 2020 then find out more here and book asap – headline sponsor package has already gone!
Big thanks to Matt Jackson-Hale of Heartwood Executive Cars for running a free shuttle service in his fabulous Mercedes Luxury Transporter – a real treat!
