Growing pains

Everyone's been in the office this week, hard at work, beavering away on their projects and daily tasks.

As we've grown we've been assessing the different subcategories of the Airquee team and trying to make it easier for our customers to get what they need as quickly as possible. The aim for Airquee is to make things clearer, simpler and more efficient. This includes the website, our price lists, and our telephone systems. The website and price lists are being regularly updated and amended and our phone menu options will be changing in the near future! We're also dedicating a page on the site to the materials and colours we use, to make it easier for customers to see what all their options are!

We have a CAD apprentice joining our Design team next week, so we've been playing musical furniture in the office all day - the company server has been moved (if you tried to call us this morning and couldn't get through, that was the reason!) and now has pride of place in the the corner of the meeting room.

It's hard work getting new processes in place whilst still running a busy company but Airquee are confident we will succeed and grow bigger and better. Go hard or go home. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Harder, faster, better, stronger. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

I can't think of any other phrases but you get the idea. GO TEAM AIRQUEE!

Q&A with Kerry - Sales Director

If you've dealt with Airquee for any length of time you MUST know about Kerry - energetic, enthusiastic and occasionally inappropriate - she and Carole in Sales do everything they can to make sure our customers get the best deals and exceptional service!

Kerry was born in Nottingham and has lived in Portsmouth, Portugal and Margate (she always loves being by the sea) before returning to Nottingham. She now splits her week between Nottingham and South Wales/Bristol.

When were you happiest?

Difficult one - probably my secondary school years and then when my children were born!

What is your favourite food?
Eggs and beetroot (not pickled).

What is your greatest fear?
Cancer.

Which person, living or dead, do you most admire, and why? Margaret Thatcher – because "the lady’s not for turning"!

What is your favourite thing about Airquee?
The Team, both UK and Romania, and the variety of my role - not to mention the fab customers I get to interact with on a daily basis.

What is your least favourite thing about Airquee?
The stress during the Peak Season!

What is the worst habit you have at work?
Not sending the 1000’s of emails I draft and some may say my singing in the office...

What is your favourite Airquee product you've seen?
It was the Big Red Balls but as I am fickle it is now the Dancing Disco Dome as I feel like I am 18 years old again when inside one of those!
http://www.airquee.co.uk/games/team-building-games/bouncing-balls-18m-aq3013
http://www.airquee.co.uk/bouncycastles/disco-dome-bouncy-castles/dancing-disco-dome-aq4708

What song would you make Airquee’s theme song?

Bounce by Calvin Harris featuring Kelis!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTg9ugD188k

In the summer time!

Ok, so the above picture might not be an accurate illustration of what's been happening in the Airquee office (although Jay has started wearing shorts, much to everyone's amusement). But it's what we would be doing if we weren't so busy making fantastic inflatables!

Kerry's had a Portsmouth themed week - a site visit to Hilsea Lido, to train them on using their inflatable. She had fun on site and a productive day, so the Lido will be getting the most out of their inflatable!

Then yesterday we had a visit at the office from another Pompey customer, collecting their brand new Boot Camp Base Jump and Last One Standing duel challenge games! They were really impressed and pleased with their units and had a go on them both. It was when we were packing them all away that we noticed the key in the control box was broken. It had snapped off so not only were we unable to turn the box on or off but they couldn't remove the key - meaning that they would need to be with the game at all times for safety reasons.

Now obviously this is far from ideal - a hirer wants to know that they can safely leave their control box switched off and take the key with them. So the Airquee team performed some amazing problem solving - Phil H, after a brief period of despair, managed to MacGyvor* the stuck half of the key out of the lock by dismantling the control box with a couple of paperclips (artistic license). Kerry then took both halves of the key to a local locksmith and voila! Working key, happy customers and a new part of the Airquee process - spare keys to be kept in the Bristol warehouse!

(*For younger readers, MacGyvor was an 80s tv show about a secret agent who could make the most extraordinary problem solving devices out of everyday items like paperclips or shoe laces. I used his name as a verb. I've never seen the show, but I hear it was good. Patty and Selma in The Simpsons liked it).

It's been a busy but dull day so far in the office. Here's hoping that tomorrow goes smoothly!

We need longer days.

Peak season. I've said it before on here. We're busy. Really busy. So busy in fact that Phil M is looking increasingly hen-pecked (the Sales team are relentless in their requests for his knowledge) and Phil H has to keep helping the guys in the warehouse - he's not even had time to work on his beloved website. And while the director's away, the co-ordinator (me) plays - I've been editing pages, added our Twitter feed to the website and highlighted our very much improved FAQ section.

Our most frequently asked question is whether individuals can hire our units. Sadly we are not able to do this - we can sell to everyone but we can only hire or rent our inflatables to UK leisure centres. Hopefully this is now very clear on the website! 

I've also tried to get some interest going in the World Cup which starts today! However. It appears the Airquee team are all rugby fans. I'm sure once the tournament gets going and there are some England games they might pay attention...maybe...

Hope the good weather means good business for the hirers and leisure centres this week! Our latest lorry load from the factory is being inspected and shipped out today, so there will be happy customers with brand new units to use this weekend.

Keep on bouncing!

Energetic Airquee!

Another busy week in the Airquee office!

Kerry the Sales Director has been in the office all week, motivating and confusing everyone. Whilst there's been some stress to deal with, as she says, it is the peak season so you can't expect anything less. She's also been having so much fun with new customers on the phone! I don't know if she's had too much or too little caffeine but she's been bouncing around - yesterday she was trying to get people to join in Green Goddess exercises (apparently it's something from the 80s...?). Today we've got Norman the unofficial mascot in the office, if there's any exercise going on, he will definitely be involved.
Speaking of exercise, I was reading somewhere that there are people that use bouncy castles as part of a cardio regime. Bouncing is fun AND healthy - who knew? Well most people probably. But anyway, I may start a petition to have an "exercise" castle up in the showroom. That would definitely keep everyone alert!

In a calmer part of the office, H has had the ladies clamouring for him. As always, there's a lot on and he's helping to cover for staff absence in the office. When I asked him about his week, apparently he's spent a lot of time talking to Ottilia, Erika or Tilda over in the factory. He likes to pretend he has better things to do, but I think he's enjoying the popularity...

Otherwise, life in Bristol carries on as normal. The sun's come back out, we've been shipping loads of units out to our customers. Hopefully the good weather will stay and all bookings and parties over the weekend will be extra special!

AND we may have a special visitor on Monday - Tune in next week for the full story!