Catering: Royal Tea with Royalty

Our client, Hanson Catering of Watford, recently catered for an unveiling of a plaque, with guest of honour Princess Eugenie, daughter of the Duke of York and grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was to commemmorate the opening of the Children's High Dependency Unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore.

Hanson's cater for businesses, weddings and events within the London, Hertfordshire and the north-western home counties. They have an impressive client list and a delicious selection of suggested hot and cold menus; they also specialise in hog roasts and barbecues.

A hard-working, friendly and professional team... if you're looking for a caterer, call them!

Psst! take a look at their client feedback.

Caffè Nero Opens its UltraSlim Doors in Lymington

Grade 2 listed, Georgian façade

Caffè Nero has become well established in Lymington over the past eight years. The popular high street café has a large window frontage but the rear of the building was a little gloomy on a nice day. It was often crowded, too, as a number of 'regulars' used to vie for seats.

Planning permission was sought to build an extension that would extend the ground floor area and open up to a new south-facing patio area, by installing a bank of glass doors across the back of the building. This would this provide more light and easy access to additional outside seating.

SunSeeker UltraSlim, fully retractable slide-and-turn patio doors, were chosen by the owners of the Grade 2 listed building and "provided a cost effective, attractive solution". Building work was recently completed and a selection of photographs taken.

UltraSlim sliding doors pictured wide open

Natural light streaming in through the UltraSlim patio doors

Taken from the front of the café, showing brightness at the back

Thanks to Toadhole Investments Ltd., owners of the building, for supplying photographs and additional information.

The Year Of The Horse

The Chinese Year of the Snake began on 10th February 2013 and will be superseded by the Year of the Horse on 31st January 2014. Not only that but the Chinese calendar is heading towards the year 4712.

Hmm, not a 365-day year then. This is because the Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles of 28 days, rather than the time it takes the Earth to orbit the sun.

People born in the Year of the Horse are "Very hardworking and independent. Will work on and on until a job is finished. Very intelligent, ambitious and expect to succeed. Can cope with several projects at once. Easily fall in love." You can work out your Chinese animal characteristics here.

In China, red is considered lucky and gold represents prosperity, colours that feature in Chinese New Year festivities, which last for fifteen days. Dragons are also considered lucky, friendly creatures, representing long life and wisdom.

Our client, Novelties Direct, can supply a range of items for Chinese New Year celebrations from lanterns, dragon decorations and flags to Mandarin/Coolie hats and Giant Panda cut-outs. Some items are ideal for primary schools wanting to engage children in a lesson about Chinese culture.

"Kung Hei Fat Choy!" (Happy New Year)

Searching for Commercial Property to Rent in London W1

The Langham Estate - a prestigious address in London's West End, is home to a number of companies: UK head offices, restaurants, bars and retailers.


Commercial properties in the boundaries of The Langham Estate are available to rent via www.langhamestate.com

Another Website Launched, Another Happy Client, Yay!

For over 20 years, our business has grown by referral and recommendation. Our most recent 'website-requiring' client, Estacchini Architects, contacted us based on the website we produced for a similar company in the area. We developed this CMS* website for the Hertfordshire-based architect who has worked on buildings in a number of countries.

Visit the website's portfolio page to see projects in London, Milan, Athens and Singapore.

*CMS stands for Content Management System and enables website owners with some basic internet skills and word-processing knowledge to add, edit and update the general content - including images - on their website. Anyone who has used WordPress to write a blog will feel instantly comfortable with our WordPress-based CMS websites.

We are working to launch our own redeveloped website before the end of the year. Follow The BPc on Twitter to be amongst the first to know!

Assistance to help the Elderly and Disabled

Amongst our clients are three established, family-run businesses whose products and services are aimed at helping less able customers, whether at home or in care.

Whether you need to find a comfy chair that enables you or a relative to relax and stand up again with minimal effort or if you need to find a company that can install gantry systems or regenerate a family bathroom for disabled use, one of our clients has it covered.

They are all based around the London/Home Counties area and cover much of the South midlands and south of England. All three companies are experienced in their fields and can offer excellent advice.

Classic Mobility is a service company for scooters, power-chairs, power-beds, bath-hoists, gantry systems and other equipment that requires regular servicing, maintenance and ad-hoc repairs. They also supply equipment such as riser-recliner chairs, power-wheelchairs, mobility scooters, adjustable care beds and 'moving and handling' equipment plus batteries and other mobility supplies and accessories including walking frames, rollators, daily consumables and more.

Herts and London stair lifts also runs Mobility Rentals - long term equipment rental such as mobility scooters for individuals who don't want to buy and specialist equipment for care homes and nursing homes who are managing their cash flow - care beds, patient hoists, etc.

Practical Bathing advises, supplies and installs a range of equipment in flats, houses, care homes, clinics - wherever special toileting or bathing facilities are needed. These include walk-in baths, sit-in showers, wheel-chair showers, bio-bidet and 'big john', part of the bariatric equipment range and more.

New Website Launched for Herts-based HR Services Consultant

Our client, Eyekon Consultants, wanted their old website modernised with a focus on their Human Resource Services and the website content to be up-dateable in-house.

Director of HR Services, Sue, provided the written content and images then we built and delivered an optimised WordPress-based website.
Sue was a delight to work with and the website design and build was completed in a moderate time-frame, ready for hand-over.
Go take a look: www.EyekonConsultants.co.uk

Stairlifts in Hertfordshire and London

Stairlifts can change the lives of people who no longer manage stairs with ease. We are currently working with a stair-lift company that operates mainly in the Hertfordshire and North London areas. They have years of experience supplying services and goods to customers who have physical disabilities and a desire for independence.

An elderly person who has spent their whole life in a Victorian cottage may be better off with friends and neighbours nearby than moving to purpose-built sheltered accommodation a mile away. Once a stair-lift is installed, that person may continue to be independent for many years.

Solutions vary as there is no one-size-fits-all-stairs stair-lift. Stairlifts can be installed for spiral stairs, winding stairs, 'dog-leg' and other shapes and sizes. There is also an all-weather stairlift suitable for outside stairs.

More helpful information on the Herts/London Stairlifts website.

Behind The Scenes. Behind The Signs.

Our Client, Signcraft, is a thriving print and signage company that covers extraordinary projects, from printing fake tiles for a film studio to giant advertising boards for construction companies. They also erect monoliths and drape wraps around tall buildings.

Yet, there are smaller projects, too: office art, retail posters, vehicle graphics, exhibition displays, lighting and estate agent signage. They also have an in-house design team.

Their versatility can be seen on the Signcraft Pinterest board and you can get to know key staff on the Signcraft Team before you call them with your interesting signage challenge on 01895 442768. They do love a challenge!