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David Allen Demons Heartbroken

A team consisting of Myself, Ricky, Robert, Craig, Mark James, Marc Green and David Arnold were invited to a six a side football competition at Sheepmount last night.

The event was organised by System Group in aid of Sports Relief and other teams taking part were Stobart Rail, System Apprentices and System IT Workers. We entered a team in the guise of "DA Demons" and we departed for the Sheepmount in high spirits and confident of a win.

After a quick stop at the Original Johns Plaice to refuel and take on extra carbohydrates, we arrived early at the Sheepmount eager to get in to action.

We were not on until the 2nd game, which allowed us to take in the first game between the two System Group sides, which ended in the impressive System Apprentices winning. We were on next against Stobart Rail and after a steady 8 minutes, the game was drawn 0-0. Not a bad start.

We were back on straight away against the Apprentices side. The game was end to end with each side exchanging goals to make it 2-2 with minutes to play. Then with one final push forward, the Demons were able to get the ball in to the box for “striker” Jack Clegg to convert in the bottom left hand corner and complete his hat trick! After some enquiries, it was confirmed by the ref that this goal had gone in. The game finished 3-2 and after drawing our last game against the System IT Workers and we thought we would be in the final with our 5 Points.

However there was an enquiry lodged about the third goal the Demon’s had scored against the Apprentices and the referee changed his decision which meant that the game finished at a two all draw and not the impressive win we thought we had which also meant we would miss out on the final.

The tournament organisers decided that the two System teams would compete for the final and the Demons would be left heartbroken. Star performer on the night for the Demons was experienced campaigner Marc Green who controlled the midfield in the style of a young Roy Keane.

A good night was had by all and doing so raised some money for a good cause.
Jack Clegg

Ready Steady Go Karting

On Saturday over twenty of us went to the Carlisle Indoor Go Karting arena and true to their word they gave us a discount if we could get twenty people taking part.

We had been once before in September last year so there were no excuses this time except for Jaimi, Leanne and Sam who had not been before.

We began the day by signing our life away as we signed a disclaimer against the firm but that didn’t worry us because we were now experts at Karting!!

We all picked our overalls and helmets and we were raring to go. We started off with a practice lap but no one was holding back. People were straight away crashing into each other in an attempt to overtake them and the track was much more slippy this time so going round the corners was a free for all!

The competition began and again we each raced 5 times, once in each of the 5 different karts.

Our points were tallied up and the top five scoring individuals went on to race in the final round which was a 12 lap race! Gemma’s husband Chris managed to keep his cool and took first place again! He also registered the fastest lap time so well done Chris!

Our own Fran Reay did brilliantly by registering the fastest lap time for the girls, well done Fran!

Where there is a winner, there is a loser and this is where Sam Harrison comes in! She has to get a mention because she came last with the most black flags! Black flags are awarded for those drivers that crash into others a lot or purposely road hog or is generally a menace on the track!! Tut tut Sam!!

This was a great team building exercise and we look forward to hearing about the next race meeting in future.

Sarah Reilly

Our United Day Out

Carrie and myself recently had a great day out at the Carlisle United match versus Stockport County.

Some other guests who all come from farming backgrounds from the Silloth and Wigton area joined us on the day and most of them had not been to a football match for many years.

The day started at 12:30 when Carrie and a few of the guests went on a tour of the ground. As the photo shows, they really enjoyed seeing what goes on behind the scenes and even got to have their pictures taken in the boot room.

Myself and the rest of the guests headed straight for Foxys restaurant where the bar was open to enjoy pre match drinks. This was coke in my case since I was doing most of the chauffeuring.

Once we all regrouped we sat down for a carvery dinner which was great and went down really well with everyone.

After the dinner we got our tickets and went out to the stand to prepare for the match. The first half wasn't very exciting with neither team really having a chance so at half time the score remained 0-0. During half time we went back inside for half time drinks and cheese and biscuits.

Both teams had a few more chances in the second half and provided a bit more entertainment however neither managed to get the break though goal and the score ended up 0-0.

After the match we had another drink or two and the day ended with everyone commenting on how much they had enjoyed it.

Michael Peile

Celebrating Burns Night

On Friday 22 January, a group of us from David Allen & Co had a table and joined The Mayor of Carlisle, Cllr William Graham and other parties at a Charity Burns Night Supper.

The event was held at the Cumbria Park Hotel, Carlisle and profits from the evening were in aid of the Mayor of Carlisle’s Charity Fund whose main beneficiary is the Eden House Children’s Hospice, a very worthwhile cause.

The evening included a five-course meal with traditional haggis which was piped in, in traditional style by Mr Ken MacKay and various guest speakers who gave their own unique renditions of the most popular of Robert Burns' poems including the Tam O'Shanter.

It was a really good night and everyone got into the spirit of things by wearing at least a hint of tartan in their clothing.
Carrie Taylor

Our Vision

It’s often said that business is about finding customers... keeping customers... and making money and as anybody who’s in business will agree, these three principles are essential to our very commercial existence. However, there’s one additional ingredient that’s always been at the heart of David Allen & Co and that’s an unwavering recognition that no matter how good we think we may be, there’s always room to improve.

Those improvements might come in seemingly small aspects of our business, but put a few small things together... and that can make a big difference.

From the early days I’ve always had a vision. It was not to be the biggest accountancy business in Cumbria, but to be the best - the best environment for talented people to work and develop their careers, and the best place for individuals and businesses to receive strategic and financial advice to help them fulfil their potential.

As we enter our 13th year with over 60 people, three offices and a rapidly changing economic landscape, I wanted to re-evaluate where we are and where we’d like to be in the future. To do this I recognise that the business Alison and I created back in 1997 is now very different.

Where once we would discuss our challenges and aspirations within our small team and quickly execute our ideas that same afternoon, I now have a team of partners and managers (each with their own teams) who I need to inspire in order to implement our business plans. Whilst many things have undoubtedly changed over the years, our initial ethos and values haven’t changed.

David Allen and Co has always been about providing the very best service for our customers as a direct result of creating enthusiastic, effective and loyal employees – and I realise that indeed many of our clients and staff had been with us for a significant part of our 13 year journey. I know that the key to developing our business further, lies with our people and our clients. Only by creating an environment where our people are satisfied, loyal and productive can we create value and only by creating that value can our clients feel satisfied and remain loyal to our business.

Unlike many businesses, we’re starting from the inside. Most (if not all) of our people have been involved in strategic or planning workshops, contributing through ideas or sharing their day to day experiences of life within David Allen and Co and providing valuable feedback on our leadership and management style. We have taken our core values of “Inspiration”, “Enthusiasm”, “Commitment” and “Practicality” and fine tuned our “Vision” for the next phase of our development. This vision is a team vision, developed by a group of people from all parts of the business and now shared by all within our firm.

On Thursday 10th of December all of our people came together in our Dalston office and I was really delighted to be able to present to them our vision and direction for the future. We are about to embark on one of the most exciting parts of our journey which involves feedback from our people and our clients will enable us to identify what “really” makes the difference to them and how we can provide our people with the resources to do best what matters most.

So as I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a very prosperous new year, I’d like to share with you OUR pledge and OUR vision.

• David Allen & Co's vision is to help individuals and businesses achieve their goals in the most practical, proactive and dynamic way. We will combine our technical know-how, financial awareness and commercial acumen with a passion and energy rarely seen in our sector.
• We will become a known leading light, recognised for blending the traditional values of accountancy with the enthusiastic and hands-on attitudes of a young, modern team of professionals.
• We will be a breath of fresh air to our clients and our team will be as committed to the clients’ businesses as they are to their own, and our promise will be to go the extra mile in all that we do.

Happy Christmas
David Allen

Rugby Match Sponsorship Day

Saturday 12 December we were back for our annual Christmas sponsors day at Aspatria Rugby Club.

Every year, we like to invite clients and contacts to join us and watch a rugby match at the Aspatria club and we have a complimentary bar open for our guests during the afternoon. This is a great way for us to thank people for their business during the year.

The day, as usual started at around 1pm. Clients came from all over the county but many arrived on the midday train from Carlisle which was jammed full with our invited guests and staff. Partner’s Alison Cartner and Sandra Gowling welcomed all our guests and then, having sampled a drink or two and enjoyed a bite to eat from the fantastic buffet, which was laid on by the club’s ladies committee, the match kicked off.

This year the team was up against Altrincham Kersal who earlier in the season had quite convincingly beaten the Aspatria side. Our very own, Jack Clegg was playing fly half for the home team and although Aspatria kept the score down to a more reasonable level, they were still beaten.

Back in the clubhouse, Sarah Reilly announced the winners of our Guess the Score competition.

We have had compliments from many of our guests saying what a fantastic day it was and many of our staff were also there on the day to meet our clients and enjoy the atmosphere of the day.
Julie Campbell