A massive thank you to Clarks for their generous sponsorhsip!Â
This is a great boost for myself and the team.
Chris
London to Paris
Feb
16
2010
Training is going well, although most of the miles tend to be offroad on the moutain bike, still burns the thighs!
I would like to thank everyone that has sponsored me to date, it is an extremely worthy cause and I am well on my way to reaching my fund raising target and hopefully exceeding this. Keep it coming!
If you would like to donate, please follow the link below:
http://www.justgiving.com/CFlatt
HK visit
Jan
28
2010
Back in the day I’m told designers in the UK used to be able to visit the manufactures of their lovely designs by getting in a car and travelling a short distance to the local horse shoe basher.
They could talk to people working in the factory and gain a good understanding of the way products were made.
Things have changed and to gain such an understanding these days, in the majority of cases, going to a factory manufacturing large volumes means getting on a big plane in an easterly direction for a long time.
I undertook such and activity recently to meet Ray who heads up our FE office in Hong Kong. I had missed his prior visit to the uk so was glad to meet him despite his proclaimed love of Man Utd.
Our HK office was impressively efficient, quite a contrast to the flip flop culture of our creative uk office. A visit to China to factories making some of our designs proved an interesting experience. Having worked in a number of UK factories in my youth I can certainly say I have worked in worse environments than I saw in China. The effect design decisions have on assembly lines and costs became abundantly apparent upon seeing the process live.
Our R+D centre was coming along nicely, being situated within a factory enables us to try out new technologies and materials directly through the machines that will be making them from their conception.
After such a positive trip we plan to integrate our Hong Kong office firmly into our development process so from day one of a project we are liaising with our manufacturing partners and considering manufacturing lead times, materials, assembly, testing and communicating all of this back to our clients
Running
Jan
26
2010
We all like to keep fit and healthy here at DW, some more than others. Steve has hit the pavements and trails of Windsor big time this year in preparation for his numerous up coming race events in 2010. The first event was near Guildford on Saturday, Tim went along to be Steve’s pacemaker.
After Steve took a commanding lead we are not sure what happened because Tim managed to finish in front of his counterpart, explanations so far have included bottle necks at fences and shoe laces coming undone.
Anyway, it’s the taking part that counts!.
Here they are, Tim on the left and Steve on the right.
CD of the week.
Jan
25
2010
CD of the week was born about 6 years ago following numerous “debates” about which music was played to the masses here at DW. A whole set of rules were written up (too many to go into detail!) and we signed in blood to undertake the simple task of taking it in turns to introduce new CD’s to our library each week. These CD’s are then voted on by all participants, voting critera does depend on the individual however!. CD of the week has proved so popular that the system developed here at DW is known to have been employed in various offices around the world!.
This culminates in an offical top ten being compiled at the end of each callender year. Last years top ten worked out thus;
1. Blak Roc
2. The Prodigy
2. Mos Def
3. Ministry of Sound
4. The Eagles of Death Metal
5. Wolf Mother
6. Glasvegas
7. The Enemy
8. The XX
8. Seasick Steve
This weeks CD of the week has fallen to me and I’ve gone with an impulse purchase. First impressions are not great but it’s got 4 days to turn it around.
Mud
Jan
21
2010
After the thaw the trails have turned into a bog! Extremely muddy ride last night combined with lights failure (still fun though)! Maybe I should get out on the tarmac! Does anyone have a road bike to loan/sponsor?
white stuff
Jan
12
2010
Still plenty of snow around. Managing a few rides, not quite road training, but good fun. Hard work though!
Snow in Windsor
Jan
07
2010
Some of us made it into the office today. Here’s a few lunchtime highlights, click to enlarge!.
Snow
Dec
23
2009
No cycling this week. Snow, ice, freezing hands and feet put an end to it! Back in the saddle after Christmas.
Have a great Chrimbo and a Happy New Year!
London to Paris Bike Ride
Dec
18
2009
I’m all signed up and ready to roll (in need of some miles in the saddle though!)
Over the bank holiday weekend in May next year, myself and 30 other amateur riders will be cycling over 300km from Central London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on behalf of Rugbytots in aid of the NSPCC
Every day, thousands of children and young people call ChildLine to talk about a problem they face. Hundreds of caring adults also call the NSPCC Helpline because they are worried about a child’s safety. The NSPCC’s Child’s Voice Appeal aims to transform ChildLine and the NSPCC Helpline to ensure they are there for all children. The hardest thing for an abused child is to speak out.
I have a target to hit but of course keen to exceed this as much as possible! Please, dig deep and sponsor what you can, it is an extremely worthy cause. Just £100 would help the NSPCC answer the calls of an extra 25 desperate children. Consider how much money we are trying to raise and what impact that will have on those young lives!
http://www.justgiving.com/CFlatt
If you have already sponsored me, a big thanks and I will you keep you posted on our training and progress.
Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Chris