Ansaback News

Two members of staff competed in this year’s London Marathon, both successfully crossing the finish line in less than 5 hours!

Group Managing Director, William Catchpole, ran his 4th London Marathon and Zonja Bunn, Ansaback Accounts Assistant, running her very first!

William said 'This was my 14th marathon in total and London is always fun with huge numbers of runners and spectators. The start in the rain was not very pleasant but once we got going and the weather improved it was just a question of digging in and getting through the wall which is both mental and physical.  Miles 21 -24 were the tough ones for me and despite numerous people shouting “come on Ipswich you can do it” the legs stubbornly refused to get back into gear. I didn’t see any celebs this time and luckily wasn’t overtaken by panto horses, rhinos or wombles! However I did get overtaken by a giant beer bottle which I later found out had a woman inside. Well done her, it must have been unbelievably hot. I finished in 4 hours and 37 minutes but know I should have been a smidge quicker. My next race is in Norway which I am sure will be much cooler although I suspect not as flat! No doubt a bottle of Grolsch or Heineken will pass me at some point’

 Zonja enjoyed the whole experience, she said 'Before the run I had a couple of sleepless nights due to nerves but they soon disappeared once the marathon started. During the race the atmosphere was fantastic bands playing along the route, people in fancy dress, everyone cheering, kind supporters handing out sweets and pieces of fresh orange. I hit a wall my wall at 22 miles, my body felt like it had turned to jelly, my calves ached but I did not want to stop as I knew I would not be able to start up again, I could not walk as it hurt more than running, and I was not going to give up after getting this far.  So I literally plodded for just over a mile. It was a brilliant day, an amazing experience and one I would definitely like to do again’.

STUART GORDON, Finance Director of Ansaback and IPPlus PLC, has celebrated his tenth anniversary this month working for the Suffolk-based corporation, based on Ransomes Europark.

Stuart joined the organisation in 2000, following a wide-reaching and varied career as a Financial Officer, in and around Suffolk.

He initially joined COUNTYWeb (as IPPlus was then known) to be part of the dot.com “phase”, and felt it would be something historical he could share with his children one day. However, as we all know, the internet was most definitely not a “phase” and ten years on, he’s still here!

COUNTYWeb was an internet-based company whose primary focus was developing online business directories, however it has since evolved into IPPlus with three primary divisions; Ansaback (purchased in 2001), CallScripter and IP3 Telecom.

Following the purchase of Ansaback, Stuart is in fact the member of staff who took the initial sales call that led to the development of our own in-house software, CallScripter. CallScripter is now an internationally-known scripting application with installs in over 20 countries.

Stuart, commenting on his time so far with IPPlus, said: “I have had a thoroughly enjoyable time working within this organisation, and I can’t believe how fast the last ten years have gone by. I have had the pleasure of working alongside a delightful and impressive team, and can’t wait for the next ten!”

William Catchpole, Managing Director of IPPlus, said: “Stuart has been an invaluable asset to our company, and many of the changes and enhancements over the years would not have happened without his support and dedication. Always calm in a crisis, Stuart is unflappable and the source of many pearls of wisdom. I look forward to his continued success.”

Ansaback's Financial  Director, Stuart Gordon, recently had the pleasure of giving away his daughter Anna’s hand in marriage.

Stuart, being a Scot, dusted out his kilt and showed us his knees!

Here is a picture of the bridal party, who all agreed that the day could not have been bettered.

 Whilst wild animals and birds frequent the grounds of Ansaback, from rabbits, magpies, robins, finches, (once upon a time we even had a cat with her litter of kittens) this was one guest we had never seen here before.

There were several suggestions as to what this bird may be, such as a Kestrel, a Goshawk and even a Peregrine Falcon. Having done some research we have concluded that with her piercing yellow eyes, light grey/brown colouring, it was in fact a female Sparrowhawk, which prey on small birds (although in this case it was a ‘not so small’ pigeon)!

Some years ago the Sparrowhawk was an extremely rare sight in Suffolk and Norfolk, the cause of their decline was found to be poisoning as a result of preying on grain-eating birds which had been feeding on seed covered in pesticides. The population has since recovered.

Take a look at the picture which was taken from the call centre, if you think we have got it wrong and this it is not a Sparrowhawk, please do let us know what you think this fierce looking bird is!

e-mail your suggestions to; toni.vincent@ansaback.co.uk

The last Friday of every month equals a dress down day for staff at Ansaback, who kindly donate money to our chosen charity of the year - EACH.

EACH is an amazing charity which supports families throughout their experience of caring for children with life-threatening conditions and complex healthcare needs.

Ansaback would like pass on a massive thank you to all of their call centre staff for contributing - even the ones who forgot it was dress down and came in their usual business attire still dug deep!

So thanks once again.

If you would like any further information about EACH, please visit their website: http://www.each.org.uk/