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Members News
Holiday Inn Ashford North
supports MOD personnel
In August 2021 we were approached by the government to support the ARAP scheme. This was to accommodate MOD personnel and their families from Afghanistan until being relocated within the UK.
We had heard of the trauma the families had gone through in leaving Afghanistan and being that many of these families have worked for and assisted our government, we felt it was a project we were well positioned to support.
After fleeing their homes (heartbreakingly some of the children losing parents along the way) they were accommodated in Manchester to quarantine before arriving to us, sadly with only bin bags of belongings.
The lollipops that are good for kids
If you manage to get away on holiday, the chances are you’ll go via a plane, train or automobile.
Look out for Healthipops Vitamin & Mineral Lollipops in WHSmith stores – they’re the brainchild product of Chamber members Nick Pullin and Maxine Brown.
They’re lollipops, but not any old lollipop – they’re made with vitamins and minerals to help boost immunity and general wellbeing, with added botanical extracts to soothe everyday common ailments. Plus, they’re also great for getting nutrients into fussy or particular eaters too.
Their current range of eight products includes two lollipops that make ideal travel companions: ‘Ear Popper Stopper’ and ‘Travel’. Others in the range are seasonal; Winter Wellness and Spring & Summer Wellness. Throat Soother, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12 and Kids’ Multivit can be taken all year round.
Nick and Maxine, who share four children, developed the products after failing to find natural alternatives for their inevitable coughs, colds, hay fever and travel.
Maxine said: They’re a great, tasty way to get daily nutrients into your kids, offering a boost to vitamin and mineral intake. “As a family, we love them and feedback from our customers who are now starting to find us abroad is great too.”
They’re now looking for Kent stockists, plus organisations who would like to offer them to the children they work with.
Nick said: “We’re in 160 of the UK’s WHSmith stores but we would really love to be stocked in health food outlets, local farm shops and places that stock smaller brands.
“We’re hoping that our fellow Chamber members will contact us or put us in touch with people who might be interested.”
For more information visit www.healthipops.com
We quickly received immediate help from Ashford Borough Council, Waitrose Ashford, County Square, Ashford Designer Outlet and local charities who assisted with toiletries, clothes, toys, pushchairs and much more. One charity in particular, Kent Kindness, has continued to be of support with its generous donations – even purchasing new suitable footwear for the children, who are currently being temporarily educated every afternoon at The John Wallis Academy.
We have always prided ourselves on delivering the best service to our customers and that has continued. After a very unsettling year in the industry, by us taking on this contract, it has allowed the team to come back to work and provide a safe, comfortable environment for the families.
Our guests appreciate our hospitality so are completely respectful of the hotel, meaning it is being looked after ready for us to welcome our customers back in the new year.
Staff shortages helped our business grow!
24-7 Steller Packing, a contract packing company based in Paddock Wood, Kent, has seen an increase in production this Christmas with the help from sister company 24-7 Employment Solutions.
Have you read that title and thought “Is this a typo?”. We can’t blame you if the answer is yes; it has been a long 20 months since COVID-19 became an intolerable part of all our lives. Just like many other businesses, we noticed a huge reduction in available staff when the laws around isolation and social distancing came in. Many of our colleagues, who are overseas nationals, quite rightly made the decision to go home to their families rather than risk being stuck in England in such uncertain times. This was the second blow to our business after Brexit laws were also passed, which required a large percentage of our workforce to complete ‘right to remain’ paperwork, the fatal blow.
The ripple effects of these scenarios at times made our production output a near on impossible task. There were times we called on internal office staff to work evenings, out of hours and weekends to make sure SLAs were met. As a team we are proud to say we powered through. In this last quarter of the year, another turning point came when our sister company, 24-7 Employment Solutions, expanded their portfolio through months of relentless work alongside our skeleton team at 24-7 Steller Packing. The team at 24-7 Employment Solutions was already situated in offices in Gravesend and Tunbridge Wells but with the increase of manpower we have opened the doors to a new arm of the business right here at our head office in Paddock Wood!
While the country is still suffering from a nationwide labour shortage, 24-7 Steller Packing is in the enviable position to have an inhouse recruitment team working in partnership with us. We want to welcome the new Paddock Wood team for 24-7 Employment Solutions and congratulate them in their success to expand a business during a monumentally difficult economic crisis. For more information visit
