Team Spirit is now printed on 100% recycled paper Issue 7 • Autumn 2009

In July, more than 500 of you attended this year’s BigEvent at the Abundant Life Centre in Bradford.

What’s Inside?

• The BIG Review pg 2 • Healthy Heart pg 3 • RAPID pg 3 • MVV Award Winners pg 4

• IS Project pg6 • Damart in the News pg 7 • Charity News pg 7 • STARS pg 8

This year our Hollywood-themedevent had all the glitz and glamourof the Oscars. After a champagne

reception, we watched open-mouthed asfire eaters and an angle grinding actperformed in the grand openingceremony. Our fabulous host, the oneand only Keith ‘Cheggers’ Chegwin thentook to the stage to help us celebrate oursuccesses of the past year.

Highlights of the evening included filmclip updates on projects such as RAPIDand MAP, presentations by Group CEOPatrick Seghin and Managing DirectorAndy Hill and of course, the Damartfashion show. Thanks to all of the modelswho volunteered to showcase Damart’sstylish and innovative new product lines.

Cheggers helped us to give out lots ofprizes, a big well done to Christine Millerin the Southend shop who won a pair oftickets to Strictly Come Dancing’s livetour.

Of course, the night would not becomplete without the MVV awards. A big

well done and thank you to everyonewho was nominated. Turn to page 4 for afull list of winners.

A fantastic night was had by all – we’realready looking forward to next year!

A SPECIAL THANKS! We would like to say a special thankyou to the project team who workedreally hard to create this fabulousevent; Sarah Brown, Steve Clark,Sarah Hetmanski, Michele Gibbs,Chrissie Lamb, Michelle Widdop, LizO’Driscoll, Angie Graham, ClaireHarris, Lolly Tebbs, Louise Mason,Zarina Toothill, Naomi Lister, DariusZielosko and Joanne Phipps.

Team Spirit is now printed on 100% recycled paper'

THE

BIGEVENT

Keith ‘Cheggers’ Chegwin, who oncelived in the very same village as our own AndyHill (yes, really!) provided an entertainingcommentary during the night. The former BigBreakfast presenter dazzled us with his humourand charm and helped the evening go smoothly.

I greeted many of you as you arrived at the BigEvent and it was great to see such a good turnout. A special mention must go to our GroupCEO Patrick Seghin who flew in especially fromFrance to attend the event. This was his very firstDamart event in the UK and I think we showedhim how to celebrate in true Yorkshire style!

The evening was fun-filled with spot prizes, aquiz and of course the now legendary Damartfashion show. This year our glamorous Damartmodels shared the stage with professional modelsalthough it was hard to tell the difference attimes. Once again, I was also persuaded to taketo the stage for a special guest appearance!

Of course, we had plenty to celebrate; the lastyear has been a successful one for Damart, we’veseen many records broken resulting in excellentdemand, turnover and customer service. Lots ofwork has gone into providing customers withoffers they like, both product and promotionaloffers and improving our levels of service in thecall centre and warehouse, which has achievedbest ever dispatch times. This success is due to

the hard work and commitment of every one ofyou and since the Big Event, you will have allreceived a financial bonus as your reward forcontributing to the success of Damartex.

To acknowledge our employees fantasticachievements, team and individual awards werepresented which represent Damart’s MVV valuesof Team Spirit, Spirit of Innovation and PassionateAbout Our Customers. A number of extra awardsincluding Patrick Seghin’s SER, (Simple,Economical, Reactive) Award were given toacknowledge specific projects which hadbenefitted the business by improving inter-departmental working and helping to makeDamart a first-class place to work.

A record-breaking number of entries werereceived for this year’s awards, showing thestrength and depth of skill and talent at Damart.We’d have loved to give you all an award. A hugecongratulations to everyone who was nominated,keep up the great work.

We’ve already received some very positivefeedback on this year’s Big Event, if you have anycomments please get in touch with HR. We needyour help to make next year’s event even better.

Hopefully next year we’ll have just as much, ifnot more to celebrate. Our focus over the next12 months is to grow the business. We haveambitious, but achievable, plans for the AutumnWinter 2009 and Spring Summer 2010 seasons.As well as increasing sales, we’ll be controllingcosts to allow us to invest in business growthboth locally and internationally. In the UK, forexample, we’ve already committed to gaining anextra 20,000 customers above our budget inAutumn Winter 2009. Each and everydepartment has its own plans to contribute to theoverall businesses growth, Damart’s futuresuccess is in all of our hands.

John Bottomley

Damart Team Spirit Autumn 2009

Editors:Jessica WilsonRachel BarkerCicada Communications

Contributors:

Helen TaylorMCG PRDenene CapperJeanette AskinMark ScurrGeraldine VernonChristine Vera-CruzJohn BottomleyJoanne PhippsPhil MyerscoughSean Morrow

If you have a story for TeamSpirit, email your ideas torachel@cicada-comms.com/ hltaylor@damart.com, orcontact the HR departmenton extension 6605.

TheEditorialTeam

The

Edit

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2 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

THE BIGGEST‘BIG EVENT’ EVER

What a big event it turned out to be! I thoroughly enjoyed the evening andhope you’ll all agree that this year’s was better than ever before. Once

again we chose the Abundant Life Centre in Bradford for our evening ofcelebration and I think the team did a fabulous job of looking after us.

A record-breaking number of entries were received forthis year’s awards, showing the strength and depth of

skill and talent at Damart. We’d have loved to give youall an award. A huge congratulations to everyone who

was nominated, keep up the great work.

John Bottomleyhaving a knees-up!

3 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

DAMART GOES FOR GOLD INHEALTHY HEART CHALLENGE

To show our support of the vital workHeart Research UK does, we’re takingpart in the charity’s Healthy Heart

Challenge. The challenge is taking place atBingley and Steeton and more than a quarterof all staff have already taken part in a‘healthy heart check’ with an adviser fromHeart Research UK.

Advisers talked to staff about the things theywere doing right to keep their hearts healthyand gave them some advice to makeimprovements.

To encourage employees to maintain a‘healthy heart’ throughout the challenge, weare looking into a number of initiatives suchas walking and Pilates classes. We hope evenmore of you will take part over the next yearto help Damart achieve the gold HealthyHeart Mark.

Events to help employees in the challengewill include Health Fairs, Chef’s Specials andNHS Support. Bradford Bulls will be helpingus all to reach our goals by attending various

events throughout the year and two playersturned up to help us launch the challenge inSeptember.

Health Aware Supporters will be chosen torepresent different areas of the business, theirjob will be to promote their new healthylifestyle by providing regular process updatesand encouraging colleagues to take up theHealthy Heart Challenge.

To keep us all motivated over the next year,every three months Heart Research UK willbe providing bronze, silver and gold prizeswhen we reach our Healthy Heart goals. AtDamart we’re going for gold! Good luckeveryone!

The Healthy Heart Champions promotingthe start of the campaign are members ofthe HR Team; Helen L Taylor (HRManager), Geraldine Vernon (TrainingOfficer), Jo Phipps (HR Administrator),Amanda Loftus (Training Officer) &Wendy Hatton (HR Advisor).

RAPID WRAPS UP

The project, which was known as RAPID (RedirectingAll Phones Into Damart), involved colleagues fromacross the business and has been a huge success.

After just a month to settle in, our new teams weremet with a real challenge in the first week of August,which turned out to be a record-breaking week forDamart!

As our main Autumn Winter catalogue was sent out we received 53,985calls against a forecast of just 44,936. Our Contact Centre Advisors did agreat job and finished the week with an impressive 80% service level.

The average call waiting time was down to just 16 seconds - the first timewe have achieved this level of service when call volumes have been so high.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who has been involved with theRAPID project and a warm welcome to everyone who has joined us in thenew contact centre.

After months of hard work the new contact centrein Bingley was officially opened on 1 July byCouncillor Adrian Naylor and Bradford Bulls starDavid Solomona.

Damart has a great relationship with HeartResearch UK, the charity which carries outpioneering research into heart disease.

Top: Celebrating theopening of the RAPIDProject

Right: Members of theRAPID Project team

3 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

DAMART GOES FOR GOLD INHEALTHY HEART CHALLENGE

To show our support of the vital workHeart Research UK does, we’re takingpart in the charity’s Healthy Heart

Challenge. The challenge is taking place atBingley and Steeton and more than a quarterof all staff have already taken part in a‘healthy heart check’ with an adviser fromHeart Research UK.

Advisers talked to staff about the things theywere doing right to keep their hearts healthyand gave them some advice to makeimprovements.

To encourage employees to maintain a‘healthy heart’ throughout the challenge, weare looking into a number of initiatives suchas walking and Pilates classes. We hope evenmore of you will take part over the next yearto help Damart achieve the gold HealthyHeart Mark.

Events to help employees in the challengewill include Health Fairs, Chef’s Specials andNHS Support. Bradford Bulls will be helpingus all to reach our goals by attending various

events throughout the year and two playersturned up to help us launch the challenge inSeptember.

Health Aware Supporters will be chosen torepresent different areas of the business, theirjob will be to promote their new healthylifestyle by providing regular process updatesand encouraging colleagues to take up theHealthy Heart Challenge.

To keep us all motivated over the next year,every three months Heart Research UK willbe providing bronze, silver and gold prizeswhen we reach our Healthy Heart goals. AtDamart we’re going for gold! Good luckeveryone!

The Healthy Heart Champions promotingthe start of the campaign are members ofthe HR Team; Helen L Taylor (HRManager), Geraldine Vernon (TrainingOfficer), Jo Phipps (HR Administrator),Amanda Loftus (Training Officer) &Wendy Hatton (HR Advisor).

RAPID WRAPS UP

The project, which was known as RAPID (RedirectingAll Phones Into Damart), involved colleagues fromacross the business and has been a huge success.

After just a month to settle in, our new teams weremet with a real challenge in the first week of August,which turned out to be a record-breaking week forDamart!

As our main Autumn Winter catalogue was sent out we received 53,985calls against a forecast of just 44,936. Our Contact Centre Advisors did agreat job and finished the week with an impressive 80% service level.

The average call waiting time was down to just 16 seconds - the first timewe have achieved this level of service when call volumes have been so high.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who has been involved with theRAPID project and a warm welcome to everyone who has joined us in thenew contact centre.

After months of hard work the new contact centrein Bingley was officially opened on 1 July byCouncillor Adrian Naylor and Bradford Bulls starDavid Solomona.

Damart has a great relationship with HeartResearch UK, the charity which carries outpioneering research into heart disease.

Top: Celebrating theopening of the RAPIDProject

Right: Members of theRAPID Project team

4 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

THE BIG EVENT 2009

Once again the MVV awards were one of the highlights of the Big Event. The awards acknowledge individual andteam commitment to our company values; Spirit of Innovation, Team Spirit and Passionate about Customers Wereceived a staggering number of entries and would have loved to give everyone an award – so well done toeveryone for their continued hard work, passion and innovation.

STARS SHINE AT GLITTERING MVV EVENT

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Spirit of Innovationfocuses on findingsolutions to challenges,and new ways of workingto build for our futurewhether in terms oforganisation, process oroffers.

SPIRIT OF INNOVATION AWARD

Winning Team:Optimisation of Change Project includingthe Logistics, Finance and IS teams

Team Finalists:Credit/Contact Centre, HR, Logistics

Winning Individual:Julie Laughlin, Call Centre

Finalists:Alan Molineaux, Mail and Print; Christine Eels,Retail; Ben Gillespie, Marketing

It’s important for us torecognise that our internal‘customers’ are just asimportant as our externalones.

PASSIONATE ABOUT CUSTOMERS (INTERNAL)

Winning Team:Seasonal Changeover & Pickface OptimisationsProject including the Finance, Marketing, Buying, IS,Logistics and Mail and Print Centre teams

Team Finalists:IS/HR, Logistics stock, HR

Winning Individual:Richard Falkingham, IS

Finalists:Steven Clark, Finance; John Karwacki, IS;James Wheeler, Marketing.

A company is only asgood as its customerservice. You know it'ssomething we take veryseriously here at Damart,and we invest a lot oftime and effort intogetting it right. Ourcustomers’ satisfaction isour priority and so wewanted to award anindividual and team whohave shown theirdedication to our externalcustomers.

PASSIONATE ABOUT CUSTOMERS (EXTERNAL)

Winning Team:RAPID project team; Jeanette Askin, Fiona Romano,Stephen Kennedy and Ian Auker

Team Finalists:Logistics, Mail and Print, Marketing

Winning Individual:Phil Shaw, Marketing

Finalists:Chris Aitken, Mail and Print; Chrissie Lamb,Customer Service; Jenny Swift, Business support

5 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

THE BIG EVENT - GLITTERING STARS

Team Spirit is what makeswork enjoyable, it islistening to each otherand sharing ideas. Bydemonstrating Team Spiritwe continually share ourexperiences to improveour organisation andprocesses. Whatever ourpersonal ambitions, whenwe work together wefocus on a common goal.

TEAM SPIRIT

Winning Team:Questionnaire Mailing Spring Summer 09 includingthe Marketing, Mail and Print Centre and IS teams

Team Finalists:Logistics, Bingley stock control, Customer Service

Winning Individual:Sandra Lane, IS/Retail

Finalists:Jason Hall, DC; Gemma Woodhead,Customer Service; Andrea Wright, IS

As many of you know, since PatrickSeghin joined Damart a year ago, hehas introduced a new way of working– SER, which stands for Simple,Economic and Reactive. This refers toa way of working which, if adopted byall, will help us to achieve ourambitions for the future. It has beenincredibly reassuring to see so many ofyou adopt this philosophy and thecompany wanted to recognise anindividual and a team for theirconsistent SER approach.

SER AWARD

Winning Team:Andre de Brett team

Winning Individual:Jessica van Schaik, IS/HR

Damart is proud of the hard work anddedication shown by all employees.This is often highlighted duringchallenging times. We are extremelylucky to have some outstandingemployees working for Damart, thisaward was chosen by the Board ofDirectors (BOD) to recognise anindividual and a team who havedemonstrated outstandingperformance over the last 12 months.

BOD AWARD

Every day some of our employees go‘above and beyond’ in their work, showingreal passion and commitment to Damart.

EXTRA MILE AWARD

Winning Team:Mail and Print Relocation Project; Chris Aitken,Jerry Burton, Tom Kitching, Fiona Romano, StephenKennedy and Wendy Hatton

Winning Individual:Alan Molineaux, Mail and Print Centre

Winners:Adele Upton, DC; Stephen Kennedy,facilities; Stefan Macina, Merchandise.

Congratulationsto everyonewho wasawarded a LongService Awardand thank youfor yourcontinuing hardwork anddedication.

LONG SERVICE AWARD

25 years:Paul Milligan

30 years:Neil Broadley andStephen Webster.

20 years:Debra Wareham, Lynne Hepworth,Damian Northrop, Ann Taylor.

6 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

STEETONMail and PrintUpdate On Friday 18 September we celebrated theofficial opening of our new Mail and PrintCentre in Steeton. Production at the newcentre began in July, just 15 weeks after theproject was launched.

The move was led by Alan Molineaux, Catalogue LogisticsOperations Manager, with the assistance of Darryl Senior,Head of Logistics and Frank Walker, Business Analyst.

The project team included more than twenty experienced Damartstaff who were allocated to eight different streams so that theworkload for this major move could be shared.

Each stream played an important part in the project; however,two key areas with perhaps the greatest challenge wereInfrastructure & Machinery and People.

Jerry Burton, Logistics Engineering Manager, led the Infrastructure& Machinery stream. Jerry made sure that we have a first rateenvironment to work in and that the production equipment wasmoved with minimal disruption. We also purchased a Sitma PolyEnclosing line. This investment will bring significant savings andalso limits the risk of machine failure.

Alan Molineaux, supported by the HR Department, led the Peoplestream. During a thirty-day consultation process, members of staffwere given the opportunity to suggest their own ideas on how wemight best fulfil our objectives.

Damart produces and mails out more than 45 million cataloguesand direct mail items each year to customers in the UK. It istestament to the hard work and dedication of the Mail and PrintCentre staff that throughout the project, production and staffattendance continued to run at a high level.

The move shows the hard work, vision and commitment of thestaff, project team, and leadership of Damart. Well done andthank you to all involved.

Managing Director Andy Hill said: “The opening not onlycelebrated the successful move of this large scale operation butwas also a thank you to all the staff involved in making it such aseamless transition. The printing and mailing part of Damart’sbusiness is crucial in attracting new customers and making sureexisting ones are aware of all our new products. The move toSteeton and the new equipment means we will be able to furtherimprove our service in this area.”

UK TEAM SUCCESSFULLYDELIVERS INTERNATIONAL

IS PROJECT

A great example ofinternational team working

Members of the IS team in the UK, Sean Morrow,(Project Manager), Richard McVay and David Walker,have been working closely with the French and Swiss ISteams to ‘in source’ the Swiss Damart website.

This means that instead of being hosted by an externalorganisation in France, the website will be hosted fromthe UK. The change over to Damart UK is more costeffective and is also the first international IS groupproject to be delivered. The project used cutting edgetechnology and the skills of three IS teams.

Richard and David in the UK showed great dedication tomake sure the project met its deadline, working throughthe night to ensure that the website was up and runningand fully functional for the delivery date.

Commenting on his team, Sean Morrow said; “I wasvery impressed by the commitment and skills shown byRichard and David. They stayed until the next morningto give their colleagues a full handover. Even moreimportant is that Damart’s customers experienced nodown time and wouldn’t have noticed anything. Withthe same commitment and expertise, I’m sure that allfuture projects can be just as successful!

“We would also like to thank our internationalcolleagues Ludovic Destre, Jean-Pierre Lallart, DelphineBourgeois, Christine Ziegler and all of their teams.”

In a separate international project, congratulations andthanks also go to IS team members Neil Broadley andAndrew Hughes. The pair worked hard to launch the newGerman website. This is the first time that Damart has hada presence in the German market and there was a lot of workto be done behind the scenes to get the website up andrunning. The launch of the new website in the summer wasa success and the website will now be hosted in the UK.

waiting for a picture18th september

David Walker

Richard McVay

7 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

With the new season now upon us, a strikingAutumn Winter 09 Look Book has beendesigned to catch the eye of Damart’s keyfashion contacts in the media.

The new Look Book highlights just some of thekey pieces from the collection for AutumnWinter 2009 based on trend predictions fromthe catwalk. We’re sure the animal printcardigan and brightly coloured bangles will bea hit, as well as the incredibly popularinnovative pieces that are exclusive to Damart.

With strong, striking photography identifying aselection of gorgeous outfits for all occasionsand to suit every woman’s taste, the new LookBook is on track to cause a stir not only forjournalists but for staff too.

By wearing something pink, you’ll be helping thecharity get a step closer to beating breast cancer.Breast Cancer Campaign’s pioneering research

throughout the UK and Ireland helps to develop anunderstanding of how breast cancer develops, leadingto improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention andcure.

Last year, Damart staff raised a fantastic £700 forBreast Cancer Campaign – we’d love to raise evenmore this year. Please don’t forget to take some photos on the dayand send them onto your department’s Team Spiritreporter so we can report back in the next edition ofthe magazine!

To find out what activities are planned for your department, speak to your line manager orcontact Geraldine Vernon in the HR team on 6286.

IT’S TIME TO WEAR IT PINK…it’s time to beat breast cancer

NEW SEASON LOOK BOOK09

DAMART CONTINUES TOSUPPORT BRADFORD BULLS

As well as sponsoring the Bulls’ shirt collar Damart will also be providing a new thermaltraining kit for the team to wear during training sessions.

Damart is proud to support the local community and our partnership with the Bulls in the2010 season is just one example of this. Damart is always keen to see the team do well; andwish the Bulls the best of luck this season.

The most popular item of the season was thenautical inspired, striped blazer whichcleverly combined two of the summer’s keytrends. From the fashion pages of Prima andMy Weekly to the Yorkshire Post, it’s beenloved by journalists and customers alike.

Another media favourite has continued to bethe Slimline leggings; journalists loved thefact that they look just like our favouritefashion leggings but have added slimmingbenefits. The leggings, which containcaffeine and shea butter, have appeared in anumber of fashion magazines includingHealth and Fitness, Essentials, Chat and Nowas well as The Times.

Damart’s new Autumn Winter collectionlooks set to be just as popular. Keep a lookout for the fabulous ‘wolf’ design fleece; it’sgot the wow factor.

It has been a good summer ofpress coverage for Damart and

our Spring Summer 2009collection.

DAMART MAKESTHE HEADLINES

It’s time to wear it pink on Friday 30 October 2009! We’reasking all staff to donate £2 to wear it pink and help BreastCancer Campaign fund vital breast cancer research.

The Finance Team wearing PINK withpride in 2008

My Weekly

PRIMA

On Sunday 20 September a trio ofrunners from Damart took part in the2009 Bupa Great North Run. E-commerce Marketing Manager PhilMyerscough, Suzanne Airey (Buying)and Innis Stiles (Creative/Production)all took part in the half marathon toraised money for charity.

Phil ran for the Stroke Association(www.justgiving.com/philmyerscough) and he is now in training for theLondon Marathon in 2010. Suzannesupported both Andrea’s Gift andCash for Kids(www.justgiving.com/Suzanne-Aireyorwww.justgiving.com/pumpkinpatch)and Innis took part for BradfordCancer Support.

Well done to everyone for takingpart!

Noticeboard

Damart STARSWell done to the latest winners of the Special Thanksand Recognition (STAR) award scheme in the CustomerServices department. N.B. There were no STARS winners in June

Non-customer facing ProtxTeam

Kim Stottand JulieMorrow

RapidRecruitmentTeam

Reception Quality

Customer facing YellowTeam

Green Team The CreditTeam andThe OliveTeam

CreamTeam

Credit -outbound

Credit

Individual YvonnePullen

NicolaShort

AndyIngham

MartinGreenwood

GemmaWoodhead

ChrissiLamb

KellieHallahan

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jul

DAMART UNITES FOR LILLE RACES

Denene Capper, from the finance team,will be taking part in the Great NorthSwim at Lake Windermere in September.Denene is hoping to raise £500 forDiabetes UK. Good luck Denene!

Sarah Brown baby

Congratulations to our HR managerSarah Brown who gave birth to Oliveron 6 August 2009. Baby Oliverweighed 5Ib 15oz and joins bigbrother Archie in the Brownhousehold.

New Arrival

In the Swim

Run Team Run!

Got news for the Noticeboard then get in touch!!

8 DAMART TEAMSPIRIT

Six employees from Damart UK said goodbye to England and bonjour to France whenthey spent a weekend in Lille at the start of September.

The team was not there to sightsee but to demonstrate one of Damart’s core values,Team Sprit by taking part in this year’s "braderie de Lille”. The two-day event is one ofEurope’s largest street markets which dates back to medieval times. A half marathon anda 10k run are held to mark the start of the weekend.

Xxxx insert names xxxx from Damart UK joined forces with our European colleagues tocompete in one of the races.

Well done to everyone who took part and represented us in Europe!

waiting for a picture