Saracens Rugby Academy Brave the Wilderness with CCC

With the aftermath of the Olympic hype leaving us pining for all things athletic, CCC were thrilled when Richard Hill, MBE, former flanker for Saracens and England Rugby Union, approached our team and asked us to work with the future stars of the rugby world.

Often portrayed as the 'silent assassin', Hill was legendary in Rugby Union circles and one of the most respected players in the world. After playing his last game for Saracens in 2008, Richard now coaches the Under 18s team in the Academy, developing the next breed of Saracens stars. He approached CCC wanting to test the team as part of their pre-season tour and felt that team building was the way to go - and who better to take on that challenge than the Team Building Company of the Year?

The Brief:

Richard was keen to see how his young athletes reacted to challenges that took them 'out of their comfort zones'. Training with the boys at least four times a week, Richard said he was well aware of how they behaved on the pitch and the dynamics of the group during a match, but he wanted us to delve deeper and push them to their limits to see what they were really capable of when they weren't playing rugby.

CCC's Solution:

Knowing that nothing brings a group like this together more than a bit of high-pressured challenge and instinctive survival action, we created a bespoke event based on our popular Bushcraft and Time Tracker events, and it certainly seemed to fit the bill.

The Activities:

On what was possibly the windiest, rainiest, most miserable of Wednesday mornings in Wales, the boys were introduced to some basic survival techniques; knife skills, fire lighting and spear throwing - and the weather at Hill End Campsite couldn't have been more realistic of a true test of survival!

The results of each task then earned the teams various ingredients for their own lunches (what better way to motivate a group of teenage lads than with the promise of food!)

After sausages, spuds and spices had been won, the boys were then challenged to work together with some very basic tools to cook their own outdoor lunch, which definitely turned out to be the furthest from their comfort zone they could possibly be - and seeing as we ourselves only had these meals to feast on, it certainly became the most frightening challenge of the day for us all!

When chatting with Richard a bit later he commented:

"It was very interesting, to say the least, over the lunch break when there were quite a lot of decisions to make. I don't know how many decisions there actually are to make about cooking sausages - it was certainly an alien concept to them!"

Once everyone had refueled, the second part of the day took the group through some orienteering skills, searching for checkpoints hidden all over the site and completing fast-paced, race-against-time challenges. Intrigued, Richard and the coaching team tried their hand at a few of the tasks, and I think they'd prefer that we didn't tell you that they needed more than a little help... but you didn't hear that from me!

The finale of the day saw the teams culminating all their new-found skills as we threw them into a high-pressured, role play scenario where they had to rescue 'casualties' from the sand dunes. The teams had to build a basic stretcher, bring their casualties back to base and then construct a shelter using limited tools. There were given next to no time to prepare so that we could observe how quickly the teams managed to make potentially life-saving decisions and if they were able to keep calm under the pressure of a panicked (and screaming!) casualty.

Revelling in the opportunity to play hero, the boys really stepped up to the mark on this one, sprinting into the distance without hesitation to get our 'casualties' back to base camp in a matter of minutes. There was a real sense of satisfaction seeing all the teams come together so strongly in their final challenge and there was plenty of entertainment from the 'casualties' dramatic performances.

The Outcome:

When asked about his expectations for the day Richard went on to say:

 "It's been a great day organised by CCC - they've come in, organised everything from the word go and they're very professional. We literally turned up with our team and have just gone with the flow - and it has flowed exceptionally well and we are really pleased with the outcomes today."

All in all it was a pleasure working with Richard and his team, and we look forward to cheering on some of the guys to victory in the starting line up next year (with their new-found team building skills of course!)

If you think you and your colleagues would benefit from this kind of event why not give our friendly team a call on 0845 006 06 06 and ask about our outdoors events, or you can have a look at our 75+ award-winning team builds on our website.

Sun, Sea and Sand for CCC at Yellow Wave Cafe

The CCC team are still finding sand in all sorts of places today after a fantastic day spent team building at the superb Yellow Wave Cafe in Brighton.

Situated on the heart of Brighton Beach, Yellow Wave offers volleyball and beach sport facilities, as well as chilled out, refreshing, beachy vibes in their gorgeous Barefoot Cafe full of homemade goodies. It's an instant hit with everyone and has fast become one of our favourite home town venues.

Event Manager Zoe commented:

"With it's washed out decking and amazing chilled out atmosphere, this is one of the nicest places I've visited in Brighton. For clients it's a really unique venue experience because you can begin a Team Adventure from the cafe in the morning,  and then finish the day with a friendly volleyball match, followed by barbecue and drinks - all with a sea view!"

The CCC Team were treated to a mighty feast of a barbecue on our return from the event, followed by a team coaching session from one of the resident volleyball experts and of course, a few ciders in the sun - from some of the friendliest and most relaxed staff around.

It's only a short walk from Yellow Wave to Brighton Pier and The Lanes but if you're feeling really indulgent, you can pop next door and hop on the famous Volk's Victorian Railway and enjoy a ride on the 'world's oldest operating electric railway'.

We will certainly be back (if only for their incredible smoothies) to spend some time enjoying our glorious city.

If you and your team fancy a day beside the seaside and would like to take advantage of our free venue finding service, give us a call on 0845 006 06 06 or visit our website for more info.

'The Apprentices!' team build gets a technological makeover in London

It wasn't just the mid-summer heat wave that had our teams fired up in London this week - The Apprentices! event had teams running around the city, haggling for the best prices and filming TV commercials to win the challenge and avoid those famous last words; 'You're fired!' We had the pleasure of working from the luxurious St Ermin's Hotel in central London where the staff couldn't have been more helpful and the decor was immaculate. We even got a sneak peak of the Olympic torch from our conference room window!

Teams were kitted out with iPads, digital cameras, HD video cameras and two-way radios to help them fight it out over who would be hired and who would be fired at the end of a very hectic day!

Our experienced front man Terry Bird had the teams begging for forgiveness when they arrived late and making final pleas in the board room - putting them through their paces in a battle of race-against-time business challenges.

Event Manager Katrina commented:

'The clients wanted something business focused, using the latest technology, whilst still being good fun - The Apprentices! event is perfect for just that. We tailored the event to have teams answer ridiculous radio requests from our tycoon, shoot their own TV commercials and create final pitches on their team iPads - it worked really well.'

Having the opportunity to tailor our award winning events with some of our in-house technology keeps us all on our toes in the office and we love to see a good plan come together - here's what our clients had to say:

'Thanks so much for the activity, really good fun. Sir Terrence was excellent, everyone enjoyed it, many thanks to you all!'

Think that your team would fare against our 'terrible tycoon'? Think you've got more business savvy than your colleagues? Want to see your boss grovelling for forgiveness? Then give our team a call on 0845 006 06 06 or visit our website for more info.

Tessa Turns 30!

It's not every day one of our Senior Sales & Events Co-ordinators turns the big 30 so here at CCC HQ we thought we'd make a fuss!

Tessa has been with CCC for nearly 5 years and is one of our most experienced sales & event coordinators selling over 200 of our award winning events!

With her jolly Yorkshire accent and infectious laugh, our clients always love working with Tess - and so do we. Tess had always wanted flowers delivered to work so we all pitched in and made it happen for her - aren't we a lovely 'bunch'?

If you would like to talk to our super-friendly team about organising your next team building event why not give our lovely sales co-ordinators a call on 0845 006 06 06 or visit our website for more info.

CCC Joins Compton Hospice Fundraising Day in Wolverhampton

Team CCC recently had a great day working for the fantastic Compton Hospice Charity, in West Park Wolverhampton, where they were trying to raise money and awareness for the hospice by putting on a family fun day. It's just the kind of thing that the Team Building Company of the Year like to do with their weekends...

The Compton Hospice does some really amazing and selfless work and so it was a charity that CCC were very happy to be working for.

Compton Hospice has been supporting patients facing a life-limiting illness, and their families, for 30 years; Our purpose is to make a difference to people’s lives when their illness is no longer curable; We do this by treating people, not conditions, whether their needs are physical, psychological, social or spiritual.

I was more than happy to get involved in the day, travelling up north with my team, loaded up with off-road radio controlled cars, giant board games, archery, laser clay pigeon shooting and of course, our enormous mobile climbing and abseiling tower!

On the day we were not totally convinced that our British summer weather was planning to be on its best behaviour, so we took plenty of provisions to keep the public (and ourselves!) dry - but the heavens were smiling on us and the majority of the day was actually sunny!

We saw thousands of families from Wolverhampton throughout the day coming to have a go at all the activities - most impressively many children who were brave enough to reach the top of our 40 foot climbing wall - one seven year old even informed me that it was 'no big deal' and that he would 'triple somersault off the top if we let him' - kids eh? For some reason I decided not to tell him that I had only made it half way up that morning...

Our experienced climbing instructors took each participant through a one-on-one session all the way to the top of the tower making sure everyone made it safely and with a new found love of climbing.

Even our staff got involved in the action - here you can see Kenny, one of our most experienced team members, looking particularly proud of himself for making it all the way to the top!

All in all it was a marvellous day to be a part of and we can't wait to get involved in the next one - perhaps we'll even win the raffle this time!

If you think your team are brave enough to face our climbing wall or even try our abseiling or death slide events why not get in touch and talk to one of our team about our outdoor events on 0845 006 06 06 or visit our website for more details.

iPad Fever at CCC HQ

One of our most experienced event managers, Mike Horner, works his magicon 40 of the CCC iPad 2's...

No, he's not just playing 'master of the universe', he is in fact preparing a 300 guest iSpy Team Building Event in our home town of Brighton!

Although the team have all had a chance to have a good old play around with our new toys (The 'photo booth' app provided quite a few hours of cheek ache!) we do, sadly, sometimes have to do some work - although on days like this, we wonder if we can call it that!

Mike says of the award-winning iSpy "What makes iSpy so special is that it was all created in-house, so the team really knows all its in's and out's. We are lucky enough to have team members with the added skill base and drive to learn, to be able to create this interactive event that keeps on developing - the possibilities are now endless and we can tailor nearly every aspect so that our clients are getting a completely bespoke experience. And the clients' mischievous giggling at the end of every event is testament to iSpy's appeal...

One of our agency clients who recently took part in the iSpy said:

"We all had such a great time around London - I really appreciated the effort you and your team put into the day and we haven't laughed so much in a long time." 

Whether you have 5 or 500 people, are in Bath or Barcelona, iSpy will run exactly the same and that's why it's been so successful. With over 22 years experience in team building, we know some classics can become tired and typical - this is just one of the ways we keep our team builds fresh and unique.

Mike adds "my favourite thing about events like this is winning over the clients during the introduction alone. There are so many weird and wonderful challenges to complete that once I've explained what we have planned for them, even the most sceptical of clients will warm to the idea of running around a city looking for clues! And no one can wait to see the films the teams have made along the way - having a 'screening' of their movies as we announce the winners is sure to end the day on a real high"

So if you feel that your team build needs something unique, bespoke and hilarious, this really is something to consider.

Visit our website for ideas, guides and testimonials - or if you just fancy a friendly chat with our lovely team or to find out more about what we do, call our office on 0845 006 06 06 - we love a good natter!

Behind The Scenes

Operations Director Steve Scott gets in the spirit of the role as he joins in yesterday's The Apprentices event. "I'm a lovely guy, really, I am", he insists. "But there's something really enjoyable about playing a shouting tycoon! It's all in good fun, and the clients had a great time."

Event Manager Kate Packham said "Steve always brings an element of comical grumpiness to the role! Not at all like he is around the office, of course!"

Well indeed.

We invite you to offer a comment of your own. Steve - an imposing, fear-inducing tycoon? Or a loveable, mild mannered and misunderstood business magnate?

Contact us to learn more about our top team building events, or head into our main site for more great event ideas!