Kelly Green

The prestigious SME MK & Bucks Business Awards celebrate the achievements of local businesses within Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire – no matter the industry you’re in.

We’re thrilled to have been chosen as finalists for two awards!

Firstly, we’re shortlisted in the ‘Milton Keynes Business of the Year’ category – sponsored by MK Business Centre.

The winner of this category will be considered exceptional across all aspects of running an SME. We’re proud to be nominated alongside some incredible local businesses:

• Focus IT Recruitment Ltd
• Mirus IT Solutions
• Nexus Fusion Ltd
• Nutmeg Studio
• The MedicAlert Foundation

We’re also finalists in the ‘Service Excellence’ category – sponsored by Whittlebury Park.

The winner of this award is a business who offers outstanding assistance and service to their customers at all stages, from sales to account management. This is something the team are passionate about delivering but We’re up against some stiff competition in this category as well:

• 1st Financial Foundations
• CoCredo
• Flutter MK Ltd
• Mirai Group
• Noa Recruitment Ltd
• Solace Jewellery Ltd
• Spoilt Rotten Dog

Good luck to all the businesses shortlisted in any category – we look forward to celebrating with them all at the Awards Ceremony at Whittlebury Hall on Thursday 27th February 2020!

Boxx co-founder Dean Burgin braved the elements last night in a mission to raise awareness of, and much needed funds to support, the homeless people in Milton Keynes.

CEO Sleepout is a nationwide organisation that aims to fight homelessness one city at a time. They join forces with local business leaders who give up the comfort of a warm bed to help those who don't have one.

On Thursday 7th November CEO sleepout came to Milton Keynes (cruelly along with the first frost of the winter) and over 100 fellow MK business people joined Dean in this inspiring fundraising event. Held at the Milton Keynes Dons Football Club Stadium, the MK CEO sleepout volunteers were tasked with raising funds for both the homeless population and to help furnish the new YMCA building in the city’s centre.

For Dean, it was the memory of a tragedy that sparked him to take part…

“A few years back, a young man died in his tent in an underpass less than 200m from our office. He lay there for three or four days before being discovered. On my daily walk to get lunch from the Centre MK, I must have passed the tent at least six times. Even though it was extremely close physically, it felt like miles away. Soon after, the tent was removed and another homeless person moved in — business as usual. I said yes to this sleepout because I probably never quite got my head around how screwed up this situation is and the wider issue as a whole.”.

Being one of the richest countries in the world and having people sleep outside train stations and in bus shelters is inconceivable to most, yet reality for some. The problem of homelessness is a one we could all share, so it’s not too late to donate…

Ever since the early days, we have used apprenticeship schemes to recruit valuable employees. We want to not only give young people an opportunity to kick-start their career, but we also firmly believe that young people bring with them a fresh outlook and often come up with great ideas to help grow business.

Previously, we partnered with a Milton Keynes based Apprenticeship provider who delivered training in Technology, Digital Marketing & Business Admin – skills perfectly suited to the our company – and since 2014 the agency were complimentary about the relationship, quoting:

“Boxx understand the importance and benefits of apprenticeships and offer young people the best possible start in their career. They support, teach and nurture apprentices through the ranks and offer long-term career prospects to the right candidates. This is exactly what apprenticeships are about and we look forward to continuing to work together in the future”. (Rebecca Brooks)

In 2018, we recruited Aidan Carter as a digital marketing apprentice, to support our Marketing Manager, Kelly Green, and the growing marketing needs of Boxx. Whilst Aidan showed creative flair, enthusiasm and a great eye for detail from the beginning, we were both dealt the frustrating blow 9 months into his course. Our apprenticeship delivery partner (3aaa) had gone into liquidation, which meant that no further delivery or assessment visits would take place.

It was an unsettling few months for us, but we continued to support Aidan and provided ongoing learning opportunities whilst organising a replacement training provider. Both Aidan and us chose to view this unfortunate circumstance as an opportunity. The time initially lost in classroom-based education was replaced with more on-the-job training which gave Aidan greater insight and valuable experiences which were later used as examples of his proficiencies in both coursework projects and final assessments.

We were thrilled when Babington – who have a training centre in Milton Keynes as well as numerous locations throughout the UK – were able to deliver the remaining elements of Aidan’s formal education. We were confident that Aidan would do well in his Digital Marketing course assessments, but were thrilled when his final grade was certified as a ‘Distinction’ earlier this month (Oct).

Aidan is destined to have a long career in digital marketing ahead of him and we are now recruiting a new team of apprentices in readiness to support our company’s 2020 growth plans.