On a mild October evening, a team of 288 Group employees strapped on their head torches, grabbed their glow sticks and joined over 500 others in completing the Supernova 5K Run Challenge.

Starting on Bournemouth Prom and finishing near the Lower Gardens, the 5 kilometre route allowed our team of runners the rare opportunity to run along the iconic Bournemouth Pier, which was lit up at dusk to create a beautiful backdrop for the event.

The 288 Group team, put together by our in house Wellbeing team were on a mission to raise £1,500 in support of our local mental health charity, Dorset Mind. Supporting a local charity is something the team were very passionate about and over 30 employees jumped at the opportunity to get involved in the challenge.

All members of the team crossed the finish line and were rewarded a finishers medal in celebration of their achievement. Most impressive, was our Associate IT Director John Bassinder, who completed the course in an incredible 17 minutes and 19 seconds and placed 2nd overall.

The Supernova challenge was a great success and despite some achey legs the following day, the 288 Group team raised a total of £1,570 for Dorset Mind Charity.

This year marks the 90^th anniversary since Peter Pan author, JM Barrie, gifted his rights in Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

To commemorate this generous gift, earlier this year The Westminster Collection launched a range of Peter Pan 50p coins in partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, the Isle of Man Treasury and Tower Mint.

These magical 50p’s really captured the imagination of collectors and the demand experienced since their release has been unprecedented.

Incredibly this has meant in just a matter of months, through the sales of these Peter Pan 50p coins, that collectors have helped raise over £250,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity.

This is an achievement that everyone is immensely proud of, and we are hugely thankful to collectors for helping raise such an amazing amount to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity and the seriously ill children from across the UK who are cared for there.

To celebrate this important occasion, Managing Director, Ian Glen, and Karen Brooks, Head of Product Development, went along to Great Ormond Street Hospital to present them with the £250,000 cheque! 

“We would like to thank all of the collectors who have raised such a considerable amount of money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. It has been a real privilege to work alongside the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, the Isle of Man Treasury and Tower Mint in such a worthwhile coin issue.“

Ian Glen – Managing Director, The Westminster Collection

“Everyone at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity is thrilled and incredibly grateful that The Westminster Collection, The Tower Mint and the Isle of Man Government chose to celebrate the 90^th anniversary of JM Barrie’s gift of the rights of Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital by issuing a special Peter Pan collection. It’s wonderful to see how much the general public and avid collectors have come together in support of this special collection. The funds raised will have a huge impact on the lives of seriously ill children from across the United Kingdom.”

Amit Aggarwal – Director, Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity

“I work in such a special industry, and I get see so much and meet so many people, but I never thought I would be able to connect my daughters syndrome to such a great cause, as well as contribute such an amazing amount to Great Ormond Street Hospital which will support all of the incredible work they do. The Westminster Collection and the Isle of Man have achieved so much for all involved, and I am a very proud dad!”

Elliot Dawson – Director at Tower Mint & Dad of Olivia Dawson (pictured above)

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We are delighted to see our range of Peter Pan commemoratives grow in recent months and expand the opportunities for collectors to support Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity. If you’d like to take a look at the full range, you can do so by clicking here.

To find out more about Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and the fantastic work they do, click here.

Interested in joining our expanding sales team? Here’s our 5 top tips to help you prepare and nail that all-important interview.

Let’s face it, nobody enjoys interviews. It can be a daunting experience for even the most confident of us out there. Fear of the unknown and what questions are going to be asked can be a tricky task to prepare for. However, it doesn’t need to be like this.

With some clever preparation and research into the role you’re applying for, you should be able to nail that interview no problem. If you’re interested in joining our expanding Sales Team at 288 Group, then we’ve compiled our 5 top tips to make sure you have maximum interview success.

1. Know your CV

Coming for an interview, you should know your CV like the back of your hand. In an interview, anything on your CV can potentially be probed so it’s important that you know this inside out. Preparing intelligent responses to your previous positions and how they relate to the Sales role you’re interviewing for will give us the confidence and comfort you’re the right person for the job. Sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people fall short in this area!

2. Sell yourself

You’re applying for a sales position, so the one thing we want to see is your ability to sell yourself. During your preparation, work out what you’re key strengths are, what you’re most proud of and what key skills you’ve developed throughout your career. You need to show us why we should hire you, so giving some thought into these points with relevant examples from your previous experience will stand you in good stead.

Key tip: Do you have experience selling high value goods to customers? If so, we’d love to know about it.

3. Do your homework

One of the best ways to nail your job interview is to do your research on who we are and what we do. Showing an understanding of the 288 Group will show us that you’ve done your homework and also have a genuine interest in the position and the company.

Key tip: Did you know that we sell coins that cost over £1,000? With that in mind, what kind of customers or people do you think we target for these kind of products?

4. Show us your real personality

You’d be surprised at how many people try to be what you “think” we’d like to see during the interview rather than being themselves. Our Sales Team is made up of a mix of personalities, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to what we’re looking for. For that reason, it’s important during the interview process that you let your true self shine through and give us a flavour of who you are. The last thing we want is for someone completely different to turn up on day 1.

Key tip: During the interview process, we’ll be looking at more than just your skills. In terms of personality, what do you bring to the table that will make you stand out from anyone else?

5. Ask questions

Always remember, you should be interviewing us as much as we are interviewing you. This is your opportunity to make sure that the role and company is right for you, so doing your research and having a couple of questions prepared to help you make that decision is key. Asking relevant questions in relation to the role or company shows us that you’ve thought about this interview and are genuinely interested in joining us.

If you’d like to find out more about what it’s like working as part of our Sales Team or our current vacancies, please click here: https://www.288group.com/sales/