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Our 2022 highlights
03 Jan 2023
by Team J&PR

It’s time for us to share our favourite moments from 2022!

It was the first ‘normal’ year for us since 2019, here’s how everyone enjoyed the everyday life we took for granted pre-pandemic!


Returning to old hobbies

 

At home, Freya M loved finding time to get back into two hobbies she'd previously neglected - reading and cooking. The launch of the J&PR book club in 2022 prompted her to pick up a book instead of the TV remote, and she’s so glad it did! Freya now has a massive 'to read' pile but is looking forward to working her way through it.

 

When she put down her books, Freya loved spending time in the kitchen! Every weekend she challenged herself to cook something requiring a little more effort, or to try a new recipe altogether. Whether it went well or not didn't really matter, she just loved the entire process and found it so relaxing.

 

A year of growth

 

Freya M’s work highlight was growing the digital team. Although she loved the team before, welcoming another Freya has been a joy - despite the confusion whenever anyone calls their name. She also loved the opportunities growing the digital team has provided.


Similarly, Kirsty’s highlight was seeing the business grow and develop so much so that we’ve smashed our targets and will enjoy another record breaking year this year! She wanted to mention a special thanks to the amazing team here for getting us to this point. 

 

Summer travels

On a personal note Kirsty had no problem choosing the four week family holiday to America and the Caribbean as her personal highlight. The Smallmans got to experience so much and made memories to cherish forever.


It was a busy summer all round with J&PR holidays jetting the team here, there and everywhere. Rhea was glad to finally get to go on their family holiday to Cyprus which was originally booked in 2019 and moved back, and back again. It was great for the Altons to finally take the children away and spend some time in the sun.


Sophie jetted off over the summer too, and her favourite memory of 2022 was seeing her mum tie the knot after nearly three years of it being pushed back due to COVID, and spending 10 days in Mauritius where the wedding took place. In case she’d previously forgotten to mention it - she definitely hadn’t forgotten - she even swam with humpback whales there, which she said is one of the best things she’s ever experienced!


Although it didn’t all happen in summer, Freya R enjoyed travelling last year. She went to Corfu and Venice and it inspired her to save hard through 2023 to travel lots in 2024! She was also thrilled to get her A2 licence and bought a new motorbike for the 2023 riding season. Her new Ninja still needs a little bit of care before she can get it on the road, but Freya is enjoying the process, especially with a little help from her dad.

Similar to Freya M and her cooking, Freya R also revived her old baking hobby. It’s a good job we have an office full of expert taste-testers… there have been no complaints from the team so far!


A great year for J&PR!


Freya R joined the J&PR team in April and loved her first eight months with us. In particular, she really enjoyed all aspects of networking and being out and about at various events - she said the Shropshire Chamber Business Awards was like nothing she had ever seen before! She’s been blown away by all she has learned so far as an apprentice, and also found a love for video editing. Most of all, Freya said she was grateful to work with such a fantastic team - it really is the little things!

Sophie certainly agreed on it being the ‘little things’, as her professional highlight was “just another great year at J&PR”. She said she feels so lucky to work in such an amazing place with fantastic clients and support from Rhea and Kirsty. Winning the Covid Response award was a particular highlight for Sophie, as she knows how much work went on behind the scenes during the pandemic and it was so nice to have that recognised. 


Speaking of Covid… Rhea was so proud of our team and how everyone worked together in 2022 to meet the changing needs of clients. Covid and the subsequent lockdowns led to many changes within businesses and she said last year the whole team worked really closely with clients to make sure we were helping them as they moved forward by sharing their great work with their target market and the wider business community.


Dani’s professional highlight was feeling completely valued and appreciated by J&PR


Dani was recently made redundant from another job she had and said the J&PR team had picked her up and supported her in so many ways since then… we’ll get the tissues!


She says she met new, exciting clients last year and loved learning about new industries (she can tell you more about health & safety or lime plastering now than she could at the start of 2022!) and meeting new people. 


Another highlight for Dani was getting back out there with face to face meetings galore and socials with the team too. A great year!


Family members and football fans

Tony had an exciting year as his son got a new job with better, more sociable hours and Tony really appreciates the extra time they spend together as a family. On the subject of family, the Warners grew this year with Nala, a 15-month old Staffie cross, joining them at the end of November. She has settled in well and loves to play with Tony's grandchildren. 


For Dani, becoming an aunty was her personal highlight! Dani said everything about the experience has been amazing, as is her niece! She also enjoyed going to Wembley with Crystal Palace in the FA Cup, that was pretty incredible. 


Dani had a third personal highlight, which we’ll leave in her own words… “Corny, I know -  but just generally watching my kids grow and explore the world, asking questions and learning so much. Telford has so many great kids events too, we've really enjoyed the balloon fiesta, Jubilee celebrations and now the Winter Wonderland in the Chelsea and Maxell Gardens too (shout out to our client Friends of Telford Town Park for keeping them looking amazing for this, even with snow on the ground!)”


Personally, Si had to revert to football… his team, Nottingham Forest, getting promoted to the Premier League for the first time in more than 20 years was an amazing moment - especially as he watched the final with his brother and two sons, who are all big Forest fans too. Si has already predicted it will also be his highlight of this year, too.


In typical ‘S’ style, Si struggled to pick a professional highlight for the whole of 2022, it's very difficult to name just one but the team-building Workplace Workshop hosted by Human Everything stuck in his mind as being an important event. It really helped him get to know everyone better and brought everyone together as a team… and if you don’t know what we mean by ‘S’ style, you should probably have the workshop too!


We’ll have to wait and see about Nottingham Forest’s destiny for this year! Let’s hope 2023 brings all of us great memories. We look forward to everything in store for us! 

We wish all of our clients a successful, healthy and happy 2023.