We deserved a celebration after our long, hard slog

Yes!! After a lot of hard work by everyone, we've finally been awarded Investors In People (IIP). We were so chuffed that we decided to have a party to celebrate.

Staff, clients, a showbiz personality and a skyline view of the city of London were on the list of essentials to ensure that the event was a success.

As the guests arrived, we accompanied them up the 23 floors of the building to the reception. But after a number of trips in the high-speed lift, my stomach wasn't too sure if it was on the same floor as the rest of me. Luckily I was in one piece as I escorted our special guest, Loyd Grossman, to meet both staff and clients.

The Champagne started to flow and in-depth analysis of the canapés began. Highly commended were the beetroot and parsnip crisps, closely followed by the miniature leek tarts.

I was particularly pleased that so many of our staff could attend as it was for them that we set out to achieve IIP. I had thought that once we had put the systems in place and gained the award we could take our foot off the training accelerator. However, it seems to have made us hungrier than ever.

I have just completed the company training strategy for 1998 and we are increasing our manpower and investment even more. It has to be the way forward. Our staff are important to us and they are essential in our drive to ensure that we continue to maintain our high standards.

I must say that when we embarked upon IIP we didn't quite appreciate the effort that would be required. We were of the opinion that we already had comprehensive training policies in place. The IIP process has led us to completely revamp our manuals, training procedures, business plans, personnel documentation, staff assessment procedures, etc. A lot of hard work has gone into it and we feel justified in celebrating. I would have no hesitation in recommending IIP to others who are considering undertaking the commitment. But be warned - it can be a hard slog.

Meanwhile, back at HQ, business goes on. As if we didn't have enough to do, we were unfortunate enough to have experienced our first commercial burglary. The thieves certainly meant business and knew what they were looking for. Our Victorian office block was completely ransacked and virtually all computers that were less than two years old were taken.

What was particularly frustrating was that all of the computers stolen from us had only been purchased in the past six months. Some of you may recall from previous articles the problems we experienced getting these to work properly. Well, we'd just got them sorted and our network was running smoothly…

The staff were most upset that in the thieves' search for petty cash they left the lid off the biscuit tin, so custard creams were off the menu for that day.

Next diary from Robyn Jones will be on 15 January