Derek Bastow 1934 -2011

Dear Friends and Family

The Bastow family are saddened to report the death of Derek Bastow, who died on July 14th 2011 after bravely battling asbestos-related cancer since receiving the diagnosis in October 2009. He was 77 years old.

He was a keen golfer, amateur inventor, and a dedicated husband, father and grandfather. His wisdom, humour, vision and dedication will be missed by everyone, but most of all by those dearest to him.

The funeral service will be held at 12.30pm on Thursday 28th July

at

Randalls Park Crematorium,

Randalls Road,

Leatherhead,

Surrey KT22 0AG.

Following the service, a reception will be held at:

Leatherhead Golf Club,

Kingston Road,

Surrey KT22 0EE.

A map showing the route between venues can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/3deujh9

Floral tributes may be sent to

A & E Longhurst,

21 Kingston Road,

Ewell,

Surrey KT17 2DX.

Please advise Frank Bastow via frank@bastows.co.uk or Niki Rosenbaum via niki@bastows.co.uk if you will be attending.

If you know anyone who knew Derek and you think we may have inadvertently omitted them from this correspondence, please do let them know they will be very welcome to attend the service and reception.

A sad day for our Family

It is with great sadness that we have to share the news that Derek Bastow, the founder of Bastows in London, husband to Theresa, father of Frank and Robert and grandfather to four beloved grandchildren, passed away in the early hours of Thursday 14^th July.

Derek worked hard all his life, never afraid to ‘muck in’ and do what was needed to succeed or complete a job. He was diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer in 2010, and has fought the illness every step of the way in his inimitable way. He has faced the illness with unique bravery and has especially treasured every moment with his family.

Although Derek retired over 7 years ago, the principles he instilled in Bastows remain the foundation stone of the Family, and we work every day with these values in mind.

His wisdom, humour, vision and dedication will be missed by everyone, but most of all by those dearest to him.

Bastows attain Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Award

Bastows are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the prestigious Investors in People Health & Wellbeing Award in recognition of our in-house health and wellbeing promotion programme.

We are especially proud of this achievement as the programme was wholly designed and developed by Bastows employees with advice and support from our external consultant, Stephen McGrane.

Our programme is focussed on responsibility, enablement, empowerment, information and prevention to tackle issues around ill-health before they impact on individuals and our Family. Our proactive and open approach has helped us create a programme that goes beyond compliance and is rooted in trust, care and understanding.

We are amongst the first companies in the South East of England to be awarded this standard, and with only three Councils being awarded nationally, it’s easy to see how fantastic it is for us to gain recognition under this scheme.

We have been delighted with the level of engagement, involvement and support for the programme from the Family. Without honest feedback and the great ideas shared, we could not have met the high standards Investors in People look for.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to attain this award; to Frank Bastow for his determination to lead the way, to Stephen for his expertise and guidance, and to our assessor, Jim Illingworth of IBP, for his help and support.

Families Matter!

BASTOWS TO THE RESCUE

Site Manager Seamus Ireland emails us to say:

“Whilst working at Abbey House in NW8 one morning, Bastows’ father and son team Ioan and Cozmin Caniparu noticed something strange - DUCKS nesting on the roof next door!

Now, next door happens to be the historic Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles famously recorded (and crossed the road!) and which is still the most prestigious recording studio in the World.

To Cozmin and Ioan’s amazement there were seven or eight ducklings huddled together on the hopper head and rainwater pipes. With the sun beaming down on them and with no water to drink or cool them down we decided to inform the studios about the situation. They were fantastic and, being as concerned as we were, they got in touch with the brilliant people at the RSPCA, who came and rescued the ducklings and their mother... all together now, ahhhh...!

But there’s more! As the morning went on the guys kept hearing this faint chirping coming from the same roof. When we investigated we found a duckling has fallen into the pipework and was stuck in the U-bend... so off we go again into the studios to explain and get permission to access the roof which we did safely.

The guys got to work undoing the brackets of the pipework so they could free the downpipes and turn the pipe upside down for the duckling to fall out into a safe pair of hands. The duckling emerged slowly but was full of life.

We are classed as big tough builders (but we have soft hearts) and so we called the RSPCA again who came out without a moment's hesitation and arranged for the lonely duckling to be reunited with its family.

All families care and all families matter... and it was great to be part of the Bastows, RSPCA and Abbey Road Family coming to the rescue!"

Elf n Safety... *groan*

Bastows and Investors in People

Bastows are proud to confirm that we have completed our assessment for the prestigious Investors in People standard.

Whilst we are awaiting the full report, we are thrilled to be able to share some initial feedback received from our assessor.



"Bastows has a fantastic culture that clearly underpins everything the business does."


"One thing you want is to make everyone feel like Family, and I've seen that you achieve that 100%."


"I haven't encountered a company quite like Bastows, that is so genuine in its aims and approach."


"You aim to make everyone feel like Family, and you certainly brought me in and made me feel that way."


"Thank you to all of your team for their honesty, openness and for making me so welcome."


Thank you to everyone who supported our application, who spoke with the assessor, and who has worked so hard over the past three years to enable us to get this far... we'll keep you all up to date as soon as we have further news.

NEWS: Bastows Board Appointments

We are pleased to share the news with the Family that Nancy Baker and Niki Rosenbaum have been appointed to the Board of Directors of Bastows, effective immediately.

This is in recognition of their continuous commitment to the Bastows Family and their constant endeavours beyond normal working practices to grow our business and guide us into the future. This also helps us in our ongoing succession strategy.

Nancy will take up the role of Finance Director, while Niki becomes Cultural Director.

We wish them well, and are confident that they will help us continue to grow, develop and build for the future.