Happy Hallloween!

A little happiness and creepy fun from our Site Managers Alen, Elvis, Chupo, Steve and Almir!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

The Red Ribbon Awards 2012

We are delighted to share the news that we have been shortlisted for not one but two prestigious Family Business Place Red Ribbon Awards for 2012. 

The awards will be presented at the culmination of what promsies to be a fantastic day of hearing speakers from large and small family businesses from all over the UK share their stories.

We had a great time at last year's event and were delighted to meet many business people who we've stayed in touch with all year. We are really looking forward to meeting more great people and seeing some familiar faces too.

The Red Ribbon Awards

The awards recognise those that work to promote family businesses across all areas and UK locations.

Bastows are honoured to be nominated in the categories for Innovation and Corporate Environmental Responsibility.

We are looking forward to a great day hearing from other family businesses and have our fingers crossed that we'll be celebrating on the day.

Good luck to all who have been shortlisted- we can't wait to meet you all on 23rd November!

If you run, own or work in a family business you can book tickets for the day and awards here.

Team Bastows at the 2012 London Night Hike

The good news: we survived. The even better news: we all made it to the 20 mile mark, successfully completing the Maggie's Centres London Night Hike and raising over £5200 for Maggie's!

Eleven of us took part and had a fantastic time walking through London at night, visiting some amazing buildings and generally keeping one another motivated and smiling.

The most amazing stories were shared as we chatted to people along the route and to people we met at Maggie's Centre at the ten mile halfway point.

We were moved and inspired by our fellow night hikers and proud to havesupported such a great charity.

Our own Sandra 'Girl of Steel' Mujagic was celebrating 20 years of living in London by walking 20 miles through it- what a way to thank the city that's been such a happy home for her and her family!

We had achy knees and moments of doubt but we also had nerves of steel, stiff sinews and a sense of purpose- an unbeatable combination!


We caught amazing views like this one from the very top of City Hall (and walked nine flights of stairs too!) and took in every moment to create fantastic memories.

It was tough at times, but we kept going, remembering that we made a promise to Maggie's and our sponsors and had something to prove to ourselves too.

We signed a board with motivational messages for fellow night hikers at the Royal Insitute of British Architects and added our memories of loved ones to a candlelit heart created in front of Horseguards Parade.

We were motivated by cheers from volunteers on the route and the kindness of fellow hikers who looked out for each other as we trekked onwards. We achieved as a team and on a personal level, and made a difference to Maggie's and the people they support.

Mostly, we laughed a LOT.

In fact, we are already sounding one another out about doing it all again next year...

So I suppose we'd like to ask..


... Why don't you join us? 

The Roll of Honour (L-R):

Almir 'Magic Man' Mujagic

Sandra 'Girl of Steel' Mujagic

Mihaela 'Queen of the Night' Caniparu

'Amazin' Andy Mildner

Ieva 'The Pavement Annihilator' Mildner

Elvis 'The Hiking King' Caniparu

'Get Down' Dave Brown

Niki 'I HAVE to tweet this!' Rosenbaum

Steve 'SuperMotivator' McGrane

'Fearless' Frank Bastow 

Nimesh 'Nighthawk' Bharadia

Julian Maslinski

We are sad to have learned today that Julian Maslinski, Chairman of the Westminster Tree Trust, recently passed away after a lengthy illness, which he faced with spirit and courage.

We have been delighted to support the Trust and Julian with planting trees in SW1 and especially at Churchill Gardens Primary School, an initiative driven by Julian who was keen to see the less affluent areas of London and schools in particular benefit from the planting of trees.

The Trust are aiming to establish a memorial programme for Julian and we have spoken to their new Chairman Peter Ruback today to find out how we might help. You can also support them here.

We will be proud to take part in the Night Hike next Friday with Julian's spirit and resilience in mind. 

We remember Julian with great fondness and look forward to continuing our support for the Trust's work in his memory. We will miss his optimism, charm, humour and dedication to Making London Beautiful.

Bastows don't just make London beautiful...

We are delighted to share the news that we are supporting the Good Gifts initiative that helps to deliver support and resources where they are desperately needed around the globe.

We work hard to make London beautiful, and have decided to extend that a little to other areas that need a little help from their global friends.

As a start, we have chosen to help clear 50m of minefields and protect 3 acres of rainforest to help us offset our carbon emissions and the waste produced on site. This initiative is in partnership with our existing environmental commitment and the water and energy saving measures we adopt on every project.

You can give your own Good Gift here, starting from as little as £15, with immeasurable benefits to those in need.

Best foot forward! Team Bastows supporting Maggie's Centres

Bastows have a fine tradition of supporting various charities through others doing great things- and so now we have decided to get active and be the fundraisers! We have chosen Maggie's Centres as our charity and are looking forward to completing their legendary London Night Hike on Friday 21st September.

Eleven of us are hiking: CEO Frank, Site Managers Elvis and Almir and their wives Mihaela and Sandra, Sales Director Dave, Cultural Director Niki and her partner Steve, Financial Controller Andy and his wife Ieva, Contracts Director Nimesh. We are aiming to raise £3135.00 for Maggie's and are at an amazing 73% of our total, with three weeks to go.

Why Maggie's?

Maggie’s Centres are for anyone affected by cancer. They are places where people are welcome at any stage in their journey – from just being diagnosed, or undergoing treatment, to post-treatment, recurrence, end of life or in bereavement. 



Maggie's is about empowering people to live with, through and beyond cancer by bringing together professional help, communities of support and building design to create exceptional centres for cancer care.

They welcome family and friends, too, knowing that those who love and look after someone with cancer can feel just as frightened, vulnerable and uncertain- and all their support is free of charge.



How you can help

You can support our efforts and Maggie's work over at our JustGiving page. Thank you so much for any amount you can give, and for your kindness to us and the people Maggie's work so hard to help.

Hi-de-Hikers!

Bastows have a fine tradition of supporting various charities through others doing great things- and so now we have decided to get active and be the fundraisers! We have chosen Maggie's Centres as our charity and are looking forward to completing their legendary 20 mile London Night Hike on Friday 21st September.

Our eleven intrepid hikers are our CEO Frank, Contracts Director Nimesh and his wife Marisa, Financial Director Andy and his wife Ieva, Site Managers Elvis and Almir and their wives Mihaela and Sandra and Cultural Director Niki and her partner Steve. We start at 7.30pm from Leadenhall Market, and walk 10 miles to Maggie's West London centre before heading back to Leadenhall to complete our 20 mile route.

Why Maggie's?

Maggie’s Centres are for anyone affected by cancer. They are places where people are welcome at any stage in their journey – from just being diagnosed, or undergoing treatment, to post-treatment, recurrence, end of life or in bereavement. 

Maggie's is about empowering people to live with, through and beyond cancer by bringing together professional help, communities of support and building design to create exceptional centres for cancer care.

They welcome family and friends, too, knowing that those who love and look after someone with cancer can feel just as frightened, vulnerable and uncertain- and all their support is free of charge.

Care for those going through a cancer diagnosis and treatment as well as looking out for their families is an issue close to our hearts, and we are proud to be able to support Maggie's and get fit too!

You can support us via our Just Giving page, and if you're a UK taxpayer you'll know that Maggie's will receive the benefit of Gift Aid, making your donation worth even more.

We are excited, nervous, proud and working very hard to break in our shoes in time for the Hike... please support us if you can. We know times are tough, but for some, times are tougher still.

Thank you!