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.