Grapevine IT & Comms

24/06/2025

20/06/2025

✍️ For EO Day 2025 we're launching our 'Co-owner Charter' at Grapevine. You can read it in full below! Developed based on responses from all of our team to the question "what do you value about Grapevine?", the Co-owner Charter outlines the commitment we're each making to our employee owned business.

Pictured signing their individual copies of the Co-owner Charter are Donna Fletcher, our longest serving member of staff and Daisy Biggs, our newest recruit. Don first joined Grapevine as an apprentice in 1993, now Senior Client Relationship Manager, and Daisy is currently completing her own apprenticeship with us.

Happy EO Day 2025 to all of our Co-owners and friends in the EO community! 💜

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THE GRAPEVINE CO-OWNER CHARTER

We have a legacy of integrity, respect, honesty and trust at Grapevine, built through the hard work and commitment made by staff over 33 years. It’s our responsibility now as Co-owners to honour and continue it.

▪️ Grapevine has an excellent record on staff tenure, as an Employee Ownership Trust, we seek to go even further on this, providing long term opportunities and stability for our Co-owners to build rewarding careers and personal lives.

▪️ The key differentiator between us and other businesses providing similar services is our people and culture. We are all responsible for maintaining a positive and inspiring working experience for our Co-owners and clients alike.

▪️ We are committed to supporting the growth of our fellow Co-owners, through the time allocated and support shown for everyone’s individual learning plan. As we each succeed, so does the company.

▪️ Grapevine has always been a considerate employer, allowing flexibility wherever possible to accommodate life’s challenges faced by all. As Co-owners, we respect this flexibility shown and reciprocate in our personal contribution to the business.

▪️ Feedback is encouraged from everyone at Grapevine. We have a variety of constructive options for all Co-owners to put forward ideas or raise issues. Co-owner feedback informs the development of our company strategy.

▪️ At Grapevine we are one team. As a small business, Co-owners are able and expected to have an understanding and appreciation of the work that takes place across the business. Company information is made available (as freely as is possible) and shared regularly.

The pledges in this Co-owner Charter have been identified as core values to our company. By upholding them each working day without fail, we are all able to focus on our business objective: to provide our clients with an impeccable level of service and foster a culture of innovation and agility that benefits both their organisation and ours.

16/04/2025

Great to see our Helpdesk manager, Eloise Gullis' completion of the Julia's House Children's Hospice 'Great Tail Trail' in under 11 hours reported in Bournemouth Daily Echo. Thanks to the team for the feature. 🩵

They set out on their trail adventure at 8am from Tower Park and had covered most of the area by 2pm, using a combination of driving and walking or…

05/04/2025

🧜‍♀️ The Great Tail Trail for Julia's House Children's Hospice has officially begun! You can find the tail we’ve sponsored, painted by the talented Jina Gelder Illustration, in the heart of Poole at the Julia’s House shop on the high street.

The trail runs from today until Sunday 1st June across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Download the companion app for full details on each tail and where to find them. It’s only £1.99 and all proceeds go to supporting the vital work of this essential charity.

10/03/2025

We're pleased to share that we will be taking part in the Julia's House Children's Hospice 'Great Tail Trail' coming to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole next month! More details soon, for now, here's a sneak peak... 🤫

04/03/2025

As part of our continuing commitment to support socially responsible initiatives, we signed the Armed Forces Covenant last month at HQ Blandford Garrison. The covenant was signed on our behalf by Grapevine Managing Director, James Spinks and co-signed by Wing Commander Sean Williams, Defence School of Communications and Information Systems on behalf of The Ministry of Defence.

James shared the importance of partnering with Defence for Grapevine. “We are exceptionally proud to support and promote this initiative in appreciation for all serving, reserve, and former forces personnel. As a longstanding member of Dorset Chamber, it was inspiring to witness the organisation sign the armed forces covenant in October 2024. It was a logical next step for Grapevine to make the same commitment, particularly following our transition to Employee Ownership and the extra focus on our staff team this has brought”.

George Complin, Principal IT Consultant at Grapevine shared why this initiative has a strong personal connection. “As a Grapevine Co- owner and son of parents who have served, the covenant signing holds a special significance for me. Having grown up around Armed Forces personnel, I have always admired the invaluable skills, dedication and sacrifice of our service members, as well as the community and family they provide. This covenant not only signifies our unwavering commitment to supporting the armed forces community but also reflects Grapevine’s core values and our dedication to fostering an inclusive and nurturing environment for those who have served or are currently serving”.

If you are an organisation that is interested in partnering with Defence through signing the Armed Forces Covenant and would like to find out more about the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Awards, then Emily Kadoch, the regional point of contact for Defence at Wessex Reserve Forces & Cadets Association, would be very happy to help. Emily can be contacted via email at [email protected]

18/09/2024

📱 BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Our own Grapevine branded mobile service is available now, powered by 3, the leading UK network for 5G coverage. We are proud to be supporting Julia's House Children's Hospices with this new service. 5% every month from all line rentals will be donated to the charity.

With a team of 23 employees, Grapevine will list as one of the smallest businesses in the UK to earn the accolade of an own branded MVNO (mobile virtual network operator), made possible by our relationship with unified communications provider Gamma.

“We are continually impressed by the phenomenal effort and care shown in the work of Julia’s House. In addition to the support they provide to the most seriously ill local children and their families, they are also recognised as an exceptional employer. We feel a strong affinity with the value the organisation places on its people. It has been an honour to work with them for many years on the provision of mobile services and we are pleased to be able to build on that with this new partnership.”

- James Spinks, Managing Director (Grapevine)

“We are so grateful for the continued support of the team at Grapevine. They have been a great partner to the charity and all the children and families we support for a number of years. This new initiative is a really generous gesture and will help us to continue to provide our life changing care, now and in the future.”

- Caroline Attreed, Corporate Fundraiser (Julia's House)

Learn more at https://grapevine.uk.com/mobile

21/06/2024

Happy 'Employee Ownership' Day! We'd like to use this occasion to express our appreciation for the community of other EO businesses that we've been welcomed into, and for all of their support on our EO journey, over the past 15 months.

20/06/2017

Last chance to book for our cloud computing seminar in Poole this Thursday. Limited spaces left!

So you've heard about "the cloud", but not sure what it means for your business? In this free one hour seminar Mark Newton, Grapevine's Principal IT Consultant will cover; What 'cloud computing' is and how it works The benefits it can offer to your business Microsoft's cloud based 'Office 365' solut...