Monthly Archives: July 2017

With every New Year, there comes the carefully mulled over resolutions and the determination that this year will be the year in which they are kept. For us, 2017 is going to be our year to be the fittest, healthiest and happiest we have been. The Oxford Dictionary word of the year 2016 was ‘Hygge’, and I don’t know about you, but I have seen the phrase being thrown around plenty in the last few months. Hygge is the Danish concept of everything warm and cosy.  Therefore making ordinary, everyday things into the extraordinary. If you are anything like me, Christmas was a time to fully embrace Hygge and completely ditch any sort of exercise routine which was in place before the festive season. Now, it is time to tone down the Hygge- well the indulgence part of it anyway and ramp up the fitness. To give you some motivation I thought I would share the new resolutions which our office have made: Lucy has decided to sign up to the Moonwalk. Whilst raising a considerable amount of money for breast cancer, she is also managing to walk a marathon (26.2 miles!) through the streets of London at night. Jessie has started the New Year with a brand new gym membership with David Lloyd and has been attending Spin classes there, along with regular swimming and gym- going! Johanna has..

It feels like it was just the other day that I was writing about ‘New Year, New Me’, we are all very proud of ourselves as we have stuck to all our resolutions (Go JG!) Valentines Day falls in February. In this blog, we will be looking at all things extravagant and not so extravagant to make even the most hard-hearted want to celebrate this, sometimes over exaggerated day. VALENTINES DAY MEAL Before I dive into describing my recommendations for restaurants in London, I thought that I would throw out a few facts about our capital city’s restaurant culture. There are 17,000 restaurants in London, from that, 66 have Michelin stars and the average cost of a meal with a bottle of wine for two is £60. It is a known fact that Londoners love to eat out, but did you know that on average the people of London eat out 3 times a week?! Here is my pick for the best supper/meal you could find yourself eating in London on 14th February. If you are looking to push the boat out, Clos Maggiore are offering the supper of dreams. For a mere £155 per person this restaurant, (known by some as ‘the most romantic in London’) is offering a five course meal with a glass of champagne. Another popular option is that of Chi Kitchen on Oxford Street. The..

On Wednesday 5th April, Joyce Guiness are hosting a Spring Pop Up Event. We have fabulous companies coming; Stella and Dot, Davina Mulford, My Showcase make up, Elysia Byrd, JoJo Hats and Sherab Young. The evening, which will take place between  5pm-8pm and will be a chance for you to meet new people and have a catch up with friends. Of course all this with a glass of bubbles in hand! The brands that are being showcased are mostly independent boutiques, and we hope to have something for everyone.   Stella and Dot A jewellery and accessories company, they sell a range of amazing pieces from lovely delicate necklaces to bold statement rings. They are going to be our biggest pop up so be sure to check out their website before you come:  Davina Mulford Davina Mulford sells hats and leather goods, her products are becoming more and more popular- being seen on international blogger’s sites. Her small bags are a personal favourite of mine, and I’m sure that you as well as I will be very tempted by one, here is a taster of some of her products: My Showcase Make Up My Showcase Make Up sells a range of different make ups that are not always accessible on the high street. They will be bringing a selection of products, as well as being on hand to answer any..

Last year we posted a blog on the benefits of work experience  . It went down so well, we thought that we would revisit and reiterate the importance and benefits of work experience. Job seeking in itself is a competitive and arduous task, in order to find the dream job one can often apply to several jobs before even getting an interview. This is where work experience is vital. Although sometime you may not be taking part in the most interesting tasks while at a company, it will not last long and enduring this may lead to you being able to take a role further down the line which really engages you.  With more people having various degrees and qualifications, work experience is a thing that can really set you apart from other candidates. There is so much you can learn and experience. When a company is looking to employ someone, they are looking to see if the candidate’s skills will be transferable into their particular office environment. The more examples you have to give and the more experience you have, the more skills you will have to show off in the interview and on your CV.   As well as giving you skills to use both in interviews and on the CV, work experience can give you an insight into whether you actually want to get into that particular..

, a new scheme, funded privately by Singaporean investors is “a new way to live in London”, is the corporate answer to the issues facing new workers or students in the capital hunting for a flat and someone to share the costs. It claims to give tenants –“a hassle-free, collective life similar to a student hall of residence, but for people starting out on their career”. Sounds great right? Some agree but most say it’s a faze that can’t last, and won’t last. Most of the rooms are 10 sq metres  in size only and relatively dear compared to the traditional flat-shares seen in London’s inner suburbs, but here you won’t find cockroaches, mice or untidy bedroom as the new set ups even come with cleaners, who are included in the cost of living there, either once a week or once every two weeks. Those that enquire and are keen to move there typically pay just over £1,000 a month for what the scheme has called a “Twodio”. For that they get a bed described as “double” – smaller than your average double bed, plus a private bathroom and access to a kitchen unit that is shared with one other tenant (let’s hope you get along!)  Bedclothes are supplied free of charge (to fit the smaller beds) as is the gas, wifi and other bills too. The new in –..

With the weather outside today you would not know that Summer is just around the corner. Not only does the Summer bring glorious weather (?!), BBQ’s and a whole lot of fun, it also is a time when sporting events come into their own. This blog is all about various British sporting events which are taking place over the Summer 2017. BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS Bringing in the summer is Badminton Horse Trials which is a four day, all-rounder event. It is great fun. The Thursday and Friday showcase the world’s best dressage horses, with some beautiful routines. Saturday is the most popular day, it is the Cross Country course. Not only is it fun to watch with the jumps getting harder each year, but you can also walk the beautiful course. Sunday is more of a relaxed day in comparison to the hectic Cross Country Saturday. You can sit and watch horses jumping to amazing heights, of course excitement is added as it is the culmination of the competition, and you can see the prize winner being given the amazing prize. Badminton is not just for the horse lovers. The shops which exhibit there are fantastic: gourmet food stands, specialist leather shops, clothes stalls even pet shops. I highly recommend it, a great day out watching riding and some retail therapy- what more could you want?! ROYAL ASCOT Staying on..

There has been excitement in the Joyce Guiness office over the last week, due to London’s beach opening! We believe that London is the best city in the world and a beach is the only thing that could make it better. ‘Neverland’ is the pop up of the summer. It is an outdoor stretch of Thames beach on the North side of the river, south of Fulham and next to Wandsworth Bridge. It will have amazing street food and in true British style will have Beach Huts. Although Neverland is alcohol free, there is the opportunity to BYOB, they even provide mocktails for you then to create cocktails! Tickets to get into this event costs £5 with no corkage fee. The pop up starts on Wednesday 10th May and is open on weekday evenings and all day on weekends….If you need us that is where we will be… If you are not as keen on beaches as us, there are some other fab Pop Ups arriving this summer. Another great love of the Joyce Guiness office is cheese… So when we found out about the Cheese Bar opening in Camden Market we could not contain ourselves. There will be urban cheesemakers, Swiss fried cheese balls, special cheesy dishes as well as craft beers, live jazz and blues. Sign us up ASAP! Box Park in Shoreditch is under refurbishment and opens..

The sun is shining and summer is finally on its way! With these months looming, beach body preparations are no doubt underway! What better way to get fit than setting a challenge and raising some money for charity at the same time? With so many wonderful, worthy causes it is often hard to choose which charity to support as all of them need money raised. For me, I wanted to do it for a charity close to my heart.I think for most this is the root of the motivation to undergo a crazy mission! If you read our January blog, you would have seen some of the challenges which the other girls are taking part in this year. Recently we were privileged enough to meet Kiko Matthews who is single handedly rowing across the Atlantic (3000 miles!), she has set herself the challenge of, not only completing this mammoth mission, but also to become the fastest female to solo row unsupported! If you are interested, check out her website, it really is inspirational!   If you fancy a challenge this June, Cancer Research are ‘Walking all over Cancer’ with setting the task of walking 10,000 steps a day through June. This is the perfect opportunity to get fit and at the same time know you are raising money to beat cancer sooner. From reading other blogs on charity and fundraising,..

You may have read Lucy’s previous blog on charities and noted the incredible challenge which Kiko Matthews is going to attempt in January 2018. In fact, we were so amazed at the enormity of it that we have decided to support her. In this blog, I will give you a bit of information about what the challenge is, the reason for her taking part in the challenge and what you can do to help, as well as giving a bit of background on Kiko herself. In 2009, Kiko Matthews was diagnosed with a very rare illness called Cushing’s disease. This not only caused a tumour on her pituitary gland but also created many other life- threatening problems such as diabetes and muscle wasting. She made a remarkable recovery, and eight years on wants to see how she can push her body to the limit. In January 2018, Kiko Matthews is going to attempt to row across the Atlantic unsupported. Not only does she want to do this, she wants to be the first woman to row the 3,000 miles solo. Her aim is to do it in 45 days, if completed in that time, it would be 11 days quicker than the current world record. She believes that aside from the inevitable physical endurance, which up to a point you can train for, the other challenge faced will be mental...

Last week we had a couple of amazing training days with Acet People. It was so worthwhile and we all came away feeling like we had learnt so much. Whilst we were in training, we left our office in the capable hands of Maddie who did such a great job. During her time, she wrote a quick blog about her job hunt and why Joyce Guiness are a league of their own! “I left Quest Professional in June 2014 and was lucky enough to find a job working for a luxury British fashion brand as Front of House & Retail Operations Assistant at their Head Office for nearly 2 years. I then moved on to work as a PA to the CFO & Directors of another British retail brand. Most recently I was working as a PA to the founders of a luxury PR agency but sadly I was made redundant, so now I am on the job hunt again which is always daunting, but knowing there are great agencies around to sign up with and that they are there to help you with your search and guide you to finding the perfect job it is a great comfort and advantage due to them also having great leads into company’s you wouldn’t of known about otherwise. Joyce Guiness really care about their candidates and will help in many more aspects..