London’s Hurlingham Club hosted the annual Concours d’Elegance event in July which took place from 27-29 July over a three day period.

 Sysdoc along with the New Zealand High Commission was fund-raising during the three day event in aid of the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal and managed to raise quite a lot for Christchurch. The elegant Sysdoc volunteers wore the Christchurch colours whilst meeting a whole range of people.

Following the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) Strategic Supplier Summit in February, Sysdoc are one of twenty-five SMEs selected from around the country to be part of a regular SME Panel to represent the wider views of SME’s and evaluate progress on the SME programme. Francis Maude, the Cabinet Minister and Head of the Efficiency & Reform group will be chairing the panel and other key attendees include Sally Collier, the Executive Director of Procurement Policy and Capability.

Katherine has been invited by the UK Government Equalities Office Board to become a Champion to help with a major initiative which aims to tackle red tape and regulation.

 The UK Government recently launched the Red Tape Challenge website to assist with a commitment to reduce the volume of regulation and legislation which hinders business and growth. Whilst Government has no intention of abolishing the Equality Act itself, which was introduced last year, Ministers are keen to ensure that they have got the balance right in terms of the underlying provisions and implementation.  Every couple of weeks there is a particular focus on one aspect of legislation. From 9^th to 30^th June, the spotlight will focus on Equality legislation. If you visit the site, you will notice a considerable degree of debate already.  

Katherine attended the launch of ’Modern Workplaces’ hosted by Rt Hon. Vince Cable MP, Rt Hon. Theresa May MP and Rt Hon. Ed Davey MP,a consultation on proposed changes to employment law to encourage a more fair and flexible approach at work. The consultation seeks views on proposals to make employment practises in the UK more flexible and family-friendly. Katherine was invited to this launch and also to a consultation meeting with Working Families and Ed Davey as Sysdoc has been practising Flexible working for 25 years. Please click here for more information about the consultation and here to learn more about Sysdoc and flexible working.

Katherine met with the Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key at a breakfast organised by KEA and sponsored by Sysdoc Ltd. The Prime Minister’s speech was very insightful and impressed everyone who attended the event. Katherine added “I think that everyone left feeling that New Zealand is in good hands”.

I promised to update you all of some of the awesome things Sysdoc people have been doing to help Christchurch.

Sysdoc / Orion Health Fundraiser: Our UK Executive Assistant organised a series of fund raisers in conjunction with Orion Health who recently moved into our building.  A raffle and bake sale raised over £500 for Christchurch.

UK Schools for Christchurch Kids: My daughter started a UK Schools for Christchurch Kids fund raising initiative. She asked all schools which have a connection to New Zealand (kiwi kids, teachers, gap year students) to have a Red and Black Home Clothes (mufti) day for a Gold Coin donation. Several schools agreed to participate. Her own school raised £500, and with many more to follow suit, we hope that this will be a great way to connect kiwi expat kids to their roots back home.

Prime Minister’s London Breakfast: Sysdoc sponsored the Prime Ministers breakfast at the New Zealand House Penthouse on the 26^th April. The breakfast with Right Honourable John Key as the main guest,aimed to raise further funds for Christchurch. As a principal sponsor, Sysdoc covered the costs of the event to enable all monies received from participants to be donated directly to the Christchurch Appeal.     

City of London Festival: Sysdoc has agreed to become a Platinum Sponsor of the City of London Festival held in July in the City. The theme this year is Pacifica, with a focus on New Zealand and Australia. We feel that this is a really positive way to raise the profile of New Zealand at a time when overseas people are wondering whether it  is safe to visit. http://www.colf.org/whats-on.cfm   Some of the events are amazing, for example, there will be 14 living kiwi composers in one concert, family picnics, chamber choirs, and a waka journey down the Thames.

Step Up 4 Christchurch – Stairwell Marathon in One of London’s Iconic Modern Buildings: On 22 May, Sysdoc entered several running, walking, crawling and going up the lift teams to raise funds for Christchurch. Sysdoc raised over £3,000 and overall the event raised over £300,000.

Next Women of the Year Team: We facilitated a session recently in Auckland with some of the finalists and winners from last year’s Next Women of the Year awards. The purpose was to define and launch a project that will use the combined skills and expertise of this group of amazing women to help targeted young people in Christchurch to get back on their feet.

That’s it for now however we are continually looking at how and where we can help, so watch this space for more ideas.  

The CBI People Awards honour forward-thinking, people-centred organisations as they change to meet new social, economic and technological realities.

Sysdoc Ltd was a finalist in the Growing Business category at the CBI People Awards 2011.

The past  few weeks have been traumatic and challenging for all New Zealanders, most especially for our loved ones and friends in Christchurch, and also for the wider country, as we try to come to terms with the devastation and loss of life caused by the earthquake.

 My husband and I met in Christchurch during our 5 wonderful Canterbury University years. On the day of the earthquake, and for many after, we were trying to locate our family and friends who had not yet been able to make contact. It is has been a harrowing  few weeks for many, and the months ahead will need to see us all pulling together to directly support people close to us, and to reach into the wider communities to support people who may not have extended networks. They all need deep emotional and financial support to re-build their lives.  

I wanted to reach out to you all so that you know that we are supporting one another, and that here in London we are involved in many many fund raising events that directly support Christchurch. I attended a service at Westminster Cathedral in London, where 5000+ kiwis were proudly wearing red and black - the colours of Canterbury - singing our national anthem and sending our NZ colleagues our collective love.

 However, I also want to acknowledge that the very best support that we can give is our long term commitment to Christchurch people so that we can help Christchurch get back on its feet.

Katherine recently attended the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) Strategic Supplier Summit, which was organised by Intellect UK and the Cabinet Office. Since its inception the coalition government has been keen to improve SME involvement in delivery of public services. This event was organised to launch a number of initiatives designed to make it easier for SMEs to do business with government and for people to share their thoughts on SMEs and the public sector market. Sysdoc was one of only thirty SMEs selected from around the country to attend this event, which was also attended by the Prime Minister, David Cameron. Katherine met with many people who are influential in getting SME procurement happening in government, such as Francis Maude, the Cabinet Minister and Head of the Efficiency & Reform group; Ian Watmore, the Government Chief Operating Officer; and John Collington, the Head of Government Procurement for the Cabinet Office.
Katherine has also been asked to speak about the summit at the next Genesis Innovation Den, which will be attended by SMEs, senior civil servants and senior executives from IT service providers.
For more information on the government initiatives, see Government opens up contracts to small business | Cabinet Office

Katherine was a finalist in the NZ Society Air New Zealand New Zealander of the Year 2011. The awards dinner was held in London on 4 February as an early celebration of Waitangi - New Zealand day. Click here for the award announcement. and here for more information on Katherine.

Katherine said she found sitting beside the fellow finalists, Barrie Nielson of www.Sailingholidays.com and Terry Smith of the Sir Keith Park foundation, to be truly enjoyable. Both are extraordinary men who have achieved so much. Vicki Procter attended with Katherine and they were both totally inspired by what Terry did for all New Zealanders in recognising the great achievements of Sir Keith Park.