Catering for success at Milton Keynes Business Centre
After spending nearly 20 years in the hospitality industry, during which Theresa Collins learned a great deal by working at five star hotels at home and abroad, she felt it time to establish a business of her own. With the opening of the MKTWO business centre came a ground-floor opportunity to be her own boss and to share whatever potential success a thriving business centre right in the heart of Bletchley might bring.Cafe at MKTwo Business Centre
Now, firmly established as Dad’s Café and Catering, Theresa’s venture is a favourite spot for many of the 100 or more guest businesses within this thriving business centre. Having spent time roaming the world as a hotel inspector immediately prior to settling in MKTWO, Theresa knows that attention to detail is paramount and has carried this attitude into her own new venture. Not only has she customised one of the industrial units to let within the complex to her own exacting standards but she has also brought with her a wealth of fresh ideas that marks out Dad’s Café as being different to other similar establishments. Knowing that the business centre includes meeting rooms used for conferences and training she offers a catering service for such gatherings and has even devised special menus for the popular breakfast business meetings that are becoming quite a feature at the business centre. It is probably just as well she likes to start the day early as successful breakfast meetings demand that everything needed is discretely put place in good time.
As well as providing an over-the-counter service within the main unit located in a solus site by the key entrance to the business centre, Theresa and her staff are kept busy delivering food and drink to satisfy the needs of boardroom and executive meetings throughout the complex. With its mix of many serviced offices and industrial units within the MKTWO business community it is hardly surprising that Dad’s Café has become something of a focal point for many of the hundreds of staff working on site and who look forward to seeing what culinary delights are given pride of place on Theresa’s ever-changing ‘Daily Special’ board. Although, naturally, most of the Café’s custom is derived from within the business centre it is by no means exclusively so as visitors increasingly remember it and call in when able and, calling on her own past events organising experience, she also promotes her own line of party menus for other venues.
Without a doubt Theresa’s Dad, in whose memory it takes its name, would be extremely proud of the business acumen displayed by his daughter. A Café is quite an inspired choice of business unit to have establish within a complex as large as the MKTWO business centre and is clearly much appreciated by the many guests located there.
Old Warhorse Receives a New Lease of Life in Milton Keynes Workshop
A rare but rusty second World War armoured command car is getting a new lease of life at shows around Buckinghamshire - thanks to a Milton Keynes businessman and his company.The 4 x 4 Dodge, once also used by the Swiss army as an anti-riot vehicle, has been bought by Joe Muscat, who owns the Bucks Biz business centres, and is being restored to its original glory.Joe and tank rusty small
"It's got a lot of rust on it, but the bodywork is extremely thick armoured plating and we expect the corrosion to only be on the surface,” said Joe. “We’ll be restoring it over the next few months, ready to take it around local shows and events from summer next year.”Joe came across the vehicle - called a MAWAG - at Northampton-based tank driving company Tanks-A-Lot and they agreed to sell it to him. “There are just a handful of these left in the world; most were used later as target practice or as spares for other Dodge vehicles” said Tanks-A-Lot founder Nick Mead. “We’ve not been able to get round to restoring it, so we readily allowed Joe to take it over. We believe there are just three in the UK, so it is a rare vehicle and enthusiasts will want to see it.”
Bucks Biz, which has several business centres around Milton Keynes, says the vehicle will also be put on permanent display outside one of its centres.
Thriving Print Shop
Flexibility for growth is just one of the many advantages claimed by BucksBiz for its guests at its MKTWO Business Centre – and this is exactly what has helped enable Craig Murchison to expand his print business with a minimum of pain and disruption.
Originally set up in 2005 as a graphic design company in Bletchley describe the imageHigh Street, Craig’s Ultimate Print & Design soon needed to find more suitable work space that could be tailored to match his specific needs. In the MKTWO Business Centre close by he found exactly what he wanted and, taking full advantage of the friendly terms available, moved into one of the smaller of the 155 work units on site, quickly customised it with the help of the resident management team and rapidly set about growing the business.
The recently totally refurbished business centre was clearly quite an inspired choice because, in what seemed no time at all, Ultimate needed to take advantage of the site’s flexibility to expand into a larger work space with plenty of first floor level office space above the industrial warehouse unit below. The fact that this useful office space came ready suited for Craig’s use, with the latest IT coms system instantly available, is of great benefit to a modern print business. The nature of Ultimate’s work demands good broad-band connectivity if it is to make the most of its own leading-edge equipment and computer design facilities.
A significant advantage of being located within a thriving business centre community, for a printer, is the element of Business-to-Business dealing that exists on-site and Craig is the first to admit to being pleasantly surprised at the level of extra work this has brought in, although with much of it requiring a 24 hr turn-around he says it can be quite demanding. This latter point, however, serves to highlight yet another positive aspect of a site that offers total 24/7 freedom of access to all its business centre clients without prejudicing the excellent security measures that are in force.
With his sights firmly set on further growth, particularly in the realms of wide-format digital printing, it may not be too long before Craig needs to put MKTWO Business Centre’s proven ‘flexible accommodation’ claim to a further test.
