Month: September 2017

Thousands tame the toughest beast yet.

The 2017 Prime Four Beast Race at Banchory marks the fourth year the business park has sponsored Scotland’s most brutal 10k obstacle event.

This weekend saw over 2500 participants run fearlessly through the toughest ever course to successfully “tame the beast”.  Challengers endured gruelling hill climbs and beastly bogs before hitting a frenzy of wicked obstacles to then plunge, one last time into the icy waters of Knockburn Loch.

Significant changes were made to this years course after previous participants called for the challenges to be ratcheted up several notches, and their call was heard!  The courses new layout featured a total of 30 obstacles including 9 brand new to the course.  Despite it being dubbed the toughest year yet, Swaid Worms took this years winners title finishing in just 51mins 42sec a whopping 32sec faster than last years winning time!!!  Tabitha Shepperson took the title of fastest female finishing with an amazing time of 1hr 5min 36sec.

Teams and participants from Nexen, Lloyds Register, Transocean, Anderson Anderson Brown, OneSubsea, Apache, Maersk, PremierOil, Statoil, our Jog Scotland group and the Prime Four personal trainers all took on this years beast. 

As our newest tenants on the park Lloyds Register arrived this year with a new team and plenty of fighting spirit.

Tamed – The boys from Lloyds Register leaving no man behind… or did one leave them behind, every man for himself!!

Over the last four years Nexen have dawned many a flamboyant outfit to take on the beast.  This year they tossed aside the florescent too-toos and mean business.

Beasted – Team Nexen broke the beast for another year.

It was great to see the Anderson Anderson Brown team once again, having participated for the past two years since they moving to the park in the summer of last year.

Smashed it – it was smiles all the way round with team AAB.

Colleagues from across the Prime Four Park also did their bit to successfully break this years beast. It was the first time for some but many were returning for a second, third and fourth time!  OneSubsea’s Rich Fulton returned for his fourth year and was impressed with the new, tougher course “This one was the toughest yet but still very enjoyable. I love that there is slight changes to the course every year and that keeps the appeal. I would say that I have found every year slightly tougher than the previous.  I have attended every one since the start and I intend to keep that going.”

As part of Prime Four’s sponsorship, colleagues at any of the companies located at the Kingswells site, have benefitted from a range of free activities including 3,000 hours of training across 600 classes including Boot Camp, Circuits, Yoga, Metafit, a JogScotland Running Group, and the Prime Four Bleep Test.

This all fits within Prime Four’s principle objective which is to, “bring life to work.”                                                                      

Raring To Go – JogScotland group ready for action

Broke It – The two Lynne’s from Prime Four Personal Training showing this years beast who’s boss

Prime Four Beast Race’s official charity partner is Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland (CHSS), for which over £178,000 has been raised so far by Beast Race participants, including nearly £50,000 this year, almost a 40% increase from last years total. We’re expecting that number will rise significantly after all funds are totalled for this year’s race.

Congratulations to all who “tamed the beast” this year!!

Jono Buckland, director at organisers FireTrail Events comments:

“The competitors told us they wanted it tougher, so we made Prime Four Beast Race tougher. A lot tougher. For thousands of people it really was a chance to break the beast. If someone at your work today was taking part you might want to go easy on them, as they’ve been through a lot.

Fife Hyland, communications director at Drum Property Group, developers of Prime Four adds:

“That was a brilliant Prime Four Beast Race at Banchory. We were so pleased to see yet another significant growth in entry numbers. Everyone took on the challenge of a new-look course with real enthusiasm and spirit and we’re delighted to see the event was another roaring success.”

Anchor scavenger hunt to mark charity anniversary

To help mark the milestone 20th anniversary of the friends of ANCHOR chairty, Kingswellies nursery has organised an anchor scavenger hunt.  Children from Nursery are joining in the event, to find 20 hidden anchors in the grounds and offices around Prime Four Business Park.  Inspired by Friend’s of ANCHOR’s 20for20 Anchor Voyage, the children will have a week, as of yesterday, to find the anchors.  Each child was given an activity booklet to check off the anchors and will get a sticker for each one.

Kirsten Horne, campaign officer at Friends of ANCHOR, said; “We are pleased to see so many people get behind the campaign in their own creative and interactive way.  The Anchor Voyage seems to have captured the imagination of so many, and it’s lovely to hear of the fantastic week of fundraising KingsWellies Nursery are embarking on.”

Parents can join in a bake “sail” and staff will take turns to ride an exercise bike every minute of the working day for the week, to reach a 500 mile target.

Kerry Robertson, the KingsWellies nursery director, said: “Supporting the cancer and haematology patients at the ANCHOR Unit is a worthwhile cause. I think is great to involve not only our kids but also the parents and the staff too.”

KingsWellies Nursery has pledged that all funds raised will go directly the Friends of ANCHOR Dream Big campaign.

The Prime Four Community Trust established by Drum Property Group, and administered by Foundation Scotland, provides grants to charitable groups operating in the Kingswells’ Community Council Area.

The Trust is delighted to report The Local Committee Panel (constituted by local residents and coordinated by the Kingwells Community Council) has decided to award grants to Teenybeats, Coull Green Residents and the 1st Kingswells Scout Group.

The awards will provide funding to purchase a range of toys and musical equipment for the development of young children through play and interaction; will pay for the re-surfacing of local play facilities to provide a safe and enjoyable area for families; and go towards the purchase of transportation to assist with distribution of equipment for local Scout, Brownie and Guide groups.

Funding through The Prime Four Community Trust remains open for applications and the Committee is keen to hear from local groups. Applications for grants can be accepted from charitable and not-for-profit organisations for a range of activities that will benefit the Kingswells community.  Grants of up to £2,000 are available via the programme and applications can be submitted at any time with decisions being taken throughout the year. Note that the maximum award of £2,000 will only be granted in exceptional circumstances where the project will make a significant difference to the wider Kingswells community.

Applications can be submitted via email to sian@foundationscotland.org.uk or via post to Sian Langdon, Foundation Scotland, 131 West Nile Street, Glasgow, G1 2RX. If you would like to discuss your project before making an application for funds then please contact Sian on 0141 341 4967.

Please click on the following link for the Application process and further information.

http://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/programmes/prime-four/

We are delighted to announce that the FRESH Café at Prime Four Business Park has been shortlisted in the Evening Express Retailer Awards 2017 in the “Food on the Go retailer of the year”.

Fresh Retail Manager Sylvia Coutts and Supervisor Isabel Scott head up the FRESH Café and are delighted to be a finalist and being recognised as one of the three best “on the go” retail cafes in Aberdeen.

Back for the third year, the awards recognise and support the local and national businesses at the heart of our communities in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire and are the lifeblood of the local economy and make our communities better places to live.  At a time when our high street shops need the public the most, the aim of the awards is to promote and celebrate the long-established local, national and emerging firms and encourage more people to shop local.

This year there were more than double the amount of entries, all of an extremely high standard. The judges commented that it was the most difficult year yet selecting the finalists from such a fantastic range of entries, so getting to this stage is a massive achievement – well done to the FRESH Retail Team.

If your feeling peckish then pop into the FRESH Café at Prime Four business park which offers the option to eat in or grab & go where our menus are seasonal with daily prepared Soup, baked potatoes, gourmet boxed salads, sandwiches, wraps and hot & cold drinks.  They offer a gourmet coffee a range of hot & cold beverages from lattes & cappuccinos to frappes & iced coffees.

Hundreds tackle brutal obstacle course and raised thousands of pounds for charity

Almost 1,800 people endured the 10km route in the Prime Four Beast Race at Aldourie Castle Estate by Loch Ness, 40 per cent more than took part in last year’s event.

Jono Buckland, director at organisers FireTrail Events, said: “Our participants told us they wanted it to be tougher than ever before, so we ramped it up, and challenged them to try and break the beast.  Of course in the face of a course of this magnitude our Prime Four Beast Race participants rose to the challenge, with endurance, a sense of community and no shortage of humour. It was indeed a spectacular, muddy, fun-filled party.”

Now in its fifth year, the race was bigger and bolder than ever before and featured a strength-sapping new 10km route across Aldourie castle estate.  The new-look course also included more merciless obstacles for participants to overcome such as the icy cold Looney Dook and the perilous Black Hole.

The official charity partner for the event is Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS), for which more than £128,000 has been raised so far by Beast Race participants.  That sum will significantly increase after this year’s funds are factored into the equation.

Fife Hyland, communications director at Drum Property Group, developers of Prime Four, sponsors, added: “What a Prime Four Beast Race that was at Loch Ness. With a significant rise in numbers, it was brilliant to see so many new participants, facing up to what was – by some distance – the most brutal beast yet.”

The second (and final) Prime Four Beast Race of the series takes place in Banchory outside Aberdeen on September 23.

Winners

Men: 1 Ayraan Khalid 00.50.29.781; 2 Steven Curnyn 00.53.56.320; 3 Scott Brown 00.56.48.469

Women: 1 Coralie Arthur 01.02.59; 2 Antje Horn 01.08.10; 3 Bryony Keys 01.11.09.