In honour of our 20th birthday, Berkeley PR (plus partners) descended on the Henley Royal Regatta yesterday to enjoy some Pimms, wine, champagne and sunshine - oh, and there might have been some rowing there too.

The day began with a champagne and Pimms reception in a beautiful marquee by the river with teams from the three regional offices eager to exchange the latest gossip and, of course, admire each others’ outfits - we all scrub up quite well, apparently. We were then treated to a delicious meal in our private enclosure accompanied by a fantastic live band, and entertained by a magician and a caricaturist. (We’re trying to persuade the management team to let us put their caricatures up on the website so watch this space!)

Then came the real birthday celebrations. There had been a lot of hard work taking place behind the scenes to pull together some memories from current and ex-Berkeley PR employees with the aim of presenting CEO Chris Hewitt with a “this if your life” book at the event. This went down a storm as Chris was dully embarassed by a number of the old stories, but promised he was touched and would keep the book forever.

Next came the speeches and presentation of our Champion’s Award to a deserving winner (Paul), then it was on with the afternoon which consisted of a few more tipples and lots of outrageous dancing to the live band.

All in all, it was a fantastic day in the sunshine full of celebration and laughter. Thanks must go to our office managers Emma and Michelle for their incredible organisational skills and, what’s left to say except congratulations Chris and happy 20th Berkeley PR!

Rebecca Wheeler