The Dublin firm that runs a Bear Grylls bootcamp is moving into the UK
Events company Orangeworks has won a lucrative deal with team building business Catalyst Global.
THE COMPANY THAT owns the Bear Grylls Survival Academy franchise in Ireland is set to launch in the UK after striking a partnership deal with a major corporate activities business.
Events organiser Orangeworks, which used to be called Team Building, has won a contract to trade in Britain from Catalyst Global, a firm that facilitates a suite of corporate team building activities in 40 countries.
Dublin-based Orangeworks has held the exclusive license for Catalyst Global’s suite of products in Ireland since 2011. This has now been extended to include all of the UK, except for Scotland.
Under the new agreement, Orangeworks will be selling and distributing more than 170 Catalyst Global team building activities in these countries.
As a result, it expects to double its workforce to 28 people by the end of 2018.
Speaking to Fora, managing director David Bassett estimated that the Catalyst deal is worth at least £3 million (€3.4 million) to Orangeworks based on the additional money it expects to generate through its UK trade.
He said 12 companies bid for the tender contract and Orangeworks was by far the smallest firm.
“I love the fact that we’ve gotten it over the bigger companies,” Bassett said. “People have seen our track record and they trust us.”
David Bassett of Orangeworks (centre)
When asked by Fora what the deal meant to him personally, Bassett said it was “reinvigorating”.
“It’s a vindication of putting in really good foundations and a vindication of getting through the recession,” he said.
Rebrand
Bassett says Orangeworks’ owes its tender win to its recent rebrand. The company last week rolled out its new name, having previously traded under the websites Xtreme.ie and Teambuilding.ie.
He said the 18-month exercise gave the company “focus and clarity” around its marketing messages.
“Even though Orangeworks only launched last week, we pitched the new brand to Catalyst in April and it secured us that licence to expand and move in (to the UK),” he said.
While Bassett wouldn’t disclose other countries that are on Orangeworks’ hit list, he said: “We want to be number one globally within our peers. If that happens, other markets will open up.”
Founded in 2003, Orangeworks currently employs 14 people but hopes to double this figure by the end of 2018.
As well as holding the exclusive licence for the Bear Grylls-themed bootcamp in Ireland, the firm also operates activities such as off-road driving and make your own T-shirts workshops.
Last year, it operated more than 500 events for companies such as Google, Jaguar and Deloitte.
