A businessman laid on a £200,000 music festival for staff in the grounds of his Bowdon property – with a chart-topping singer headlining the bill.
Lawrence Jones, the CEO of Manchester-based hosting company UKFast, threw the two-day event last weekend with hundreds camping out in his garden.
Labelled ‘UKFest’, the event included fairground rides, a 100ft inflatable assault course, a London Bus Bar, street food vendors and a Prosecco lawn.
A total of 1,500 revellers also enjoyed a full programme of bands and DJs – with Brit-nominated singer Example, who wrote number one singles Stay Awake and Changed the Way You Kiss Me, bringing the event to a star-studded finale.
Jones said: “UKFest was born from a simple idea that goes back to the early days of UKFast. We’ve always gone away on camping trips together, even when we were a tiny company, and we’ve always tried to include friends and family. This is just an extension of that and as a business owner it’s hugely motivating to see how far we’ve come since the early days.
“There’s a huge amount of planning goes into something like this but it’s absolutely worth it in my opinion. You can’t put a value on something like this. We all got together and celebrated together and really it’s about Gail and I saying thank you to the team for all their hard work. Our team works incredibly hard, we’re a fast-paced 24/7/365 business, so we want to do all we can to show that their hard work is appreciated.”
Jones, who received an MBE in the 2015 New Year’s Honours List, set up UKFast with wife Gail in 1999 and the company now turns over around £40m. He has amassed a fortune of £275m according to the Sunday Times Rich List.
He added: “UKFast has grown for 17 consecutive years and I believe it’s about retaining great people and making them feel valued. I’d ask business owners to what extent are you prepared to go to say thank you to your team? In the long run it’s good for your business.
“We want all our teams’ friends and families to get involved and really see what the culture at UKFast is about.”
