It was an early start on a chilly (very uncharacteristic of Melbourne!) spring Sunday morning. A team of 7 eager Markitforce race entrants (with ranging levels of fitness) arrived at the foot of the Eureka to commence Australia’s biggest vertical race!

The Eureka Climb is in the top 10 stair climbs in the world, and looking up at the challenge ahead seemed rather daunting for the Markitforce crew!

In true Markitforce fashion, with nothing but determination, persistence, hard work and smiling enthusiasm, all 7 race entrants finished the climb and managed to deliver some happiness in unlikely and very topical places!

Well done to all those who took part and raised money for a very worthy cause – namely Whitelion. Markitforce donated $0.10 to each stair climbed. With 7 finishers climbing 1,642 stairs each, a total of $1,149.50 was raised.

“Whitelion is a non-profit community organisation that provides youth-focused gender and culturally specific services in several areas which include; mentoring, employment, role modeling, specialist outreach support and education based prevention programs.”

The scene was set for a super night… The Le Montage in Lilyfield; The ladies of Markitforce looking ever so elegant in their evening frocks and the males of Markitforce looking incredibly handsome in their lounge suits; Dinner, drinks, entertainment, dancing and of course, the awards!

Alan Higgins our inspirational leader, a finalist in the South Western Regional  ‘Business Leader’ award category.

“This award recognises the positive contribution made to business by business people and professionals. This award recognises business people who demonstrate outstanding entrepreneurial spirit, strategic business direction and innovative ideas whilst providing inspiration to a new generation of upcoming young business people.”

3 finalists… a 33.3% chance of winning… in our hearts we knew our chances were much greater!

“… and the award goes to… Alan Higgins of Markitforce!” The roar in the venue was lion like; clapping, whistling, high fiving; all 15 of us at the function were immensely proud of our Leader.

The award was accepted with humility, passion and dignity. Congratulations Alan on representing the category in its truest form and on building a business on the foundations of honesty, integrity and exceptional customer service.

Alan is now a finalist in the ‘State Business Leader’ award category, with the winner being announced on the 23^rd November at the Hordern Pavilion.

We look forward to another great night and to Alan bringing it home for the state of NSW! Wish us well!

In addition to becoming a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant; continually looking for innovative ways to recycle and dispose of materials; employing energy efficient operating methods; and driving around Sydney in a Toyota Prius; Markitforce has literally gone GREEN!

Office and warehouse staff now have their very own beautiful green PLANTS to look after! Feed them, water them and also give them their own unique names…

‘Bazza The Bamboo’, ‘Mr Hulk’, ‘Lil Miss Bliss’, ‘Happy Herby’ – just to name a few!

Plants in the workplace do not only aesthetically breathe new life; they also enhance employee attitudes, reduce stress, increase productivity and improve air quality.

Here are some of our very “happy” staff with their plants…

It is with great pride that Markitforce would like to announce that we are a finalist in 2 different categories in this year’s South Western Business Awards.

The awards ceremony is being held on the evening of Friday 28^th September with Markitforce booking 2 tables of 8.

The business culture is one of sharing success with staff, and as a result, Alan and wife Anita have kindly extended the invitation to members of the senior management team as well as recent employees of the month.

We will be sure to update you on our “hopeful” success and here’s to a great night out with the TEAM!

What is a BHAG you may ask? Big Hairy Angry Gorilla? Not quite… it stands for BIG Hairy Audacious GOAL! A goal that will be achieved in 10 years’ time.

Further to an off-site 2 day Management Workshop which entailed setting the strategy for the business for the next 1, 3 and 10 years, it was agreed that Markitforce’s BHAG is 15 FOOTBALL FIELDS OF WAREHOUSE SPACE!

To communicate this goal and to engage the entire business, a launch party was held on Friday 8^th June, promoting all things Football!

BBQ Breakfast, Goal Kicking Competitions, Footy Passing Competitions and Penalty Shootouts were just a few of the fun activities that the entire business participated in.

Alan Higgins presented a full summary of the 2 day Workshop and staff were given branded Markitforce Stress Footballs and Flags with the tag line – “Kicking for Growth with Markitforce!”

One staff member after the 1.5 hour launch party said “This is so exciting! I can’t wait to be part of this growth journey and the opportunities it will bring…”

A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this event so successful!

31 March 2011

Markitforce has joined its customers and industry leaders in becoming a signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant and making a 5-year commitment to the program.  The Australian Packaging Covenant (APC) is an industry-led program with the overall aim of reducing the impacts of consumer packaging.  Markitforce is aligned with the Covenant principles of partnership, innovation, and efficient performance – it’s the way we do business. As one of the only companies in our sector to make this commitment, Markitforce will work closely with our customers to help them meet their APC goals and find new, smarter ways of partnering together.  Markitforce is confident that the APC framework will extend our sustainability program further and improve our performance in packaging efficiency.

For more information on our APC commitments, check out our 5-year Action Plan here.  To find out more about our ‘green’ philosophy and how Markitforce’s sustainability program benefits our customers, contact Alan Higgins on 02 8717 4444.

Congratulations to our triathletes who participated in the Sydney Nissan/BRW Corporate Triathlon, Australia’s premier annual corporate sporting event.
In our second year of participation, we cheered on four teams into victory in a 400m swim, 8km cycle and 4km run. The race was held in picture perfect weather conditions which helped keep spirits high as all contestants completed the challenge in 60 minutes or under.
We are over the moon with this year’s performance, especially for our very own Minister for Fun, Alan Higgins who overcame the anguish of his knee injury, and completed all three stages with endurance and determination. What a team player!
Hats off to team Chiefs, Cowboys, Indians and our combined team of suppliers and clients. Keep up with the training for next year’s event!

To kick off the autumn program of our Green Initiatives, Markitforce participated in Clean Up Business Day at our Sydney and Melbourne operations on Tuesday 1st March 2011.
In addition to the obvious fun, and team building nature of the day, it was a great opportunity for us to clean up our operation and conserve the environment in a positive way.
We had loads of volunteers and plenty of hidden ‘gems’ were found, highlights of which included; car batteries, the inside of a washing machine, an oven draining tray and beer bottles galore! There was loads of rubbish which we recycled wherever possible. Hopefully Clean Up Business Day 2012 will be even bigger and better!!

On January 21^st 2011, Markitforce celebrated 10 years in business. From the very first day Alan Higgins (owner and founder of the business) has played an integral role in leading a dedicated team of accomplished professionals to discover a sense of fun whist in this unique and vibrant workplace.

At a function in Sydney to commemorate the landmark of a decade’s worth of Marketing Logistics excellence three people were awarded Long Service awards for continuous service. Congratulations to Marta Roman, Lana Switzer & Alan Higgins on this fantastic achievement. A highlight of the evening was a “This is Your Life” style presentation which was unexpectedly launched upon Minister for Fun & CFO (Chief Forklift Officer), Alan Higgins.

Markitforce has focused on evolving and improving its service offering to meet the changing needs of its valued clients. These services now include; a climate controlled warehouse, bonded store, shrink-wrapping & packaging solutions, enhanced online services, increased secure storage areas, service guarantee’s on freight, consumer redemption expertise, field merchandise support and improved and scalable kitting solutions.

Markitforce has been proud to receive acknowledgements for Innovation from the iAwards (2008) and NSW Chamber of Business (2009).

A special “Thank You” from everyone at Markitforce to all our valued Clients and Suppliers. We could not have achieved such great success over the past 10 years without your support and friendship. Thank you and here’s to the next 10 years!!