Every week we have a dress-down day which raises money for local charities. Money donated by staff is matched by the company. It was unanimously agreed to support Southport Kidz Klub, run by the Salvation Army.

Peter Woodroffe, Head of Business Development (Public Sector), who is a member of the Salvation Army presented a cheque for £320 to Major Gethin Thomas, Commanding Officer at Southport Corps. The money will be used to provide equipment for the Klub, which caters for up to 140 five to eleven year olds each week.

Maps announced as a finalist in the National GO Awards for Excellence in Public Procurement - Best Small Business Award.

A record number of submissions entered into the GO Awards, from a broad cross-section of the UK public and private sectors. This makes the achievement of a finalist place even more significant, as the level of competition for these coveted Awards intensifies.

The awards ceremony is being held on 4th June 2009 in London.

Keep up-to-date with what’s happening at MAPS who are now twittering!

Our website now lives on its own dedicated server at Rackspace - world leader in hosting - who guarantee 100% network and infrastructure uptime and many other business-critical support features.

Their customer service philosophy, Fanatical Support^® has won much industry recognition and they were recently voted with the best customer focus in the country, in the 2008 National Business Awards.

MAPS decision to select Rackspace was obvious - a like-minded organisation with very strong environmental credentials!

When we moved, as a result of successful business expansion, into our own larger office building in Bath Street we decided to retain our Stanley Street offices as a disaster recovery site.

We backup our data securely using different methods and locations ensuring maximum protection and reliability. The benefit of our own ready-to-use alternative offices nearby provides invaluable flexibility and assurance.

Well, that’s at least if you’re with MAPS. We all got together at Lang’s just round the corner from our Head Office in Bath Street, Southport. Not only was it less crowded than it would have been in December but we were able to relax and enjoy ourselves without all the stress of Christmas!

MAPS were sponsors of this years Sefton’s Shining Stars Awards. We are proud to support and be associated with such a worthy event which celebrates the achievement and contribution made by children in our local community. We sponsored the “Changing Attitudes” award.

Award Winners: 1st: Eve Cheetham, 2nd: Jacqui Dickinson, 3rd: Charlotte Gant.

MAPS have significantly strengthened their market share in the Public Sector and are considered to be the fastest growing independent legal expenses provider. James Tattersall, Managing Director of MAPS, comments: “We continue to win new Public Sector accounts every month and existing clients are renewing with us under long terms agreements. We are probably the second biggest LEI/ULR provider in the Public Sector and remain an independent privately owned company”.

We currently act for 39% of all County Councils and 27% of all London Boroughs as well as a considerable number of other Public Bodies such as Police and Fire Authorities, Housing Associations and Local Councils.

Last month Brother asked local businesses in the North West to help them attempt to create the world’s largest classified advertisement to help celebrate the launch of the world’s first compact A3 multifunction inkjet printers.

The ad ran live until the 16^th November but the web pages, www.brother.co.uk/manchesterad, will continue until the end of December 2008.

Can you find our logo? It’s on the top line!

Deirdre our Financial Director is a big fan of Take That. Here she is with Gary Barlow at Madame Tussauds.

The photo below was taken on Deirdre’s phone during their December 2007 concert in Manchester. The concert was fantastic and to be seated only five rows from the stage was amazing.