A Letter from Head Honcho

What a year it’s been for LNOF, the best ever. The business is continuing to expand, the staff are outstanding and, as ever, we’ve got loads of new exciting projects underway (keep your eyes peeled). So, here’s a quick round-up of what’s been going on over the past couple of months…

LNOF Play on the Pitch at St James’ Park

As proud Geordies, when offered the chance to play on the hallowed turf of St James’ Park, we couldn’t turn it down – and the LNOF team headed down to the legendary stadium to take on chocolate giants, Nestlé. The first half was a particularly tense affair, with a few dubious decisions, but we fought back and managed to level the scores by full time. The game then went to penalties, where I even managed to score the winning penalty (I couldn’t have scripted it better myself). However, I can’t take all the credit, it was a fantastic effort from the whole team and our fans certainly seemed to enjoy the game.

Not only was it a big summer for football in the North East, but Rugby League’s Magic Weekend also paid a visit to Newcastle. As keen rugby fans, we played in an RFL touch rugby tournament to celebrate, but unfortunately, that didn’t go as well as the football and the less said about it the better.

Google Business Tour

An image of the LNOF office with staff in the background

The Castle

Back in October 2013, we moved into a fantastic new office on the Quayside and expanded and, since then, we’ve been looking at ways to let you see inside LNOF. So, a couple of months ago, we invited Google Business in to produce a panoramic tour of our amazing HQ. You can now take a tour of our sparkling office.

Michelle Keegan’s Hen Party

Michelle Keegan wearing the Bride-to-Be glasses from LNOF and jetting off for her hen do

Michelle sporting the Bride-to-Be glasses and veil

Here at LNOF, we’ve arranged many stag and hen weekends for celebrities and, in May, we had the opportunity to kit out FHM’s sexiest woman in the world, Michelle Keegan. Michelle contacted us for some of our hen party accessories and we readily obliged. We sent over a variety of our favourite products and we've put them all together in a handy Michelle Keegan kit. Michelle wore all of this, and even gave us a mention in her HELLO! magazine column.

Living Wage

Managing Director of Last Night of Freedom, Matt Mavir, holding the Living Wage sign

My 'professional pose'

Living wage week is coming up this November and we are proud supporters of the Living Wage foundation. We signed up to The Living Wage at the beginning of the year as a way to show our gratitude to the team. All of the staff at LNOF work extremely hard, so it felt right to give back and ensure that they are all paid at least the National Living Wage. There’s been a real buzz about HQ since, and we’re looking forward to 2016 being another phenomenal year for LNOF.

Great North Run

A scene from the great north run

via The Mirror

Not only has it been an exceptional few months for the company, but two of our very own, Andrew, our head of PR, and Garry, Director of Sales, took part in the Great North Run for the CHUF Foundation – our fantastic local Children’s Heart Unit Fund charity. They completed it in two hours and two minutes and two and a half hours respectively, and raised over £500 – we couldn’t be any prouder.

Disney Day

We even had a Disney Day in the office to raise some more funds for CHUF and, let me tell you, it was a bit of a surreal casual Friday.

The staff at LNOF posing for a group shot in their Disney Day outfitsTwo staff members from LNOF dressed up as Mickey and Minnie MouseMickey Mouse and Minnie mouse posing for the camera whilst Minnie holds a suitcaseTwo of the team from LNOF dressed up as the Cheshire Cat and Absolem from Alice in WonderlandTwo of the team from LNOF pulling funny faces whilst dressed up as the Cheshire Cat and Absolem from Alice in WonderlandTwo of the staff from LNOF dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of HeartsTwo of the boys from LNOF dressed up as Cinderella's two ugly sistersTwo of the boys from LNOF dreesed up as Cinderella's ugly sisters, with one sister holding the other with her scarf Some of the staff from LNOF dressed up as The Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Some of the staff from LNOF dressed up as Snow White and the Evil Queen Two of the team from Last Night of Freedom posing whilst dressed up as Mickey Mouse and Mike Wazowski Mike Wazowski and Mickey Mouse having a pose off Some of the team from LNOF dressed up as Absolem, the Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter, Alice and the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland A four tiled shot of some of the staff at LNOF dressed up as a Stormtrooper, Tigger, Jessie from Toy Story and The Mad Hatter The LNOF team pulling funny poses as they have a group shot in their Disney outfits

The staff at LNOF posing for a group shot in their Disney Day outfitsTwo staff members from LNOF dressed up as Mickey and Minnie MouseMickey Mouse and Minnie mouse posing for the camera whilst Minnie holds a suitcaseTwo of the team from LNOF dressed up as the Cheshire Cat and Absolem from Alice in WonderlandTwo of the team from LNOF pulling funny faces whilst dressed up as the Cheshire Cat and Absolem from Alice in WonderlandTwo of the staff from LNOF dressed up as Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of HeartsTwo of the boys from LNOF dressed up as Cinderella's two ugly sistersTwo of the boys from LNOF dressed up as Cinderella's ugly sisters, with one sister holding the other with her scarfSome of the staff from LNOF dressed up as The Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and Alice in WonderlandSome of the staff from LNOF dressed up as Snow White and the Evil QueenTwo of the team from Last Night of Freedom posing whilst dressed up as Mickey Mouse and Mike WazowskiMike Wazowski and Mickey Mouse having a pose offSome of the team from LNOF dressed up as Absolem, the Cheshire Cat, The Mad Hatter, Alice and the Queen of Hearts from Alice in WonderlandA four tiled shot of some of the staff at LNOF dressed up as a Stormtrooper, Tigger, Jessie from Toy Story and The Mad HatterThe LNOF team pulling funny poses as they have a group shot in their Disney outfits

About the Author

Matt set up Last Night of Freedom in 1999 whilst studying Business Studies at Manchester Met Uni. Fast forward 25 years, he now manages a team of 30+ staff with over 200 years industry experience between them. Matt and his team have arranged over 50,000 stag & hen weekends. Acting as a prominent voice for the industry, Matt has featured on BBC, CNN, Forbes and The Sunday Times. Not only that, he’s worked with Foreign & Commonwealth & Development Office as a stag and hen industry adviser to the British government. He’s a member of Entrepreneurs’ Forum and an expert in financial and package travel regulations. He’s also very good at table football and will thrash you if you challenge him to a game.

Article Updated: 20/10/2023

Matt Mavir

Head Honcho

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