2018 has been an exceptionally good year for Mantis at a number of levels. Our growth was the best it has been ever; we continued to add new clients – in record numbers – and now we can boast to have clients operating in every sector of the public sector.

For small companies, such rapid growth is not without its challenges, not least at an employee level. Every company struggles to find the right candidates – there are a ton of things that need to be considered. But, this year, the one real stand out has been our employees, our long servers and our new joiners. We really have built a decent team of seasoned PR pros combined with some ambitious and very talented new joiners.

The fact the teams have settled so well, and new clients have been wowed from the outset is in a pretty large part down to our client services director, Eleanor, who has really done an excellent job in bringing everyone together.

We also have Eleanor to thank for organising the best Mantis Xmas shenanigans ever. This year, we decided to take the team out to Belfast and the celebrations went without a hitch. Again, thanks to very clear instructions from Eleanor – ‘If you miss your flight, it’s your problem.’

Everyone made it to Belfast, although one went via Dublin and a 2-hour train ride due to ‘over zealous security checks’ and a perceived ‘imminent chemical attack.’ Ironic at many levels, not least when we were in the Titanic Hotel and someone announced ‘she went out for a fag’ – which went down like the proverbial Titanic, but also very funny!

Belfast is an amazing city. Taxi rides to the ‘troubles’ – eye opening; the Titanic Museum well worth a visit, but don’t go if Gavin Loader is with you – he broke the main attraction and bought 100s of people to a standstill as he had to be rescued from the ride.

Aside from the great places we saw, the people we met, the beer we drank and the food we ate, the best part of it all was seeing how well integrated as a team we are; there is so much respect between all of us, each bringing something different to the mix but all so well blended.

Belfast, was a blast and 2019 is going to be even better.