Constantine is granted a Royal Warrant

Press Release

Constantine Limited has been awarded a Royal Warrant for Fine Art Packing, handling, transportation and storage services to Her Majesty The Queen. This makes Constantine one of only 850 Royal Warrant holders in the world.

The Royal Warrant, awarded on January 1 2011, is a mark of recognition for Constantine’s art handling services for HM The Queen at Buckingham, Kensington and Holyrood Palaces and Windsor Castle.

Royal Warrants are awarded to individuals or companies who have supplied goods or services for at least five years to HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh or HRH The Prince of Wales. Warrants have always been regarded as demonstrating excellence and quality, and are highly prized.

Constantine Limited has provided fine art logistics services for Museums, Galleries and Collectors for over 100 years. It has major facilities in England and Scotland offering unique transport and storage solutions for clients. Its clients include the Tate, National Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, The Metropolitan Museum, The National Gallery of Art, Guggenheim Museum and Louvre Museum. Constantine also works closely with legal and fine art advisers in providing storage and transportation for private collections.

Tim Sutton, Managing Director since 1999 and the Grantee of the Royal Warrant said, “The granting of a Royal Warrant is a great accolade and honour for Constantine and a compliment to the high quality of Constantine services. I believe it will enhance Constantine’s reputation both in the UK and overseas.”

For further enquiries please contact Tim Sutton or Paul Williamson

Tim Sutton

DDI: +44 (0)207 635 2118

E mail: tims@const.co.uk

Paul Williamson

DDI: +44(0)207 635 2103

E mail: paulw@const.co.uk

Constantine House, 20-26 Sandgate Street, London SE15 1LE

www.const.co.uk

17^th February 2011

- “Unbeaten in four, but out of both the cup competitions…”

The Constantine 125ers have made a brave new start in Division 5 of the Sunday Metropolitan League. After a slow start drawing the opening games 1-1 & 0-0, Caribb Constantine emphatically brushed aside the next two opponents, both score lines reading 5-1.
However, Caribb Constantine’s cup exploits have not reached these same heady heights and serve as a reminder that greater tests are to come, starting with the trip to Russeller’s Reserves, who sit comfortably at the top of the table with 18 points after 7 games played. Russeller’s Reserves knocked us out of the first cup competition, but they only managed it on penalties after extra time, surviving a flurry of late shots in normal time from Caribb Constantine’s forwards. One particular fast-flowing move saw first the left post, then right post and finally the crossbar hit in consecutive shots! The bitter taste of defeat still tingles on the tongue, a taste the team will endeavour to wash away with a third consecutive league win courtesy of Russeller’s Reserves this coming Sunday.

In the other cup competition Caribb Constantine saw off a team from the division above with a 5-0 win. The game was played in third gear (much to the annoyance of Mr Stan Hunter, manager of Caribb Constantine) and against nine men for the last thirty minutes! The second round saw the team pitted against a side from two divisions above, and after two weeks without a game the rust on our boots might well have been noticeable from space, helping to explain the 8-1 score line against Caribb Constantine. In fairness the opponents were good on the ball, strong in the air and seemingly possessed a greater desire for a run in the cup.
All in all it’s been a solid start to the season. Caribb Constantine is a young side, eager for the glory of promotion at the first time of asking. The coming weeks will demonstrate whether that is a credible goal or not.

The British Museum ‘International Curatorial Training Program’ Student Day

On Friday 23rd July 2010 Constantine hosted students from the British Museums ‘International Curatorial Training Program’ (ICTP) for a day of insight into how an Art Logistics company contributes to the world of museums and galleries. The day incorporated a trip to Heathrow Airport to experience our airport operation, a tour of our state of the art facilities, a presentation on packing by Mark and Ben Sparkes and perhaps most impressively a beautifully presented lunch laid on by our Constantine catering branch (aka Lyn, Emily and co).

The British Museum arrange the ICTP on an annual basis, and they invite curators and directors from around the world, from countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Nigeria, China and Iraq. The British Museum says the ICTP ‘seeks to expose curators, exhibitions designers, archaeologists and education specialists to various aspects of museum work, develop skills and to create a global network of colleagues around the world’. The students spend up to 6 weeks in Britain experiencing every angle of museum life. It truly is a great opportunity for them, and one that Constantine are very happy to be part of.

Throughout the day, the students interacted and showed genuine interest in our operations (even with our very uninteresting airport reps). At Virgin Atlantic Cargo, Heathrow, our ICTP guests were able to experience what it would be like to courier their works of art through a cargo warehouse. We staged a ‘mock’ palletisation with two empty crates and demonstrated what would happen at every stage of its journey. We also explained the role of a courier. After lunch, the group were shown around the warehouse and then given a very interesting presentation on packing and case making. They would all like to thank everyone who was involved at our end, please see attached link about how this years ICTP participants have enjoyed the training programme… http://bmtrainingprog.wordpress.com/

Race for Life

From left to right - Lucy W, Isabel, Gemma, Sian, Eloise, Lucy F, Jacqui and Nicola (before photo)

Left to Right - Valentina, Jacqui, Nicola, Lucy F, Lucy W, Sian, Eloise, Isabel and Gemma (after photo)

Dressed in bright pink t-shirts, with the Constantine logo proudly printed on our back, the past and present Constantine girls headed to Blackheath to take part in the 5km Race for Life. Prepared or not, we all met early on the sunny Sunday morning of 4th July to raise lots of money for the worthy cause. We were not overly coordinated when it came to the warm up, but no one disappointed and all of us managed to run the whole way – no wimpy walkers with us!

The event itself couldn’t have gone better – the weather was beautiful and everyone was in high spirits. We had some fantastic support, with many of our partners cheering us on and Constantine’s own – Paul, Francesco, Robert, Sarah, Ben Sparkes and Ben Adams were there to support us as well. So far, we have managed to raise a grand total of £1,500.00 and still counting! We’d like to thank everyone who sponsored and supported us, especially to Constantine who funded our initial enrolment into the run.

There is a rumour flying around the office that the Constantine men are planning a similar expedition, but will they do as well as the girls … watch this space …

Volcano Trouble!

On Sunday 21st March, the UK (along with the rest of the world) awoke to news that the Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano, in southern Iceland, had begun erupting after laying dormant for over 200 years..

On 14th April the Eruption became much more powerful and the ash cloud drifted south, causing UK and European airspace to be closed down on an unprecedented scale, which meant travel chaos for thousands of passengers who were stranded worldwide.

Unfortunately, four unlucky couriers also got stuck. In Venice.

On Friday 16th April, with no news on the flight ban being lifted anytime soon, Constantine launched ‘Operation Courier Rescue’ – to save the four stranded couriers from Venice and bring them back to the UK, where they would otherwise have been stuck indefinitely, and without clean socks! Constantine worked late into the night to coordinate a spectacular rescue – the couriers were transported by barge and Minibus to Paris, where they enjoyed a night in a hotel, then they were picked up by the lovely Raffaele in his trusty Courier Mobile, and all brought safely back to London.

Volcano? What volcano! We had all the couriers at home with a mug of horlicks and a biscuit, ready to be tucked up in bed nice and early on Sunday night, after their epic journey home. It may have been an unusual turn of events, and not the fastest route home, but home they got (and a lot sooner than some, who were stuck in Venice for two weeks with only two changes of clothes!).

It’ll be very interesting to see how the rest of the year pans out, with the volcano still highly unpredictable! This may not be the only time Constantine have to attempt ‘Operation Courier Rescue’ … but lets keep our fingers crossed on this not being the case. At least it must have been a courier trip to remember..

World Cup Draw!

Hot off the press: Constantine’s 2010 World Cup draw has taken place!
Thirty-two countries, represented by their national flags on tiny pieces of paper, were one by one selected from the official ‘hat’. Isabel Escudero agreed to officially draw the teams, and the process was chaired by Chris Webbe and Tom Rayner.
Those who cared were probably hoping for one of three teams: Spain, Brazil and England. However, if you selected a smaller footballing nation, all hope was not lost. Two prizes out of the pot favoured these nations, with a prize for the least amount of goals scored in the tournament by a single team, and a prize for the most goals conceded by a single team in a single match.
As the draw approached the tension was palpable. To avoid rioting, it was decided that the draw should take place in a corner of the office under the watchful eyes of a few select officials. Only a couple of teams had been pulled from the ‘hat’ when a big name surfaced….BRAZIL….and the name put next to the five-time world champions was Robert Thompson.
The draw continued apace, with a few selections raising eyebrows. Francesco Donadio snaffled up ITALY, and then Eloise Quere was handed FRANCE! Questions were raised at the legitimacy of the draw, later to be quashed by an independent enquiry.
It wasn’t long until ENGLAND came out, and Adrian Cole was the lucky man. Agonisingly SPAIN, the tournament favourites, had still to be picked. With two teams left, only Lucy Walker and Sarah Jury remained without a team by their names. The two teams available: SPAIN and NEW ZEALAND. And the team for Lucy Walker is…..NEW ZEALAND. Sarah Jury gets SPAIN, and looks odds on to triumph again, having selected Italy in the last World Cup draw four years ago.

A full list of the teams selected can be seen below. Good luck to everyone!


GROUP A
Mexico – Emily Hall
South Africa – Phillipa Hayward
Uruguay – Cafer Huseyin
France – Eloise Quere

GROUP B
Argentina – Raffaele Calise
Nigeria – Des O’Loughlin
South Korea – Colin Prince
Greece – Caroline Davoren



GROUP C
England – Adrian Cole
USA – David Brown
Algeria – Jacqueline Patterson
Slovenia – Steve Richards

GROUP D
Germany – Dawie Venter
Australia – Peter Grove-White
Serbia & Montenegro – Ben Sparkes
Ghana – Tim Sutton

GROUP E
Netherlands – Nicola Magdalinis
Denmark – Mike Love
Japan – Sian Williams
Cameroon – Paul Williamson

GROUP F
Italy – Francesco Donadio
Paraguay – Mark Hunt
New Zealand – Lucy Walker
Slovakia – Tom Rayner

GROUP G
Brazil – Robert Thompson
North Korea – Duncan Capp
Ivory Coast – Gemma Busby
Portugal – Chris Webbe

GROUP H
Spain – Sarah Jury
Switzerland – Valentina Candian
Honduras – Lucy Findley
Chile – Ben Adams

Staffordshire Hoard - 23rd March 2010

Please see attached ... as handled by our wonderful airport representatives, Duncan Capp and Steve Richards, last week!


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8583162.stm