Over the past 5 years there have been plenty of highlights for the NoChintz team, too many to count. Here are a few stand-out memorable moments from the team.

* Winning our first contract with Urban Splash. The win led to a continuing relationship with the property developer and our longest standing client.

* Our Christmas 2011 party weekend in Wales proved a real ‘insight’ into our quieter team members true colours – the studio has not been the same since!

* In 2009 we were selected as finalists for the Manchester Evening News Young Business Of The Year award. To be recognised by this award amongst so many other successful young business was a great achievement for us and something we are extremely proud of.

* Winning our pitch for a hotel design and FF&E contract with Natural Retreats. This win marked our expansion into the Hotel Sector and our biggest client win so far. Working on the John O’Groats project has been a significant and exciting time for us.

* Hitting the £1million Turn over mark at 4 years.

Over the last 5 years at NoChintz we have travelled far and wide for our projects, design fairs, exhibitions and meetings. Here are a few of Lucy and Natalie’s top travel moments:

Flea Market shopping in Paris…

…then trying work out how to get it all back to the studio

Being the only Brits at the Rotterdam Design week…

Attending the less well-known design events means that we get to see and meet designers that may not exhibit at any of the other design events throughout the year…It also means sometimes we are the only British people there!

Seal spotting in John O’Groats…

Just one of many amazing moments from our hotel project in John O’Groats

The Wallpaper* party in Milan…

Our favourite party of the fair

The Sleepover event in Berlin…

Sleepover Berlin saw 100 hotel innovators gather together at the Michelberger for 24 hours of adventure

Running from a ‘masked’ man in Via Tortona!

An alternative ‘highlight’ of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile

Being stranded abroad by the Volcano ash in 2010…

Followed by a 25 hour coach trip back courtesy of the British embassy

Quinze & Milan Studio tour in Belgium…

 Amazingly inspiring space

Amsterdam…

 A frequent adventure for inspiration and ideas

This March marked Nochintz’s Fifth birthday! To celebrate we’re about to send out a special edition of our monthly newsletter and we will have some fun blogs coming up including the teams birthday wish list and our top travel moments so far.

This month saw the NoChintz team venture to wales for our Christmas weekend.

We stayed at the wonderful Natural Retreats cottages in Llŷn Peninsula, where the surroundings were beautiful.

The festivities began on Friday evening with plenty of food, drinks and games. For a creative bunch the ‘blind drawing game’ pictures turned out rather questionable…

On Saturday we woke up to find that santa had visited and we all had a stocking full of goodies!

We took advantage of the cold but dry weather, put on our Christmas jumpers, and ventured for a walk on the beach. We visited TY coch pub where we were greeted warmly and fed amazing pub grub that fuelled us for a coastal walk to see the seals (we didn’t see any).

Next up was the pub for the NoChintz Christmas Quiz that was won by Leanne. It’s safe to say that a fun and merry time was had by all on Saturday evening!

On Sunday it was time to pack up and start the journey home after a very festive and eventful weekend.

The NoChintz team recently visited Incognito, a gift store on Stevenson Square, to see ‘Bad Santa’.

As part of Incognito’s Christmas party, visitors were invited to see Bad Santa who had a hangover, was mean, and didn’t give out any presents. We had to share the amazing picture we were given.

It definitely got us into the Christmas spirit!

We are pleased to announce new permanent additions to the NoChintz team. Katrina Currie and Laura McCormick gained experience within the marketing and branding team over the summer.  Following graduating in 2010 from Manchester Metropolitan University with a degree in BA Design & Art Direction, Katrina has interned at design studios as well working as a graphic designer for a Manchester based casting agency. She has also just finished working on ‘Postcards from Europe‘,a pan-European art project based in Shropshire. Laura McCormick graduated from The University of Chester in 2010 with a degree in Journalism and Event Management. She has gained experience at the Rochdale observer and Key103.