Adrenamag - Adrenalin Activities

Research by the country’s foremost activity provider, The Activity People, reveals a combination of tougher economic times and Government spending cuts are steering employees and companies away from traditional office Christmas parties towards more action-based activities.

The Activity People monitored corporate bookings for Christmas parties over a five-year period. The figures reveal a dramatic increase in the last two years in the number of companies booking activities such as paintball, go karting or clay pigeon shooting.

Research by YouGov in 2009 revealed that only about 40 per cent of office workers were guaranteed a Christmas party, with one in six employees contributing to the budget themselves.  Rebecca Rudkin, Corporate Manager at The Activity People, believes this pressure on the Christmas party budget is forcing employees and companies to rethink their party plans.

‘More than ever before companies want value for money for their Christmas party and they want to be sure that employees enjoy it. Therefore, they are being more creative in what they are doing,’ says Rudkin.

Although the latest Government economic statistics revealed higher growth figures than expected, the planned Government spending cuts mean 2010 is likely to be another Christmas where budgets will be tight for parties.

Mark, who runs a small engineering firm in the West Midlands, is taking his team of 25 for a corporate shooting day. ‘We just wanted to do something different. We had a vote amongst our team and shooting come out top,’ says Mark

Angela, who runs a hairdressing salon in London, said: ‘We are all going karting, and having some food and drink afterwards. We are a young team and didn’t want to sit around with paper hats on. The guys are really looking forward to it.’

Rudkin says: ‘Our research shows many companies like to do something active because it relaxes people and it is simply more fun.’

The Activity People are giving every participant a £10 voucher to spend on an activity of your choice after Christmas, with Christmas and New Year bookings of 20 people or more. Just quote ref: adrenamagfreevoucher, when you book your group into any activity, and the vouchers are yours.

Need a Gift that Can’t Fail to Impress? How About an Activity Passport from the Biggest Activity Network in the UK?

A beautifully presented, full-colour Adrenalin Activity Passport that you can personalise with your own message. This will probably be the most exciting gift you will give this year and it is only three clicks away from arriving by email, or you can have it delivered. It’s your choice. This store is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, so it doesn’t matter how last minute your purchase.

Established in 1995, The Activity People is now the biggest and most diverse activity network in UK with over 883 venues. So, when you give an Adreenalin Activity Passport from The Activity People, you are giving the recipient the choice of taking part in any of those activities, anywhere in the UK – an unrivalled adrenalin activities gift.

The Activity People are the preferred activity network for Visit Britain, who put their trust in them to provide activities to UK travellers together with visitors from overseas. The Activity People’s numerous locations and activity diversity means they can also provide activity-based incentive and reward schemes to leading UK companies together with activity options for event managers, gift experience companies and stag and hen organisers.

Click here to buy a full colour, Adrenalin Activity Passport that will either be delivered instantly to your email address on completion of your purchase, or delivered to you or the person receiving the gift – your choice!

West Ham United, who’ve spent most of the football reason firmly rooted to the bottom of the English Premiership table, decided to reverse their fortunes with a day’s karting and clay pigeon shooting. The team bonding session was revealed by England international striker Carlton Cole on Twitter.

Avram Grant, West Ham’s beleaguered manager, no doubt hoped to sharpen the striker’s shooting skills with a day hitting clays. No one at the club was available to comment on whether the karting laps got the team motoring or whether the team’s star player Scott Parker used the go-karting day to practise his corners, but the signs are looking good. After the team-building event, West Ham achieved their best result of the season with a win over Liverpool, to lift them off the bottom of the table for the first time. If you want to try karting click here, or clay pigeon take a shot here

Skateboard legend Tony Hawk, David – The Hoff - Hasselhoff and R ‘N’ B star Eve will be among a traffic jam of stars taking part in the 13th annual Gumball 3000 Rally from London to Istanbul which revs off on May 26, 2011.

The high jinx annual car event, which has attracted stars such as Snoop Dogg, Jodie Kidd, Caprice, Daryl Hannah and Jamiroquai on past rallies, was started in 1999 by Maximillion Cooper. Over one million people were reported to have watched last year’s rally with the above video getting nearly a million hits on You Tube.

Cars to look out for this year include: Charles Morgan in his Morgan three-wheeler, Zondas, Veyron Pur Sangs, American muscle cars and Teslas. The 3,000-mile route from London goes via Paris, where the second Gumball Eco Vehicle exhibition takes place, then on to Barcelona, followed by a weekend at the Monaco Grand Prix. The route then winds through the Italian mountains towards Venice, before heading to Zagreb and stopping over in Belgrade to experience Serbian style celebrations before heading to Istanbul via Sofia. The rally will climax on Wednesday 1 June with a party on the banks of the river Bosphorus. You can find more details on the race here. (http://www.gumball3000.com/TOUR) And if you’re interested in a super car driving experience closer to home,click here.

Expect mountain biking to get ever more extreme and adventurous in the year ahead. Bikers are continually on the look out for new and more extreme challenges: both natural and urban. The above video shows the 35K mountain bike race down the volcano on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Described as a Mega-Avalanche event, the competitors flow down the volcano like lava. Although it started over 15 years ago, the event has blasted off recently as top competitors and amateurs from around the world head for the French-speaking island.

In South America, the locals have developed their own extreme mountain biking events. The bikers descend through the narrow alleys of the Brazilian favelas, which are the shanty towns around Rio Janeiro. It’s a breathtaking ride, with the screaming atmosphere adding to the theatre. The Mount 7 Psychosis down hill race in British Columbia is another major mountain bike challenge.

Closer to home, the Cwmcarn downhill course in South Wales is becoming increasingly popular as it offers the rocks and root obstacles enthusiasts demand. For mountain biking, click here.