There’s no place like Crane & Staples at Christmas
We have been reflecting on everything our team has achieved during the festive season at Crane & Staples. From supporting local charities and community events to celebrating hard work and success together, the past few weeks have captured the spirit of togetherness that defines our firm.
Inspired by our Oz and Wicked theme, we have proven that there's no place like Crane & Staples at Christmas!
Christmas Opening Hours
Please note that Crane & Staples will be closed from 5.30pm on Tuesday 23 December 2025 and will reopen at 9.00am on Monday 5 January 2026.
Seasonal Window Design
Our festive celebrations began with a truly magical Christmas window design, created by the incredibly talented PaintParty by Rachel. The window has brought colour, creativity and Christmas cheer to our office, and we would encourage anyone passing by to take a look.
Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox Appeal
Our team has once again shown incredible generosity by supporting the annual Samaritan’s Purse Shoebox Appeal. Together, we packed 16 shoeboxes filled with toys, games, stationery, accessories and hygiene essentials. Each box will be sent to children around the world who have been affected by war, poverty, disaster and famine.
A special thank you goes to our festive fairies, Kiara Hussein, Saffron Foley and Amy Davies, for organising the appeal and spreading Christmas kindness throughout the office.
Business Fives football tournament
At the end of November, Crane & Staples FC enjoyed a fantastic afternoon at the Business Fives Watford event. As a relatively new team, we were delighted to finish joint third overall and to meet and play against so many great local businesses.
The event also provided an opportunity to support charitable causes. We were proud to raise over £100 for the Gift a Smile Campaign at East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals’ Charity and to see so much money raised by all teams for their chosen charities. It was also a privilege to take part in a Q&A and grab a selfie with former Watford player Carl Dickinson.
Thank you to everyone at Business Fives for organising such a well run event and for bringing the local business community together in support of worthwhile causes.
St Francis Church Christmas Tree Festival
We were delighted to once again take part in the St Francis Church Christmas Tree Festival and to bring a little Oz inspired magic to Wonderful Welwyn Garden City with our Wickedly wonderful tree.
We were over the rainbow to learn that our Oz themed Christmas tree, titled “There’s no place like Crane & Staples at Christmas”, won Best Decorated Tree at this year’s festival. It was a brilliant community event with many beautiful and imaginative trees on display, and we would like to congratulate all entrants and winners on their hard work and creativity.
A huge thank you goes to the organisers for putting on such a fantastic festive event and for celebrating 90 years of the Church. We would also like to thank everyone at Crane & Staples who designed, decorated and transported the tree, as well as the whole team who supported our efforts and tolerated the inevitable pink and green glitter across the office.
Christmas Jumper Day
Our team donned their finest festive knits to celebrate Christmas Jumper Day in support of Isabel Hospice. We were pleased to donate £100 to this much valued local charity, which provides vital care to our community.
Congratulations to our Christmas jumper winners:
- Best Overall: Karen Angel as Mrs Claus
- Funniest: Sian Churchill for “’Tis the season to dismantle the patriarchy”
- Best Effort: Gavin Yeung for his Lidl finest
Well done to everyone who took part and helped make the day such a success.
Christmas Party
Our Christmas celebrations continued with a fabulously festive Christmas Party. The evening was a wonderful opportunity to relax, reflect and celebrate everyone’s hard work and achievements over the past year.
We would like to thank our hosts at Tewin Bury Farm Hotel and Garden City Discos for keeping the dancefloor busy all night. It was a brilliant way to mark the end of another successful year for the firm.
Magic of Play Christmas Appeal
As part of the Magic of Play Christmas Appeal, Santa’s helpers Jonny Baynes and Mira Patel delivered our donation of 40 toys to Lister Hospital. They enjoyed visiting the playroom and meeting the dedicated team who work so hard to make Christmas special for children in hospital.
We were thrilled to hear that the toys, particularly the Lego and Barbie sets, will be very popular with the children.
Christmas Raffle
Our Christmas raffle raised £320 for the Welwyn Hatfield branch of Parkinson’s UK, a cause close to our hearts. Thank you to Jeff Twiggs for organising the raffle, and to local businesses Greys Hairdressers, Academy Now and Stonehills for their generous prize donations.
Charity Support
Instead of sending Christmas cards this year, we chose to support two special local charities by making donations to Hertfordshire Domestic Abuse Helpline and Herts Young Homeless. Both organisations carry out vital work within our community, and we were proud to support them as part of our festive giving.
We also made a donation to Samaritans to thank our friends at Conscious Solutions for organising a brilliant month of advent calendar fun, which brought plenty of festive cheer to the office.
Season’s greetings
As the year draws to a close, we would like to wish all our clients and professional colleagues a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. Thank you to everyone who has worked with us, supported us or been part of our community throughout the year.
Finally, well done to our fantastic team, whose continued hard work, commitment and legal expertise truly show that there is no place like Crane & Staples. We look forward to everything 2026 has to offer.
