Newsletter April 2021  

Extracted text

Peakinside
your quarterly company newsletter

+

Peak news around the
world
See what colleagues have been up to

A Peak genius!
Learn about the award ceremony at
Peak HQ

Supporting our staff
Peak’s Employee Assistance
Programme

Happy Lunar
New Year!
Celebrating the year of the ox!

QUARTER 4 2020/21
Check out our Peak dogs!



Editor’s Note
Another busy quarter has ended, marking the end of the 2020/2021 financial
year! And what a year it has been, jumping from one lockdown to another.
But we’ve been extremely busy here at Peak – this edition is packed with
interesting news from Q4 including celebrations of the Chinese New Year
and a day in the life of Stuti Saxena. We also have featured some furry
friends which have made an appearance at HQ and much more to read on.
We hope you enjoy this newsletter!
Remember, the newsletter is for all Peak colleagues and if you have any news
you’d like to share with us please email news@peakscientific.com

Happy Lunar New
Year! It’s the year
of the Ox
Although the pandemic didn’t allow for the China team to celebrate
this Chinese New Year at the office, they still managed to put some
decorations up and welcomed the God of Wealth in hopes that he
would bring them more wealth in the new year.
Did you know that the Chinese New Year lasts 16 days? On New
Year’s Eve the whole family gets together for a big dinner and on
New Year’s Day kids wear traditional Chinese costumes and pay a
visit to the elderly. The 5th day marks the birth of the God of Wealth
- people light firecrackers and fireworks and put on the lights at their
homes to welcome the God of Wealth. The 15th day, also known as
Lantern Festival, officially marks the end of the Chinese New Year
and is celebrated by going out to watch the full moon and enjoy the
colourful lanterns.
God of Wealth at Peak China office

1

Zac Foo & Kenton Yip (SG Service
delivery)

Kit Neo & Samuel Chua & Jayne Tan

Terence Lui & Nicholas Loh & Anthony
Phua (SG Service Sales team)

Kenton Yip & Jack Ng (SG Service delivery)

Celebrations continued
Some of the other Peak offices, Peak Vietnam, Peak Korea and Peak
Singapore, also celebrated the Lunar New Year. Colleagues at Peak
Singapore received Hong Bao & Mandarins for a prosperous and
Happy New Year of the Ox. Hong Bao is a red envelope or a packet,
a monetary gift, given during special occasions such as the New Year.
Mandarins have always been considered a traditional symbol of good
fortune - giving mandarins is a way of wishing someone happiness
and prosperity.

2

A

DAY

in the life of...
and most importantly being into
service sales, looking for customer
feedback and opportunities
What does a normal day on the job
look like for you?
With a mug of hot coffee in hand, my
day starts with planning and reviewing
the pending jobs of the previous day
(if any). With a “to do list” in place, I
start my daily chores - coordinating
the teams, catching up, discussions,
reviews, feedback sessions and
scheduled calls with colleagues in
India and HQ.
What is your favorite thing about
your job?

Stuti Saxena
Service Sales Supervisor
Peak India & South Asia
What does your role at Peak involve?
I work as a Service Sales Supervisor,
driving the Service Sales business for
India & South Asia with my team. My
role is purely operational - working
alongside my team to attain revenue
targets and ensure the growth defined
for the Service Sales Department.
It involves budgeting, focussing on
targets, creating & implementing
strategies, monitoring & analysing
business trends, motivating my team

My job requires a lot of multitasking, it
never gets boring. I like the continuous
variations of challenges that we
encounter and the work involved
in solving them. Every single day I
encounter something new that gives
me a chance to learn and implement
new things and that’s my favourite
thing about my job.
What’s been the hardest part during
Covid for you within Peak?
The Covid-19 pandemic brought a
lot of uncertainties but the biggest
challenge was to keep the team
motivated and to ensure the business
continuity. I was excited to see

the team bounce back from Q2
onwards and achieve the targets
against all odds. The hardest and
saddest part was that we couldn’t
celebrate our success together,
hoping to have a blast soon.
What are the main skills in your job?
It is a continuous learning
experience for me and challenging
myself to the toughest situations
is one of my favourites. To lead a
team, I need to remain positive no
matter what. Providing leadership
and direction to my team,
facilitating them to meet their
targets, supporting, training and
guiding them is key in my role.
Can you share with us a proud
moment or highlight at Peak?
What I admire the most here in
Peak is the company’s culture
and focus on how employees are
treated and valued, providing
lots of opportunities for them to
grow. I am so grateful that I have
been trusted and given various
responsibilities in the past years.
My proudest moment was when I
was given a managerial role to drive
the business - this gave me great
confidence. Also I feel overwhelmed
for being recognized for living the
core values of Peak day-in day-out.

Future steps challenge
During the month of February colleagues across Peak took part in
the Future Steps walking challenge whilst also raising money for a
worthwhile cause.
The challenge helped raise vital funds for the Princes Trust Charity
which offers hundreds of free courses, grants and mentoring
opportunities to inspire less fortunate young people to build their
confidence and start a career.
A huge well done to the team that managed to raise the most money
(£2,610) and walk the most steps (2,016,321) for the cause - the Peak
Perambulators, followed by team People Pleasers with £231.96 and
almost a million steps and team Walkdown again who raised £115 and
walked just over 1m steps. In total, Peak teams collected £3,023.16 and
walked a whooping 6.6 million steps. A massive thanks to everyone
who took part!

5

Peak World News
Peak Japan
National Foundation Day
Japan’s National Day is its
National Foundation Day
celebrated on the 11th of
February each year - it marks
the founding of Japan in
660 BC.
In Tokyo, there is a National
Foundation Day Celebration
Parade where various
marching bands participate
every year. Everyone has their
own way of spending the
holiday - some read “Kojiki”
and “Nihon Shoki” which are
a compilation of origin myths,
and others visit archaeological
sites across Japan.
The Japanese team show us how they spent the holiday

Peak UK
Valentine’s Day Competition
To spread the love on Valentine’s Day we asked Peak colleagues to share what they loved most about Peak
and their job at Peak. There were some really fun entries and the competition was fierce as you can see. Here
are some of the best ones.

Pawel Siminski - winner

3

Virtual Gin tasting
The Marketing, Product management, KAM and Sales orders teams at HQ had a virtual gin tasting “night out”
via Zoom in March which involved some delicious gin provided by Scottish craft gin distillery, Eden Mill. It was
a Friday night well spent - everyone enjoyed some quality beverages they prepared themselves and a bit of a
laugh. Oh how we miss going out!

Peak Australia
A slightly different application
at Peak Australia last month Andrew Lingham sold a Genius
1053 for a Lisa 3-D printer that
makes orthotics for children. The
printer is working 24/7 and 365
days of the year and requires
on-demand nitrogen to ensure
the product is safe from oxidation
and discolouration. The team
saved the client from delivering >
1300 nitrogen cylinders per year!
How amazing! Go team Australia!
#gogreen

4

Peak’s Graduate Engineers
Back in January 2021 Peak HQ saw the addition of new engineering
graduates. The graduate job market has been heavily impacted by
COVID and Peak are very proud to have been able to offer these
graduates this experience in the industry. We hope this will help these
talented and ambitious graduates kick start their careers in engineering
and bring some new ideas and perspectives to the company.
Scott Ramsey, one of the Graduate Engineers, tells us about his
experience so far.
I joined Peak at the start of the year after having spent 5 years at
Glasgow Caledonian University studying Computer Aided Mechanical
Engineering. I was drawn to the role initially because of my interest in
CAD. After my 2nd interview I got a tour of Peak HQ, by then I was sure
it was the right job for me. The application process was very quick and
I was kept well informed throughout it. I was offered the job a week
before Christmas which was great timing!
I’ve joined Peak as a Graduate Design Engineer in the Design &
Development team and report to Andy Buchanan. Everyone has been
very welcoming and helpful, making me feel part of the team from day
one. So far, I’ve been involved in various projects both physically building
and virtually modelling different generators. In particular, I’ve been able
to do a lot of hands on work building the XE70 which has given me
a better understanding of how the generator operates. I have really
enjoyed having the opportunity to do both practical and desk based
work as I know a good mix of each it is quite rare in other companies.
There is always something to do and I have learned a lot of new skills
already so I’m really looking forward to building on what I’ve done so far.

Getting to know you

Maximo Onizuka

Q4’s featured employee is:
Maximo Onizuka,
Senior Service Administrator,
Peak LATAM
Tell us a bit about yourself
I have been working in service for 20+
years and most recently in a Brazilian
company for Thermo Fisher electronic
microscopy systems.
How long have you worked at Peak?
Since Feb 1st 2021.
What’s your favourite thing about your
job?
The work environment is great.
How do you like to spend your free time?
Photography, biking and walking around
the city with my wife.
If you could have any super power what
would it be?
Good question…maybe a kind of cells
regeneration to recover injuries or
diseases!
What was your childhood dream job?
Truck driver – I don´t remember why…
Who is the person you learned the most
from?
Not a specific person but my family
always teaches me something about life.
What is your favourite type of music?
Rock.
Watch TV or read a book?
Both, or better – play videogames!
What is the best piece of advice you’ve
ever been given?
Keep a plan B for all situations.

6

Proud of our Peak people
In January 2021 a small ceremony was held at Peak HQ to award Jim
McDermott for inventing a new technology which is currently patented
and used across the whole Peak Genius product range. Jim was
presented with a bottle of whisky and a copy of the patent certificate
issued by the Patents Directorate at the Intellectual Property Office. A
copy of the certificate was also added to the reception at Rowan Tree
House with a commemorative display and a metal certificate added
to the outside of the engineering office. To make the moment even
sweeter, Iain Kean baked a cake with the patented design on it. Well
done to you, Jim!

Dogs of Peak
The teams at HQ have had the
lovely addition of some four legged
friends recently. Dogs being allowed
into the office has meant a few new
cuddly faces seen dotted around
the offices. Here are some of the
cutest faces you will see today.
Jake

Star

Mia
Lily

Riley

Betsy & Sydney

7

Popcorn

Peak’s Employee Assistance Programme
As part of Peak’s commitment
to support the Wellbeing of our
colleagues, we have introduced an
Employee Assistance Programme
(EAP) delivered by ICAS which
offers:
•
•

•

Counselling for emotional and
psychological support
Practical guidance and
support on legal, financial,
family and work matters
Online health and wellbeing
guidance

This support service is available
to all colleagues of Peak, in every
country in which we operate, 24
hours a day, 7 days a week. This
service is also extended to your
immediate family who are over the
age of 16.
We all know that life can be
challenging at times. Issues like
illness, debt, family problems and
health can leave us feeling worried
or anxious. That’s why your EAP
gives you and your family expert
guidance and specialist support
on any kind of issue – from

everyday matters to more serious
wellbeing problems. If there is
something on your mind, give
them a call to explain what sort
of issue you are facing and they
can talk to you about the sort of
guidance, information or support
they can offer. Just talking about a
problem can feel like a huge step
forward.
The EAP is run by ICAS, who are
completely independent and
will always treat your personal
information in total confidence. Noone else will know you’ve called.

There are so many situations that the EAP can help not only you, but your
family members too. Here are some examples:
My teenage son just will not say what is troubling him. How can I help him?
My wife seems unable to get over her mother’s death. I dread going home nowadays.
My husband is leaving and wants to take our daughter with him.
I’ve just found a credit card bill hidden in my wife’s wardrobe – we both need help.
My wife’s father has come to live with us, my wife is reluctant to look at other care options. We can’t go on
like this.
My husband says I’m married to my job – he has no idea of the stress I’m under.
My husband is off work on long-term sick leave. I am trying to keep the family afloat and just need some
support.
Our neighbour is harassing my wife while I’m at work. When confronted he denies it, what can we do?
To find the contact details for your country, please go to ICAS Lifestyle portal using the log in details below
and select your country and preferred language from the dropdown menu. (All phone numbers also listed on
sharepoint)
www.icaslifestyle.com
Username: Peak
Password: EAP
Once you’re logged in, there is a short 6 minute video explaining more about what the EAP service is, how
you can access it and what the benefits are to you: What is your EAP? (icaslifestyle.com)

8

Donkey
of the quarter

If you have any nominations, no matter where you are, please send them to news@peakscientific.com

Our nomination for this quarter is:
Play-circle An unfortunate coincidence

Being a new puppy dad to Robbie, Andy Buchanan spends a lot of
time out in his garden playing with him or training him. Unknown to
Andy, however, his neighbour has a young child, also called Robbie,
who had been complaining of a strange man outside his bedroom
window calling his name in the middle of the night. The parents
told their son not to be silly until one day when Andy happened to
leave his house at the same time as the neighbours and they got
chatting. All became clear, but imagine the poor kid’s terror sitting
in bed and hearing someone calling his name while trying to sleep!
Robbie

News Team
Mira Dobreva

Karin Maslowski

Andrew Buchanan

Marketing

LATAM Marketing

Engineering

Cleo Denholm

Amy Docherty

Marketing

KAM
9