Selsey based company Checkatrade.com (www.checkatrade.com) is celebrating 10 years of successful business this year and marked the occasion with an anniversary party.

Over 200 hundred staff and members of Checkatrade attended the event, held at the Hilton Avisford Park Hotel in Walberton. Many of the guests attending had been members of Checkatrade right from the start. These members were honoured for their support and presented with specially commissioned cartoons, drawn by renowned cartoonist Danny Byrne. Each cartoon was specific to the particular trader and a “one off”. Checkatrade staff also honoured Founder and CEO Kevin Byrne with a voucher for a “Ferrari Experience Day”.

Checkatrade has a long-standing tradition of raising money for good causes. During the course of the evening, a draw was held for various prizes, which included tickets for the Bournemouth Eye, donated by Wave105 FM, £100 of Marks and Spencer vouchers, donated by London Building Control, a handmade glass bowl, donated by TRP Glazing and the chance to be a presenter for a day on Ocean FM, donated by GCap Media. Over £800 was raised on the night for good causes such as the Exodus Foundation, supporting orphans in Uganda, Crossover, which works the homeless in Brighton and Global Compassion, an international charity. The Director of Crossover, David Bolton said, “I would like to thank all those who donated money. We intend to use it to provide sleeping bags for the homeless, as it is getting very cold out there.”

Music on the night was provided by London – based Motown tribute band, “Mission Blue” who got everyone up on the dance floor with many a classic Motown tune.

CEO Kevin Byrne said, “We have grown from a company that started business in a shed at the bottom of my then garden with three staff members, to where we are now, occupying approximately 4,500 square feet of prime office space in Selsey with over 45 people working for us. We have 2,500 members, a turnover of over £2.5 million a year and a website that attracts 50,000 unique visitors a month. Everyone here has worked hard to get us to this place and I thank everyone for their loyalty and dedication. I look forward to the next ten years of growth and prosperity for everyone involved in Checkatrade from myself, to the staff and to our members.”