Officeworks Pinpoint magazine 29 | Page 3

Taylors Lakes takes relocating to the next level Officeworks Taylors Lakes (Vic) officially opened its newly built store on Thursday 14 March 2019. This was the first opening hosted by our new Managing Director, Sarah Hunter who, together with the store team and guests, celebrated all things community at the ceremony. The store is now located in prime real estate with unbeatable exposure in front of the Watergardens shopping centre and is 65 per cent larger than the old store. To celebrate the opening, the Taylors Lakes team chose to support Sydenham-Hillside Primary School and the State Emergency Service Melton Unit. Together, Denise Griffin (Store Business Manager) and Sarah welcomed the community group representatives and presented them with $2000 each. Over the 2019 Back to School period, the Taylors Lakes store received 600 School List Service orders. Between its two campuses, Sydenham-Hillside Primary School made up 75 per cent of those orders, so the decision to give back to this primary school was easy. ‘The money will go towards supporting disadvantaged students within the school community,’ said Henry, Assistant Principal at Sydenham-Hillside Primary School. There were two key reasons the team chose to support the Melton SES branch. Apart from the integral role the SES plays in the community, the team has a more personal connection to the Melton branch as the partner of one team member is an active volunteer and has seen first-hand the amazing work they do. ‘The money will go towards upgrading our emergency lighting equipment, which is used for floods and accidents,’ said Robert and Andy from Melton SES. Denise is very proud of her team, who closed the old store only one day before opening the new one for trade. This was a massive undertaking. ‘The team has been nothing but supportive. We’ve had our challenges but that made us stronger — coming together to find solutions to problems,’ said Denise. Denise and her dedicated team had help from across the business and would like to thank the Vic3 team and East Bentleigh Support Office team members. ‘Big thanks particularly to Mel Reeves, Bryan Guthrie, Julie Priscoglio and Andrew Brown for their support. Their support really went above and beyond, and helped ensure our success!’ said Denise. Fun fact: One of the earliest settlers in Taylors Lakes was Scotsman William Taylor. In 1849, he built the Overnewton homestead. Taylors Creek was named after him, in turn giving the suburb its name. 3