During the early months of 2018, the Shackleton team were focused on the development of our new website, which went live in August.

It is incredible the amount of time and effort needed to create a website and we were most grateful for the guidance and expert help provided by Elastic Creative, who made the whole process much less stressful. Thanks guys.

May: heralded the arrival of the heavily publicised GDPR which entirely changed the rules in respect of data protection. Read more here.

This got us thinking, is Santa GDPR compliant? Is Santa even aware of GDPR?

Well, some investigative research confirms he absolutely is and to prove it, here is Santa’s Privacy Policy:

“Your privacy is important to Santa and we will try to explain how and why we collect and then safeguard your personal information.

• Why does Santa need this information?
  • Santa requires your personal information to help in compiling his annual list of who is “Naughty” and who is “Nice” and to make sure it is accurate, he always checks it twice.
• What information does Santa collect?
  • He receives vast quantities of information from the unsolicited letters sent by children all over the world listing specific items they would like to receive for Christmas. Often these letters convey additional information, such as which of their siblings are “smellybums”.
  • The letters also provide another important piece of information, fingerprints. We run these through databases maintained by the FBI, CIA, NSA, Interpol and MI6. If we find a match, it goes straight on the Naughty List.
• How secure is my data?
  • Santa lives in a magical world and all his elves are highly trained in protecting your private data. Only Santa and his little helpers can see your data as it is invisible to anyone else. Your data is protected by Santa’s magic and couldn’t be more secure.
• What does Santa do with all this information?
  • Sharing is one of the joys of Christmas, and for this reason, Santa shares your personal information with unaffiliated third parties, including the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.”

It’s reassuring to know that Santa takes GDPR so seriously.

June: saw the Shackleton leadership team embark on an exciting new strategic direction to help take our business to a higher level.

Employing world-class IT and proven business methodologies, we have been able to introduce a complete set of simple concepts and practical tools, that is practiced religiously across the business every day.

It’s based on three key concepts:

1. Getting everyone in our company 100% on the same page with where we’re going, and introducing new visions, values and plans to ensure we get there.
2. Instilling focus, discipline, and accountability throughout the company so that everyone is delivering on these visions
3. Helping us become a more cohesive, functional and healthy team 

The benefits are already being recognised.

September: saw the much-awaited launch of the V&A Museum of Design in Dundee and we were both proud and delighted to have played such an active role in ensuring their technology was ready for the hugely anticipated opening. Find out More.

October: a delegation from Shackleton travelled to Barcelona for the annual DattoCon 2018.

Datto are one of our preferred Business Continuity Partners. The events they put on and the extreme demos of their failproof systems are truly spectacular.

We were delighted to be one of only a handful of global Partners to be recognised with a Golden Datto award.

Overall, 2018 has been an exciting and eventful year for the Shackleton team, one that has seen us start an exciting journey to take the company forward.