Staff at Swindon IT and mobile communications firm Excalibur raised more than £2,000 for charity by spending a night on the tarmac in the company’s car park.
With nothing more than some pieces of cardboard and basic sleeping bags, the 20 volunteers, pictured, - including the entire senior management team – braved the elements and the discomfort to raise awareness of the number of homeless people in the UK, estimated by Shelter to now exceed more than a quarter of a million. 
Money raised from the pre-Christmas sleep-out was split between Swindon homeless charity Threshold Housing Link and Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
Excalibur CEO James Phipps said: “I think we were extremely lucky that the overnight temperatures were around double figures.
“But to think how night after night, homeless people often have to cope during winter in sub-zero conditions – not to mention the dangers of sleeping rough – is beyond most of us.
“Psychologically, it was easy for us knowing that this was just for one night, but it still made the Excalibur team think long and hard about how tough it must be when the streets are somebody’s home and how vulnerable these people are”.
The sleep-out at its Peatmoor office was the latest in a series of initiatives at Excalibur that helped it earn it the maximum three-star rating in the prestigious Best Companies survey at the first time of asking,
The firm received the highest possible praise for its exceptionally strong levels of employee engagement, which is recognised as an integral component of a company’s success and growth. Scores are based on employees’ responses to questions within the Best Companies survey.
The award was one of a string of accolades landed by Excalibur last year, including the Business in the Community South West Responsible Business Award and the title of Wiltshire’s Happiest Workplace.
