ENGLAND'S football team may not have been lucky in Portugal this year but Poole accountants Mazars are hoping for more success.

Mazars' finest will be flying out to Portugal's Club Med de Balaia next month to compete in an international sporting tournament organised annually by the accountancy firm.

During the two-day event - known as Mazariades - the Poole team will be competing on the football pitch, volleyball court and golf course against employees from Mazars' European offices.

Last year, victory was snatched from the football team at the last minute when they conceded their only goal in the entire tournament in the last minutes of the semi-final.

Captain and striker, Ralph Warburton, from the business advisory team at Mazars, said: "We were unlucky not to bring the trophy home last year so fingers crossed for better luck this time."

The players recently had the opportunity to sharpen their football skills against former Saints players at a charity football match to raise funds for the Wessex Autistic Society's Domino Appeal.

FIN McGurran and Keith Price have left Bourne-mouth's Regency Mortgage Corporation.

They were originally drafted in as an interim management team in April 2002. Their brief was to build a new management team capable of running and growing the business in the absence of the major shareholders who intended to adopt a non-executive role.

The new team, which has assumed executive control of the business, comprises:

CEO Nick Baldwin;

administration director Fiona Underwood;

sales and marketing director Alan Dean;

compliance director Mike Sinclair Constantine;

human resources director Evelyn Fenne;

lending director Gary Greenfield.

Regency's turnover for 2003 was £12 million, "double the previous year". Mortgage completions rose by 81 per cent to £174 million. Staff levels doubled to more than 150.

SOUTH coast garden centre Haskins has celebrated its 10th anniversary at Longham with a special party thrown by chairman Warren Haskins.

Staff past and present joined suppliers and other guests at the event held to thank all those who have contributed to the success of the garden specialist.

The opening of the Longham centre in March 1994 marked a significant turning point for the business which has grown dramatically over the last 10 years with a five fold increase in turnover and more than four-fold rise in staff numbers.

Haskins moved to the £5 million Longham centre from its previous site at Tricketts Cross where it had been trading since the 1960s.

The 10-acre Ferndown site, which has 560 car park spaces and a 230-seat restaurant, employs more than 100 full- and part-time staff.

CARAVAN holiday home manufacturer BK Bluebird has appointed Bobby Gray as training manager.

Mr Gray, from Parkstone, has been a trainer for 17 years, mostly in the Army, and joins to introduce career development for every member of staff.

The Poole-based company has 300 employees and has not previously employed a training manager.

"BK has identified it has not invested sufficiently in training in the past and has brought me in to spearhead a complete new staff development programme," he said.

Mr Gray is married with two young daughters. His hobbies include creating digital music in a purpose-built studio at his home.