Along with the England flag, flies the colourful emblem of the host nation, South Africa, together with other flags representing the nationalities of Ocean staff.
David Renwick, Chief Executive of the Ocean Group, says the flags will keep flying while the countries remain in the Cup: “We are all hoping that the England Flag is flying for the Cup Final on 11 July, but the diversity of our staff means that there is also some good-natured rivalry going on.”
Alicia Turrall comes from Cape Town and is very proud that the South African flag is flying: “Our flag has become the symbol for the competition and it truly reflects South Africa as a rainbow nation. It is an incredible achievement for South Africa to host the World Cup and a wonderful opportunity for South Africans. My friends in Cape Town are just nuts about football and there is a great atmosphere of excitement and anticipation leading up to the World Cup. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that South Africa does well because I don’t want my flag removed – I’ll never live it down in the office.”
Ocean is also using this as an opportunity to raise much needed money for its chosen charity of the year, Cornwall Hospice Care. “We are holding a number of out of hours social events including a South African wine tasting and a Cornish Beer tasting,” says David. “There is also a fundraising ‘penalty shoot out competition’, which is guaranteed to be high scoring given that I have been asked to play in goal!”
