A company hosted a festive event to celebrate the lighting of a community Christmas tree.
Selwood, a pump rental solutions and manufacturing company, held the event at its headquarters on Bournemouth Road, Chandler’s Ford.
The company is known for its enormous Christmas tree, which has been a community staple for decades.
In recent years, the tree has been switched on without much celebration, but this year, the company decided to change that.
Employees enjoyed hot drinks, mince pies, and festive songs from the pupils of St Swithun Wells' Catholic Primary School before the countdown to the big switch-on.
The special guest was due to be 97-year-old Allan Bell, who was Selwood’s fifth employee in the 1940s.
Mr Bell recently visited the site to see how the company had evolved.
Unfortunately, due to a fall, he was unable to attend the event.
However, the Selwood team ensured he could still participate by setting up a video link so he could press the button to light up the tree.
Dan Lee, who joined Selwood’s parent company Workdry International as CEO earlier this year, said: "When I joined around nine months ago, the first thing I was told about was the Christmas tree.
"I was also told that there hasn’t been a switch-on event for the past 15 years or so – so this year we wanted the tree to be bigger and better than ever, and really make something of it.
"We’re sad that Allan couldn’t be with us in person but where there is a will there’s a way – so we’re delighted he could join us on video to press the button for us.
"Thanks to Allan, to everyone who came along and to the children of St Swithun Wells whose beautiful voices helped us start the Christmas season with a smile."
The tree will stay in place throughout the Christmas period before being removed for recycling.
Selwood is the UK’s leading pump rental company, and part of the Workdry International Group, which specialises in water handling and water treatment solutions.
The group also owns Siltbuster, a water and wastewater treatment specialist, the Dutch pump company Vanderkamp, and the US-based Holland Pump.
For more information on Selwood and the Workdry International Group, visit selwood.co.uk and workdry.com.
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