How did Team Building with Bite come about?


Both Mark and Chris have many years of experience working in the animal industry, with Chris having been a keeper for over 20 years, and Mark leading education and research during this time. Both shared a passion for encouraging animals to live as naturally as possible in a captive environment, including the ability to demonstrate natural species-specific behaviours. Their passion for animal welfare is demonstrated through their years of dedication, as well as their role as Instructors for the The Shape of Enrichment. This non-profit organisation raises awareness of animal welfare and environmental enrichment by teaching animal carers and industry professionals worldwide.

Mark and Chris founded BITE in 2015, and it was a real passion project that has grown from their expertise in the field of animal welfare and behaviour.  From these early days, the team has expanded to eight members, all with different backgrounds in the animal industry, but all with a passion for what we do.  The incredible animal collection partnerships have extended to locations all across the UK, and we are extremely proud of those collaborations that have been built up with trust over time.

What is our aim?


Our aim has remained the same since the day we ran our very first workshop…

– To help increase animal welfare through species specific feeders and furniture in animal collections worldwide.
– To provide animal keepers with items for their animals that they neither have the time or resources to create themselves.
– To provide our corporate teams with a unique day with an incredible reward, where their efforts will make a genuine difference.
– Help to provide funds for The Shape of Enrichment, allowing the charity to continue its invaluable work improving animal welfare worldwide, but particularly in developing countries.

The idea of BITE is not just for an unforgettable corporate away day, but to provide enrichment items (like feeding devices and enclosure furniture) that animals would not normally have access to as animal staff are unavoidably limited by time and resource availability. Therefore, BITE is creating a win-win for the animals, staff and collections involved. This means you can take part in our events knowing you are making a genuine difference while having a lot of fun in the process!

 

Our Values


We follow five core values; Team Spirit, empowering, animal welfare, meaningful and memorable.  Yes you read that correctly, TEAMM, but honestly, this was a complete accident, and made us feel a little queezy with the cheesiness as well. Lets take a look at them.

Team Spirit


The purpose of undertaking a team building exercise is to encourage collaboration and motivate individuals to work together. But how do you do this, minus the cheesiness?

When a team truly cares about an outcome they invest in the process and support one another more effectively. Our events present a unique challenge, which at first appears far too daunting to most because a challenge demands a lot of determination. Yet it is only through persevering that a greater sense of achievement is experienced. The “we will never be able to” becomes “I can’t believe we did that”!

The shared excitement our events create increase team spirit and morale, translating directly to the workplace with teams positively buzzing from their newfound confidence and collective energy. Sharing such a positive experience has invaluable benefits to your team’s communication and connection, which doesn’t just last temporarily, but makes a meaningful impact for years to come; “the engagement of the team continues and I cannot believe it’s over 18 months since we visited you, the guys still talk about it now!”.

Empowering


No matter your team’s background, we are pretty confident that the task we give you will be completely different to anything your team has faced before. Add to that the pressure of working against the clock (and in competition if you choose) and you have yourself a reasonably meaty challenge to contend with.

We understand that it can feel overwhelming to pick up tools you’ve never used and take on a seemingly impossible challenge, so we are there to support you every step of the way. However, if you can overcome problems and work together to achieve an outcome you never thought you could, the sense of achievement is utterly empowering.

The confidence gained from this experience is invaluable, and nothing pleases us more than to see our clients bursting with pride and excitement over the problem they have just solved! Your team will walk away having gained vital communication and problem-solving skills, empowered by the knowledge that they can overcome unique challenges no matter how daunting they may initially seem.

Animal Welfare


Everything we design and build is for the benefit of the animals we work with, and our team have years of expertise and insight, not to mention boundless passion for what we do!

We are proud to be making such a meaningful difference to animal wellbeing, but we cannot do it without you! From working in the industry, we noticed a problem…providing enrichment to animals is typically restrained by the availability of time and money. 

By working with us, you are the solution to that problem! By becoming part of our journey, your team are making an immediate difference, leading to a huge sense of achievement for all, whilst also fulfilling corporate social responsibilities.

Meaningful


By collaborating to overcome a truly meaningful challenge, your team will experience a huge sense of achievement.

But for some individuals it can mean much more. Many team members will have undertaken a story of self-development, having taken up a challenge they may never have thought they would, or could have achieved. They will have worked as a team, overcoming many obstacles both physically and mentally, to achieve something truly valuable to them at an individual level.

Our events can also fulfil corporate social responsibility aims, allowing companies to publicly demonstrate their commitment to their own ethos and values.

We truly believe our events are a meaningful investment at the individual, team and company level; so the question really is, are you ready to invest in your team?

Memorable


Think of an event or experience that you remember. Why do you remember it? We’re guessing it’s because it meant something to you. People remember experiences that are meaningful.

No matter your background or career, most people value animal welfare (to some degree). We certainly do, and by joining us at one of our hosting locations your team will be directly making a difference to the animals that live there; not to mention making the animal care staff extraordinarily happy!

As your team begins to build their enrichment items, they become emotionally invested in the outcome and purpose of the challenge presented. On completion, you get to watch your creations put to the ultimate test, generating what can only be described as the ultimate sense of achievement! The result? An utterly unforgettable experience that you will be busting to tell everyone about!

What is our ambition?


Our ambition is to continue to support the work of The Shape of Enrichment, growing this in years to come. We also want to improve our ongoing work with animal collections in the UK, supporting and promoting existing high welfare standards.

We would love to work with more animal collections in the future, however we will be doing this gradually and carefully, to make sure that our corporate clients get the absolute best experience from us. The quality we provide for clients, keepers and animals is absolutely central to what we do, and so we take our decisions and responsibilities very seriously. Slow and steady wins the race, right?

 


How did Team Building with Bite come about?

Both Mark and Chris have many years of experience working in the animal industry, with Chris having been a keeper for over 20 years, and Mark leading education and research during this time. Both shared a passion for encouraging animals to live as naturally as possible in a captive environment, including the ability to demonstrate natural species-specific behaviours. Their passion for animal welfare is demonstrated through their years of dedication, as well as their role as Instructors for the The Shape of Enrichment. This non-profit organisation raises awareness of animal welfare and environmental enrichment by teaching animal carers and industry professionals worldwide.

Mark and Chris founded BITE in 2015, and it was a real passion project that has grown from their expertise in the field of animal welfare and behaviour.  From these early days, the team has expanded to eight members, all with different backgrounds in the animal industry, but all with a passion for what we do.  The incredible animal collection partnerships have extended to locations all across the UK, and we are extremely proud of those collaborations that have been built up with trust over time.

What is our aim?


Our aim has remained the same since the day we ran our very first workshop…

– To help increase animal welfare through species specific feeders and furniture in animal collections worldwide.
– To provide animal keepers with items for their animals that they neither have the time or resources to create themselves.
– To provide our corporate teams with a unique day with an incredible reward, where their efforts will make a genuine difference.
– Help to provide funds for The Shape of Enrichment, allowing the charity to continue its invaluable work improving animal welfare worldwide, but particularly in developing countries.

The idea of BITE is not just for an unforgettable corporate away day, but to provide enrichment items (like feeding devices and enclosure furniture) that animals would not normally have access to as animal staff are unavoidably limited by time and resource availability. Therefore, BITE is creating a win-win for the animals, staff and collections involved. This means you can take part in our events knowing you are making a genuine difference while having a lot of fun in the process!

Our Values


We follow five core values; Team Spirit, empowering, animal welfare, meaningful and memorable.  Yes you read that correctly, TEAMM, but honestly, this was a complete accident, and made us feel a little queezy with the cheesiness as well. Lets take a look at them.

Team Spirit


The purpose of undertaking a team building exercise is to encourage collaboration and motivate individuals to work together. But how do you do this, minus the cheesiness?

When a team truly cares about an outcome they invest in the process and support one another more effectively. Our events present a unique challenge, which at first appears far too daunting to most because a challenge demands a lot of determination. Yet it is only through persevering that a greater sense of achievement is experienced. The “we will never be able to” becomes “I can’t believe we did that”!

The shared excitement our events create increase team spirit and morale, translating directly to the workplace with teams positively buzzing from their newfound confidence and collective energy. Sharing such a positive experience has invaluable benefits to your team’s communication and connection, which doesn’t just last temporarily, but makes a meaningful impact for years to come; “the engagement of the team continues and I cannot believe it’s over 18 months since we visited you, the guys still talk about it now!”.

Empowering


No matter your team’s background, we are pretty confident that the task we give you will be completely different to anything your team has faced before. Add to that the pressure of working against the clock (and in competition if you choose) and you have yourself a reasonably meaty challenge to contend with.

We understand that it can feel overwhelming to pick up tools you’ve never used and take on a seemingly impossible challenge, so we are there to support you every step of the way. However, if you can overcome problems and work together to achieve an outcome you never thought you could, the sense of achievement is utterly empowering.

The confidence gained from this experience is invaluable, and nothing pleases us more than to see our clients bursting with pride and excitement over the problem they have just solved! Your team will walk away having gained vital communication and problem-solving skills, empowered by the knowledge that they can overcome unique challenges no matter how daunting they may initially seem.

Animal Welfare


Everything we design and build is for the benefit of the animals we work with, and our team have years of expertise and insight, not to mention boundless passion for what we do!

We are proud to be making such a meaningful difference to animal wellbeing, but we cannot do it without you! From working in the industry, we noticed a problem…providing enrichment to animals is typically restrained by the availability of time and money. 

By working with us, you are the solution to that problem! By becoming part of our journey, your team are making an immediate difference, leading to a huge sense of achievement for all, whilst also fulfilling corporate social responsibilities.

Meaningful


By collaborating to overcome a truly meaningful challenge, your team will experience a huge sense of achievement.

But for some individuals it can mean much more. Many team members will have undertaken a story of self-development, having taken up a challenge they may never have thought they would, or could have achieved. They will have worked as a team, overcoming many obstacles both physically and mentally, to achieve something truly valuable to them at an individual level.

Our events can also fulfil corporate social responsibility aims, allowing companies to publicly demonstrate their commitment to their own ethos and values.

We truly believe our events are a meaningful investment at the individual, team and company level; so the question really is, are you ready to invest in your team?

Memorable


Think of an event or experience that you remember. Why do you remember it? We’re guessing it’s because it meant something to you. People remember experiences that are meaningful.

No matter your background or career, most people value animal welfare (to some degree). We certainly do, and by joining us at one of our hosting locations your team will be directly making a difference to the animals that live there; not to mention making the animal care staff extraordinarily happy!

As your team begins to build their enrichment items, they become emotionally invested in the outcome and purpose of the challenge presented. On completion, you get to watch your creations put to the ultimate test, generating what can only be described as the ultimate sense of achievement! The result? An utterly unforgettable experience that you will be busting to tell everyone about!

What is our ambition?


Our ambition is to continue to support the work of The Shape of Enrichment, growing this in years to come. We also want to improve our ongoing work with animal collections in the UK, supporting and promoting existing high welfare standards.

We would love to work with more animal collections in the future, however we will be doing this gradually and carefully, to make sure that our corporate clients get the absolute best experience from us. The quality we provide for clients, keepers and animals is absolutely central to what we do, and so we take our decisions and responsibilities very seriously. Slow and steady wins the race, right?