Earlier in the year Cleankill held their bi-annual Conference, the setting was Brockenhurst, set deep within the New Forest and this year we got to celebrate 21 years in business.
A momentous occasion for any business......you know you must be working for a company that are doing something right when you get to that milestone!
Arriving into the beautiful surroundings at the Balmer Lawn Hotel, you could feel the buzz and excitement (amongst a little tiredness) from everyone. It was going to be a good weekend.
Starting the day with some much needed caffeine and biscuits, the conference was kicked off by one of our directors Jon Whitehead, welcoming us to what would be an eventful day. (little did we know, how eventful!!)
After presentations from all Directors, Managers and Team Leaders, Simon and I attempted our Admin presentation. The jury’s still out to how that went- I think we all needed more caffeine or something stronger by this point!
The conference was over.... excitement intensified...we wondered what the plans for the rest of the day were. We had been kept in the dark for months!
Suddenly 2 ladies with what can only be described as 'Jockey get up' outfits walk in....the room is alight with whispering as to what could be going on. We all assume the activity will be Polo, some are outright refusing to get on a horse......and then, to our surprise, we are told we are joining MI6!
Our mission for the day was to compete in activities by road, water and what felt like air against our colleagues to win the task for the day! Split in to 4 teams, the day suddenly took a competitive turn. The directors were rallying their teams; it was fighting talk!
We made our way to our high speed, undercover MI6 transportation (a hired coach from around the corner I suspect) and made our way to Lymington, where the fun really began. Sat there awaiting our arrival were dinghy speed boats- our chariots await!
Life jackets on, a few nervous laughs from the non-swimmers (subsequently put into the same boat?!?!) we were ready to start our adventure.
A high speed race (35-40 knots!) began across the bay to the Isle of Wight. Holding on for dear life, whilst others braved the waves by standing up, we charged, cheered and some of us cried our way across!
On reaching the port, we disembarked, started our challenges and spent a good amount of time laughing, team building, running around, bonding and generally looking stupid! (we have pictures for proof!!)
Finishing off with a celebratory drink at The Haven bar owned by Chris Evans, the winning team was announced- the organisers pointed out some had taken it a lot more seriously than certain other teams (**cough cough- team 4**). Jon’s team- Team 2 took the title, we are all obviously in the wrong career- MI6 agents at heart!
We then headed back to the hotel to enjoy an extravagant dinner and drinks and reflected on the day. All in all, an excellent day spent with colleagues you don’t always get to see on a day-to-day basis and a great opportunity to really appreciate how well Cleankill are progressing as a company, developing their staff and generally going from strength-to strength!
Finally recovered......I think we will all be looking forward to the next one!
by Jen and Simon, Office Service Controllers