Wednesday 22nd June – the day of the ‘Official Company Launch Reception’
I’d chosen the House of Commons Thames Pavilion for it’s fantastic access to The Terrace overlooking the River Thames on a Summer’s evening…… Needless to say that the day started muggy and drizzly with a grey overcast sky; surely by late June summer would arrive? or so I thought when I booked this back in March! The sun started to burn off the clouds and made a cheeky appearance or two and things generally looked brighter.
We arrived at the venue about thirty mins before our guests were due and set up stands, a slide presentation, leaflets, pulled wide open the glass doors onto the terrace (the sun was promising to show and it was dry!!) and tested the cold drinks, more than once, just to make sure they were OK. Head Photographer duly briefed, guest badges all laid out, team badges pinned in place, waiting staff poised with trays of cold drinks and canapes (they were briefed to military precision by their supervisor, as was I!) I nodded to ‘security’ and they allowed keen guests to start coming in. And they just kept coming; finding and pinning badges on became a full time job for three of us and within minutes the place was full with 50 people, current clients, previous clients, prospective clients, business partners, peers and general hangers-on!
The rest of the evening became a bit of a haze as the excellent wine helped lubricate all the talking that needed to be done (many apologies if I didn’t get round to chatting to you for long, so many people, so much to say), the hot canapes arrived and were devoured. I vaguely recall saying a few words of thanks to everyone for coming and supporting us and picking out a few close people for their particular contributions.
It was a very special time and as the team stepped into the hotel later that evening, the dark thunder clouds released a torrential downpour and tremendous thunderstorm. The restaurant at the hotel had closed but on the sight of our tired and disappointed faces the manager said he could send out for Chinese, result! This was consumed in record time and eventually, one by one the team sloped off to bed, exhausted, but very happy that the event had been so successful.
Today I’ve been overwhelmed by the supporting messages we’ve received from those who attended wishing us all the best for the future and saying that we have set the bar high!
Please browse through a few of the photos of the evening here