On Monday 7 August 2023 the F.I.R.E. Consultancy team headed to the Llanerch Vineyard Hotel in Hensol, south Wales for our summer 2023 team event.

F.I.R.E. Consultancy is proud of its inclusive, friendly culture. Our team events are a mix of socialising, team building exercises and essential business updates.

Last year we booked in at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge, London before heading on a once in a lifetime helicopter trip around central and north London - we want these days to be experiences our team never forgets. 

Monday: checking in

The team arrived on the evening of Monday 7 August and were lucky enough to enjoy some sunshine and drinks outside on the restaurant terrace.

It was the first time some of our newer team members had met in person, so it was a great chance to get to know each other and learn more about our varied backgrounds. We then enjoyed a delicious meal together in the restaurant (the first of two).

Tuesday: team meeting

We had an early start with a big breakfast just before our team meeting at 8:30am. I delivered our business overview of the last six months and set out our ambitions for the rest of the year, and what we want to achieve going into 2024.

As always the team shared their thoughts and suggestions on how we can shape the organisation and deliver for our clients - these sessions are always helpful for ensuring we’re operating in an efficient way.

The team then heard from our external peer reviewer on their feedback from the last six months, before getting an update on our new website (the one you’re reading this on now).

Collaborative problem solving

With our business updates completed we moved on to the first team activity of the day: a detective murder mystery. The team were provided with the details of the fictional murder and a folder of evidence and clues in order to solve the mystery.

After a lot of team work and deliberation I’m pleased to say we were able to correctly solve the murder - though perhaps in a more roundabout way than our host intended!

Hitting our targets

After lunch the team headed out to the fields for a clay pigeon shooting session. As you’d expect it was an unfamiliar activity for most of us, but our excellent instructors guided us through every step and helped refine our skills.

Congratulations to those who proved to be the most accurate from our two groups.

Wine tasting and vineyard tour

Our final (and for some, most anticipated) activity of the day saw us back at the vineyard for a wine tasting session. We sampled some of Llanerch’s excellent wines and learnt more about the tastes and aromas and how they can differ depending on the conditions and individual.

After a few glasses we headed out into the vineyard itself for a tour and learnt more about the harvesting process and the history of the site - we were just about lucky enough with the weather!

A wonderful three-course evening meal followed our wine tasting and brought our day to a close.

Wednesday: checking out

It was fantastic as always to bring the team together for events like this and create some memories. F.I.R.E. Consultancy is passionate about our people and our culture - activity breaks like this are perfect for helping the team enjoy themselves, strengthen our ties and allow us to work together more effectively on our day-to-day tasks.

Thank you to everyone who joined us - I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! We’re already planning the next company outing and can’t wait to get everyone back together again.

Jason.