Travel: Sun, Sea & Strategy

Sack off the ‘Grey Away Day’. Opt for team building fun in an exciting destination says Ian Lucas, Founder of Group Travel Experts, Red7.

Let’s be honest. Team Building Away Days rarely hit the mark. How much fun can you really have building a bridge out of dried spaghetti in a motel off the M23? You know the kind of day I’m talking about, right? Whiteboards covered in forced feedback, pointless plans on huge pages of A1, pastries that look like they’ve been sat out since last Wednesday, bad coffee and a team that’s expected to feel gratified that they’ve actually been ‘let out of the office’. And that’s all before the dodgy buffet lunch. It’s hardly inspirational stuff to help your team vibe and motivation soar.

Terrific Team Trips

Any small business owner knows the key to their company’s success is happy employees and successful managers know the key to keeping a team performing well is effective people management. To this end, well-planned, well-timed and well-executed Away Days and Team Building Trips are a vital arrow in any entrepreneur or business leader’s quiver.

Figures show that workers who receive incentive or reward trips work harder and are happier delivering up to 20 percent ROI and team building trips and activities can improve productivity, increase motivation and collaboration, boost trust and promote creativity.

At Red7 we’ve been organising epic group travel for over 30 years and our newly-launched Business Travel Service is fired up to create the most brilliant Away Days and Team Trips for your small business that will put your usual six monthly bowling and beer evening to shame. The key is to pick a great destination – sunny, stunning or inspirational works best. We love getting to know our clients, so get in touch, and our Travel Aces will curate the perfect team trip for you. Here are some of our favourites for 2019 team trips.

Brilliant Destinations

At Home…

Scottish Highlands

For some Scottish splendour, channel your inner Monarch of the Glen and take your team away to your very own Castle in the Scottish Highlands.

Aldourie Castle Estate on the shores of fabled Loch Ness is only a 30 minute drive from Inverness airport and has 13 double bedrooms (plus additional cottages in its grounds). There’s a full staff, including a team of chefs and a full commercial kitchen so book in here and you’ll be strategizing and chilling out in serious style.

By day, encourage blue sky thinking on a team hike, or explore the 500 acre estate on mountain bike; get the blood pumping in a canoe, do some Archery or spend a hilarious afternoon ‘walking on water’ in 7ft see-through orbs. Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands, is only 5 miles away and the estate has an extensive local network of experts who can teach you a vast range of activities. If you go in winter,  there’s skiing and snowboarding for all levels nearby.  By night, enjoy cocktails on terrace, host your very own Cèilidh or private Whisky tasting.

London Calling!

See the UK capital in a brighter light than embattled commuters and feel your team’s positivity soar. Done right, a team-building weekend in London can be truly energising, so crack open those cans of G&T on the train up to town and head east to super trendy Shoreditch.

For a perfect base, book your team into The Courthouse Hotel, a Grade II listed Baroque style building with a contemporary feel. Here your team can relax in king-size beds, enjoy luxury walk-in showers and a hangover-busting full English breakfast. Most central London destinations are just 20 minutes away by tube, so you’ll be perfectly placed to enjoy everything the capital has to offer.

Book in for some seriously focused strategizing at one of the hotel’s meeting rooms before some light relief with a London Eye flight or Escape Room experience (great for getting the team buzzing).  Let the team shop till they drop or head to a great spa, do Go Karting or have Old Skool Sports Day fun before you head out in the evening.

For a rewarding team supper, we recommend Sargardi, a Basque restaurant and butcher’s shop in Shoreditch which pays serious homage to its northern Spanish roots. The restaurant specialises in ‘Tuxelton’ – the best Basque beef grilled on the BBQ – and also serves fantastic wild fish and vegetables from the restaurant’s own gardens. It’s all GMO-free and there’s a fantastic selection of wines as well.

Afterwards why not book some fun time at Bailie Ballerson, Shoreditch’s only adult-only ball pit and cocktail bar. With VIP ball pits, a main pit with glowing balls, retro sweets and amazing cocktails it’s also fantastic value. Your team can enjoy ‘Pizza and Prosecco’ or delicious tapas platters or head down a secret passageway to neighbouring ‘Rascals’ where Margaritas and the best of Japanese, Australian, Mexican and American food are fused into a killer Californian menu. The Telegraph called it ‘the best place to get drunk’ and we kinda agree.

…And Away!

 Live it up: Lisbon

There is so much to love about Lisbon! The stunning Portuguese capital fuses its historic heart with a wild oceanic spirit and is the sunniest in Europe. It’s currently enjoying a real renaissance with fabulous accommodation, a great gastronomic scene and inspirational architecture, culture and history to explore. Wander around its winding cobbled streets, and see its magical castle on a hill, or chill out on one of cafes around its vast seafront square. Explore on the city’s bright yellow trams then check out the gorgeous beaches of Estoril and Cascais for some chill out time and perhaps a spot of surfing.

Your team will love staying in one of Red7’s hand-picked apartments here. Some can accommodate groups as large as 30 and there are stunning views of the city’s Tagus River from its gorgeous terraces. Centrally located (the international/national Santa Apolonia train station is just 2 minutes walk) your team can enjoy focused ‘work time’ in the spacious apartment before heading out to be inspired by Lisbon, enjoying a lunch of fresh seafood and the city’s famous (and divine) custard tarts.

Marvellous Marbella

Marbella: warm, sunny and as chilled out as much as it is high vibe, plus great value out of season,  Marbella is a perfect choice to treat your team to Spain at its most swanky.  Check into one of our handpicked apartments, a swish hotel or choose Red7’s exclusive villa on the famous Golden Mile. With 5 bedrooms, large pool and inspiring views it’s perfect for a small team reset. After you’ve talked through improving your company’s bottom line, head into the hills above Puerto Banus to spend the rest of the day chilling at the luxe Nao Pool Club before enjoying a private sunset cruise and an al-fresco steak dinner at Marbella’s iconic Oak restaurant.

Prague Perfection

Sometimes it’s not all about the beach and the grand central European city of Prague is perfect for teams who perhaps aren’t so fussed about strategising in their swimwear. Prague, where gothic architecture and a wealth of history rubs shoulders with cutting edge tech companies, is buzzy, friendly and absolutely packed in Summer. Spring and Autumn are calmer here, with great bargains to be had on flights, cosmopolitan hotels and sleek apartments. Teams building activities range from Olympic-standard white water rafting on the River Vltava to Go Karting and gin tasting and there’s plenty of calm, inspirational thinking time to be had here, as you wander through the city’s cobbled streets, soaking up Prague’s  grand culture, history and fin-de-siécle cafés between focused strategy sessions.

EXPERIENCE ‘Sun, Spa and Strategy was the Key to My Team Success’

“It’s so easy to get drawn into the day-to-day business, so I had to get my senior team AWAY! We decided to go overseas – somewhere with all-year sun!” says Rob Reaks, Red7’s Head of Sales & Marketing. “As Sales Director of a large fundraising agency, I decided we needed ‘Sun, Spa and Strategy’!  And so to banish those winter blues, we jumped on a cheap, short flight to Gran Canaria.  We went in February but Autumn works too as it’s still warm and sunny in southern Europe, Marbella or the Canary Islands and it doesn’t clash with school holidays.

It was a chance for us all to get away from the office, see blue skies and beautiful landscapes, experience somewhere different and inspirational. Financially a few days away in the week, out of season, also made sense. Whilst we were away, I would break each day into 3 chunks: Sun, Spa and Strategy. When we worked on company strategy at the villa we were utterly focused, because we knew that relaxing free time was coming later! We returned refreshed and motivated to make the company’s next year the best yet. It was such a great investment – both in time and money – so we did it annually thereafter!”