Doesn’t it always rain in Aberdeen? Well no, not this time. This time we took the sunshine with us. A trip to the East Coast to meet with a prospective new client meant 2 days out – who knew how few flights there are from England to Aberdeen??
On our orange ‘plane we met the Senior Marketing Exec for an international company exhibiting at an Expo – and learned all about sand-proofing oil pipelines (actually quite fascinating stuff). She also told us about their tricks for attracting and retaining talent.
From the moment we landed, the locals took us to their hearts – maybe it’s because we’re by nature rather talkative women? Turns out this week Aberdeen is hosting Offshore Europe – a huge exhibition that attracts a global audience – all of whom need hotel rooms.
So I turned to my trusted new friend – Airbnb. We were the first visitors in the stunning newly-refurbished art deco apartment, bang in the centre of Aberdeen.
When your network is as wide as ours, there’s always someone in FM who works nearby – this time we were delighted to meet up with Preston Gan of NHS Grampian, well known to many of you as an inspiring keynote speaker. Turns out both Ash and Preston speak Japanese (amazing what you find out about people!) and that’s how I discovered that ‘Wagamama’ means self-indulgent – interesting choice of name for a restaurant!
Day 2 took us to meet both client and service provider – but first we did a bit of mystery shopping, asking those who worked there for some insight. Ask the right questions and people are always happy to engage and give their honest opinions.
At this point I want to introduce you to Tempo. It’s a café but so much more. Everything you’ll find inside is free to enjoy, you just pay for the time you spend there. That’s not a new concept in itself; however, the wonderful thing is, the unit was donated by the Bon Accord shopping centre and 100% of the proceeds go to CLAN Cancer Support.
The meeting itself was refreshing – a meeting of like minds. We’re looking forward exploring a new relationship, learning together, being innovative and making long lasting change to a wonderful city.
En route back to the airport we called in at the Expo to say a quick hello to our new friend and find out more about their products.
It was an action-packed 24 hours. Just goes to show how much you can achieve when you’re focused.