Team building among prison cells

SLX Group annual conference was hosted in the ex-jailhouse-converted-into-hotel Malmaison, in Oxford's medieval castle grounds.

In mid-October, our staff from Hampshire and from Germany, our engineers from the north of England and Scotland, our business representatives from Poland and Spain and a couple of special guests flocked to Oxford, the charming historic university city where we held our group-wide event.

We stayed at Malmaison, the hotel converted from the local prison building located within the site of the old medieval castle, a stone’s throw from the town centre. The austere setting and its troubled past didn’t deter us from enjoying our time together. The day rolled by, going from presentations of business updates and future plans to fun team-building activities and delicious meals, topped by more or less gracious dancing moves in the late night. Luckily, not all the activities are supported by photographic evidence! 

Here are the main highlights of this brilliant day we spent together.

Reinforcing company culture

The morning was filled with presentations by our directors on the healthy status of our business and their objectives for our growth and development. Having just closed another successful financial year, it was great to get some insights on the vision and shape of our company’s future.

One of our special guests, Richard Gigg, gave an inspiring contribution and took us through an eye-opening exercise on business growth bases. Richard has been a coach and mentor for many within our group, offering business strategy sessions, leadership and management courses, and coaching classes aimed at building our company culture together. Richard retired this month after a successful career and long track-record of engaging sessions. We feel honoured to have had the pleasure of his support and advice over these many years and we were delighted to host him once more for a proper sendoff.

A new guest was introduced on this occasion, Nick Cowey MBE, a former British Army Officer with years of experience in planning and capability management, who is going to work with our Board on business strategy and planning. Nick came across as very personable and outgoing, delivering a charismatic and engaging presentation; we look forward to working with him and seeing more of him in our office.

Celebrating colleagues’ milestones 

This event came as a great occasion to celebrate two important career milestones reached by colleagues who are also the longest-serving employees. 

After over three decades of dedicated work, Richard Humphrys, our Resources Manager, is going to retire at the end of the year. His passion for cricket is well known to everyone in the office, so we hope he will enjoy the Life Membership for Hampshire Cricket he was presented with. Still a keen cyclist, we have no doubt he will stay active and pop over to the office for a coffee as he rides around the Hampshire countryside.

The other major milestone was Sandrine Farr’s 30th anniversary working at Simplex Turbulo. Sandrine has grown into a pillar of knowledge on engine spares and expectations management, thanks to her quoting experience and customer communications skills. The whole customer service department looks up to her for advice, and sometimes the Board too! That said, Sandrine still looks as young as the day she started her internship right after university. We are all grateful for her hard work over these many years and look forward to further growth together.

Further reason for celebration came from the news that Richard Blair has been appointed Operations Director. Richard’s technical expertise, no-nonsense attitude and down-to-earth character adds a friendly-yet-firm voice to the SLX Group Board. The news was welcomed with a roaring applause as we all came together in congratulating our new Director!

Team-building competitions 

Always have a fall-back plan is a thought our one-woman event-planning committee goes firmly by. When heavy rains and swollen river levels caused the cancellation of the boat tour on the river Thames which was planned for the afternoon, our HR fairy drew out of her magic hat two fun activities for us. 

First we were challenged to work in groups and build the tallest tower made exclusively with spaghetti and marshmallows. The winning construction would be not only the tallest but also able to stand up unaided for at least two seconds once completed. It seems obvious that the group counting 6 engineers within its members should win, but it wasn’t as easy a task as it may sound!

The second activity consisted of building a bridge made only by A4-sized sheets of paper and using a stapler, with the requirement that the bridge should cover at least a 1.2m gap. Once the target length was verified, five Maltesers had to make it rolling from one end to the other.

After a delicious meal, the open bar and private room provided the perfect excuse for some chin wagging and leg swinging. Many of us went on until the early morning hours and nothing further will be said about that. 

Jokes aside, it’s great to share moments like this with the “extended group” of colleagues and feel that we can be relaxed together. A company’s culture isn’t just shaped among desks, and we are grateful that we get occasions to carry on the team work outside of our natural working environment!