It’s a longstanding Urban Splash tradition that when staff have worked here for 10 years (after all, you get less than that for murder!) they get treated to (the dubious pleasure) of a day out and a swanky lunch with the company Chairman (me!), as well as an additional week’s holiday that year.
In the past I’ve held this celebration in London at restaurants like Nobu or wherever’s the hottest new place. It’s a nice treat and a thank you to staff and an opportunity for me to spend some quality time with people from all different parts of the business in more informal circumstances.
This year, as a special treat, I invited staff celebrating their 10 year anniversary with the company, who were from our accounts, admin, construction and development teams, to have lunch with me at my house in the South of France as cheap Jet2 flights meant it was more economical than a trip to London.
The staff were duly excited as I drove them to the airport.
The anticipation for a nice lunch in the sunshine was palpable however, it was one of the days of French industrial action meaning that many flights were cancelled. Ours showed on schedule so we all had a drink in the bar. And another. And another… Eventually after a couple of hours we were instructed to go to the gate and even called for our final boarding but were advised by a girl in the Lounge (which I’d also managed to blag us all into) to stay put.
So we had a few more drinks and by now it was 7pm, five hours after our airport arrival. It was time to eat however instead of the delights of a posh London restaurant, or even the sunny terrace in the South of France, it was a hassled Giraffe restaurant at Manchester Airport Terminal 1; a meal that can only be described as ‘absolutely… average’.
As you can probably guess, the announcement came that the flight was cancelled. It wasn’t the day we’d all hoped for but still good fun with plenty of reminiscing of ten good years, fun staff dos and Christmas parties. I’m lucky to have such good colleagues and of course have rebooked another date to take them for a proper lunch. In the sunshine!
It’s been a while since I gained French O-level, but I’m still sure that the headline should read Adieu …
The day was (sadly) ended, so it’s definitely goodbye/farewell to the plans for celebration.