When you run marine events in the UK, people often ask us what we get up to in the winter months. The truth is that what happens on the water between April and October takes preparation and planning!
At the end of each season our team spend time ‘washing up’ from the year that has just ended and then launch straight into meetings and review activities to work out how we can improve and refresh what we do for the year ahead.
Food is a hugely important part of our events and great care goes into selecting the right foods that work on the many different types of boats we offer. Beetroot and Turmeric don’t find their way onto multi-million pound luxury motor yachts and loose leaf salads and couscous won’t work on racing yachts unless you like wearing them on breezy days! We’ll be meeting with our caterers to hone the new season’s menus and find out what’s new in ‘food fashion’!
Staffing is also enormously important and whilst we have our core team in the office, we rely on many dedicated water-based freelance professionals. Due to the nature of our industry, sailors often move around and sunnier climes or racing campaigns beckon and steal them away from us. Over the winter and spring months we work on finding the right people for the varying events to ensure that our guests are not only kept safe but entertained and made to feel welcome onboard.
Equipment needs servicing, maintaining and updating so that each charter runs smoothly and is delivered to the highest possible standard. After all, attention to detail is what we think separates us from many other providers!
Venue visits also need to be done if you want to ensure that the hotel or restaurant you are recommending continues to be up to standard. We strive to avoid the ‘everything was perfect… but’ in our client’s feedback! Many potential bookers like to see venues before booking which can involve a chilly winter Rib blast across The Solent in one of our High Speed Ribs if the client’s up for it!
Connecting with current and past clients gets us out of the office and we’re also prospecting for new customers of course. Often the best way to ensure we build the right event is to sit down face to face over a coffee.
Rest assured that we are not hibernating or sat somewhere sunnier!
