No ordinary agency outing

I was recently invited to join an agency trip to South West Wales. I’ve worked with Sprague Gibbons for two years now and regularly go into their office in Bristol. As a freelancer who mostly works independently and is often working alongside teams rather than within them, I was delighted to be asked.

I set off to sporadic hail, blinding sunshine and intermittent rain on a 3 hour drive to the very bottom corner of Wales. After getting lost only once and scraping the bottom of my car on the most pot-holed road I’ve ever seen, I was greeted with fantastic views of the Pembrokeshire Coast.

Being somewhere completely different, away from the office, creates more relaxed and less formal situations. It gives the chance for people to open up and connect on a more personal level. We went on a very blustery coastal walk to Broad Haven, giving us a chance to chat more than we normally would in the office.

It wasn’t a particularly demanding walk, but my underused walking boots had other ideas and fell apart on the way back after 3 miles. Unexpected things can happen, and are often the moments that stick with you – the ones you end up laughing about afterwards and bonding over.

This carried on into the evening with a game or two – if you’ve never played ‘Scrawl’ with a folk band playing on the run-up to St Patricks day, I’d highly recommend it. We ended up drawing some questionable things that probably shouldn’t be shared publicly.

Before coming back we were treated to a surprise falconry session. With everything else that was included, it felt incredibly generous and thoughtful. That same sense of goodness runs through everything this company does. A truly great bunch of people.

As a freelancer, I’m happy to fit in and around clients’ projects and show up just when needed – that’s the nature of the work. But inclusion at this level is rare – to be included and really feel part of their core team is over and above what I’ve come to expect. It made me feel incredibly valued not just for the work I provide, but for the part I play in the team.