Festival chic, foraging and fun at the ForrestBrown summer party

Think of something you’ve always wanted to do, or a place you’ve always wanted to go: a festival with friends, a day of gin tasting, or finally mastering the art of the best beef brisket? We had it all at the recent ForrestBrown away day and we loved every second.

At ForrestBrown we’re proud of our unique culture and what makes that special is our people. Our people and our passion for our work is what makes ForrestBrown such a remarkable place to work.

But with everyone working from home during lockdown, the team had to adapt to a new way of working and take our socials online. As a collective, we took every step to keep spirits up, including transferring our usual Workout Wednesday to Zoom, and having virtual social gatherings to keep us smiling. But none of this could replace our in-person catch ups.

Off we go

After the year we’ve all had, the ForrestBrown summer social was the perfect opportunity get together, get dressed up, swap stories and have a meaningful conversation in person again. For some of us, the summer party was about meeting fellow colleagues for the first time in the flesh. For others, it was a day out the office to relax and reconnect with our talented teammates. So this year, we jumped on the coaches and set off on our adventure to Belmont estate.

Speech!

For our parties, we’re known for our commitment to a fancy-dress theme. This time, to embrace the party, the team chose the dress code of festival chic. Everyone definitely looked the part, with lots of us doused in eco-glitter upon arrival.

When we got there, drink in hand, we certainly had lots of stories to share and lots more to celebrate. We welcomed our new managing director, Sara Brigden, and took time to reflect on our personal achievements from new jobs, new houses, new babies, and new engagements from lockdown. Before the antics of the day unveiled, we looked back on all the brilliant things we’ve achieved together and reminded ourselves of the ForrestBrown culture we all know and love.

ForrestBrown go foraging for fun

At ForrestBrown we’re a curious bunch, and we like to try new things. The summer party gave us all a chance to do those things, whether it was throwing ourselves into a guided foraging experience, cooking over the fire or a chocolate masterclass.

We were invited to take part in two experiences on the day from:

Woodland foraging – a guided tour through the estate sampling local flora and learning about folklore, herbology and rewilding.

Cooking with fire – learning how to build a fire and cooking over it with campfire recipes using tasty pork belly and breads.

Farm tour and butchery – an educational outing with organic rare breed pork taking centre stage along with an artisan butchery lesson.

Cocktail making with 6 O’clock gin – a boozier than expected cocktail making class with 3 tasty cocktails from 6 O’clock gin with flavours inspired by the estate.

Chocolate making – the ultimate chocoholic experience; learning about the tastiest trade of all, plus hand-making a selection of chocolates to take home.

After our day of activities, we enjoyed a delicious locally sourced feast in the terraced garden and drinks with a view out over the countryside. Then danced into the night before jumping back on the coaches to Bristol.

Back to our roots

Our annual parties are a powerful way for us all to get to know each other a little more, building trust and collaboration in the workplace too. And this year was no exception. We’re already planning our next exciting social; if you can picture yourself being part of our ForrestBrown family – check out our latest vacancies.