Where will you take your company in 2008?

After more than 20 years of managing and organising events both in the UK and overseas, our Events team has built up a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise that’s second to none.

This year we will be working on events throughout the UK and in locations throughout Europe – from the Arctic Circle to Southern Ireland! We are experienced at presenting and arranging sales, staff and management conferences and we also manage and organise customer and staff incentive and hospitality programmes.

We work closely with all our clients providing a high level of personal service to ensure that your event goes exactly to plan. We believe that sound preparation and strong management are preferable to luck, a wing and a prayer!Over the last 20 or so years, we've worked in most major European locations and we can advise on a wide range of activities to interst or excite your customers or staff. In addition to getting you and your guests to the venue, we can arrange a comprehensive social programme around your meeting - to include teambuilding, sporting and social events such as golf, maybe a theatre trip, fine dining and hospitality.

Our marketing background means we are able to offer a meeting planning service which can include assistance with your presentations as well as hosting and facilitating services. Plus we can help with putting together all the communications required to ensure that everybody arrives on time and in the right place!

(Above: Tromso in the Arctic Circle - one of our 2008 destinations)

If you're thinking of some interesting destinations for your company this year, why not take a look at some of our 2008 ideas?

Sales incentive programmes

Incentives are a speciality of ours and, in addition to destination and location management, we provide a comprehensive marketing and communications service to participants as well as the delivery of all the awards. Recent promotions that we've managed on behalf of clients include those providing a top prize of a weekend in Europe plus a host of Experience Days including Clay Pigeon Shooting, Driving a Ferrari and Wine Tasting! Each of the Experience Days is also personally managed by ourselves to ensure that our client’s interests are best served.

This year we are organising group travel to locations in the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Italy and Ireland – that’s so far! Northern Europe offers superb value for money at the moment and a meeting in Bruges, Le Touquet or Brussels can often work out cheaper than some local venues. And don't be put off by numbers - we have taken groups as small as four for sales, management and partner conferences and meetings.

Meeting in Bruges

We are frequent visitors to Bruges and our clients always thoroughly enjoy their stay in the 'Venice of the north'. Bruges offers some great value meeting facilities and there are a number of high quality hotels that are ideal for meetings and sales conferences of all sizes. With a journey time of just over the hour from Calais by road it's a very 'do-able' short visit destination. Flights to Ostend airport also leave you with a quick transfer time to the city centre.

A two day/one night meeting in Bruges is available on a budget as little as £150 per person, including transport to Bruges, meeting facilities and overnight accommodation. Out of hours socialising is great in Bruges with some superb restaurants, bars and, of course, delightful shopping!

If Bruges appeals why not consider combining a staff, management or client trip to coincide with the Christmas Markets? It might seem a long way off - but there's no substitute for long-term planning!!

Minimum numbers 4

Meeting and fine dining in Northern France

One of our favourite locations in France is Montreuil-sur-Mer and we've been taking groups for both business and social purposes to this lovely walled town for many years now.

Montreuil is situated an hour from the channel ports and whilst it can be reached with ease for a one day trip, overnight is better! The town has a fabulous reputation for its restaurants and its proximity to Le Touquet makes it an ideal destination for those who wish to combine business with a spot of golfing.

Minimum numbers 12

A Day at the Races

There’s not a lot to beat a day at the races! Goodwood, Folkestone, Epsom, Plumpton – and other courses are available for midweek or weekend trips. Our minimum numbers are low with party sizes of just 15 available. A Day at the Races not only offers the very best in top-class racing, but will be one of the highlights of your organisation’s social calendar.

We will arrange transport and your day can start with breakfast, lunch or supper so that we arrive in good time for the first race. We’ll arrange tickets including access to your preferred viewing areas, including the Parade Ring and Winners Enclosure.

Your Day at the Races package includes:

• Luxury coach transport to and from your chosen location

• Welcome aboard pack – including free goodies

• Admission to the racecourse

• The services of guides throughout the trip

• Optional meals en route or picnic

At the end of the meeting, we will return you safely home – or you can continue the entertainment with post race dinner or entertainment. Each of our Day at the Races events is a bespoke service – designed to suit the needs of you and your guests.

Some other great ideas to think about

We also have some great itineraries for Ireland, Holland, Iceland and Germany - and we can also put together some exciting programmes in some great value city destinations overseas such as Prague, Warsaw, Krakow and Lisbon.

Why not contact us for a chat about the location of your next customer or staff incentive event?

Slovenia - an undiscovered jewel?

The opening up of new low-cost flight routes to Eastern Europe and the Balkan states now offers the business and leisure traveller a host of new destinations to choose from.

Slovenia is a relatively new country - but with a rich history. A recent visit to Ljubljana for a site visit has convinced us that here is a great place for conferences, incentive groups or simply as a short-break destination.

EasyJet flies to LJ on a regular basis and the city offers all the friendliness of a small town and at the same time everything that a capital should offer. Apart from the remains of the Romans, it boasts a medieval castle and numerous old city centre Baroque buildings with uneven roofs and richly decorated façades and portals. The mosaic of Ljubljana is completed by picturesque bridges across the Ljubljanica river and the vast Tivoli park, which extends to the very city centre.

Ljubljana is a city of culture, which, among other things, boasts one of the oldest philharmonic halls in the world. Every year it hosts more than 10,000 cultural events ranging from concerts, theatre performances and fine art exhibitions, to avant-garde events.

One of the delights of strolling through the city on an evening is the almost complete absence of hordes of British youths taking advantage of the low flight costs and cheap drink. In fact, eating, drinking and staying in Ljubljana is still much lower than almost all other European capitals - and that is despite its membership of the Euro.

Away from the capital, one must-visit place for your itinerary is Bled with its stunning lake and castle. A walk around the lake is a pleasnt way to spend an hour - and if you're feeling energetic then you can take a rowing boat to the island in the lake and visit the pretty chapel.

Hotel accommodation in Slovenia is comfortable and there are some great deals available on conference venues.

If you'd like more information on Ljubljana or Slovenia then contact Nice Work today.

Frankfurt - one big traffic jam?

To Frankfurt for a trade fair. No matter when you visit this city - or for what event - the place always seems gridlocked!

To be fair most of the major European capital cities suffer from congestion but there's something about this place that really seems to grate! Apart from the odd place around the old part of the city, Frankfurt just seems to reek of Finance and Business - there's none of the Joi de Vie of, say, Paris or Barcelona. It's just business, business, business.

The problem is that whilst everybody seems intent on rushing from one place to another for that next meeting - they can't because the flippin' place has ground to a halt! Shuttle buses from the main Exhibition site in the city to the hotel district were taking up to an hour to cover a distance of no more than a couple of miles.

Frustrating!

However, our stay was brightened by the service we recieved from our hotel hosts for the couple of days we were there. We stayed at the NH Frankfurt City hotel (left) and also enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the newly refurbished Frankfurt Rhein-Main hotel (below) just outside the city. NH are rapidly becoming one of our favourite hotel groups - but to be honest we've had few opportunities to use them - but we have managed at last to match a group with them and we'll be using their Arnhem hotel in November.

We've now stayed with NH in Germany, Holland and the UK - and it's difficult to fault them. If you'd like any information on their services for conferences, meetings or incentive groups, we'd be delighted to tell you more.

But if it's Frankfurt you're looking for - best make your stay as long as you can to cope with that flippin' traffic!