Silverstone Education - Golden Opportunity

‘Silverstone motor racing circuit is to house the first of a new wave of specialist university technical colleges (UTCs)’ – when I read this this morning I was at first intrigued and then inspired.

Although my job is to write and stylise words to fine tune the corporate message – my life started at Lanchester Polytechnic sponsored by Rolls Royce in Coventry.

What a wonderful opportunity Silverstone is going to provide: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-15216987 . Students aged 14 to 16 will combine mainstream studies – English, Maths, Science, PE  etc – with ‘technical studies’. These form 60% of their timetable. Their remaining time is focussed on specialities including high-performance engineering; motor sports; event management and hospitality.

Wow. But like all things new this has its objectors. Many no doubt reject the idea simply because it’s flag ship thinking of the Conservative Party. Others throw scorn because it’s different, radical, hybrid etc etc.

Well, frankly, it’s not that different, radical or hybrid now is it?

Before I was taught milling, grinding and metal work on the shop floor of Rolls Royce’s apprentice school, I did my A levels in a year at Henley College of Further Education (Coventry) – a Technical College.

Whilst I read Chaucer, Keynes and Sartre, their Catering Dept taught cheffing, waiting and hospitality management skills at one end, with mechanical and electrical engineering skills being honed at the other.

Late 70s Coventry understood the values of vocational education. Perhaps even the skills being shared back then were too late for the motor industry, gas turbine manufacture and chemicals processing that preceded the call centres and Council Offices, which now stand in their stead.

This is still an engineering centre with manufacturing ambition – all it needs is investment and skill. At the moment, you are more likely to get the former … but where is the skill?

Political folklore paints an over-generalised picture of a manufacturing wasteland. But these are views based on FT100 despair. We forget that UK Limited is run by SMEs.

Take Double Glazing for instance. Simon Jarman, MD of Everest told James Hurley of the Telegraph in January this year that: “…despite being the second-largest player in the windows-and-doors market by turnover, Everest has just 3% of a fragmented sector.”

At least 80% of this £1.6b industry (IBIS World) is made up of the plethora of small owner / fitter businesses like Streamline Windows, each of whom would like a little more skill from the school-leaver fitter they might hire. Multiply the same problem across the breadth of industry variants across the Midlands alone and the need is the same.

OK. Back to title. A possible downside of the Silverstone association is that every budding engineering student will want to be a Button or a Hamilton (well, a Button at least!). But what’s wrong with ambition and aspiration – nothing at all.

Take a look at Pasquale Lattinedu. Who? Just the nicest man with the best ever job in the world. Colloquially referred to as Bernie’s right hand man, Pasquale is responsible for just about everything logistical at each of the F1 meetings across the world. From Pits to Paddocks, motoring oil to cooking fat, paparazzi to pepperoni. If he hasn’t ticked the box, it just doesn’t happen. As event management goes – this is top of the pops.

So, if a young person gets the chance to learn something exciting at Silverstone UTC and you’re concerned about aimless aspiration – go talk to Pasquale.

ASPIRUS.

www.aspiruscopy.com

Lady Godiva - think of the embarrassment we'd have saved her...

Think of the embarrassment we could have saved Lady Godiva if only she’d used Facebook and Twitter to network her social message as we’re doing for Coventry now:

What I find wonderful about working with words is that the same 26 letters can be used to enhance the presentation of all manner of product and service. Obviously they’re used in a different order and frequency and the syntax varies somewhat, but the basic tools are the same.

I may have to do some research - but that’s on my time not recharged. Getting to know my colloquial way around the plastics moulding industry was fun in June. Once energised, Google responded bravely to my seemingly endless searches for Injection Moulding, Vinyl Dip Moulding, Thermoforming and, well, life just wouldn’t be the same without a little Extrusion.

Re-styling and writing the new web site and promotional portfolio for a Westminster IFA required less on line research but much reading around a once familiar subject.

The aim here was to set the message apart from the ubiquitous competition and inject personality into the prose. The copy needs to reflect the ideal audience, so they recognise themselves in it as they read. And the individual style of the advisors can be stylistically written to pre-empt the initial meeting, preparing the strength of the crucial client / advisor relationship from the out.

So it has been refreshing to contribute to the efforts of Coventry Cathedral’s marketing and communications team. No ‘industry’ research, just fresh ideas and observations drawn on experience and creativity.

Preparations for their 2012 Golden Jubilee celebrations are well under way and involvement has immersed me in some of the rich history that pervades the Cathedral Quarter’s one thousand years of lives, lifestyles and architecture – all of which we’re developing in press and blog story lines as part of the celebration message.

By developing the story rather then revealing the history in one, we build a relationship not only with the press but with the public as well. The reveal is reflected on the web sub-site and the whole thing is to be balanced with a social networking campaign.

Targeting and motivating local communities - schools, families, colleges etc - needs a fine tuned message across multiple media to deliver it.

Think of the embarrassment we could have saved Lady Godiva if only she’d used Facebook and Twitter to network her social message as we’re doing for Coventry now.

http://www.aspiruscopy.com/

Of Web Copy, Needles and Haystacks.

Too often I look at a web site and shudder at the blinding volume of visual noise that throws a smokescreen of confusion across a miss-match of magazine-style headline options. Behind this is an astonishing Pandora’s Box of pagination revealing layer after layer of promises but no real corporate ethos, personality and service. Well, it might be in the haystack somewhere.

Traditional services and professional practices tend to do one of two things – they brief a web designer and buy on price, or they syndicate to their professional body’s stock site, filling the gaps with their own images, messages and USP’s … but all too often not even that.

Financial Services is a case in point. But, Accountancy and Legal practices are not far behind in their decade of transition from ‘faceless necessity’ to ‘hip groovy friend of the people’ … “follow me on Facebook and we’ll tweet you the latest happenings”.

Slow down chaps.

I need advice in forming a partnership; dealing with probate; establishing a trust; acquiring a business; setting up a group pension scheme.

I want more traditional gravitas and less ‘I wanna be your best mate innit!’

There is nothing wrong (and everything right with) applying traditional writing skills to any communication platform befitting the business / client exchange. From web site to brochure; newsletter to blog; letter to e-mail. Your 140 character tweets can even be fine tuned to deliver the message appropriate to the nature of the business.

To return to the Financial Services business web site – by having us lend a commercially attuned ear to the practitioners’ explanation of their business and the type of person fitting their ‘ideal customer’ match, they’re now the proud owners of a fresh armoury of new business development materials:

They have long copy letters targeted by client segment that Drayton Bird (Mr long-copy guru) would be delighted with. They have corporate and personal bios on LinkedIn that reflect the personalities of the persons involved. They have follow up materials that rally the initial proposition, in style and tone as well as the content itself.

And, they have a web site. One different from stock IFA sites. A site carrying virtually oral qualities, written in digestible, relevant, informative prose. One of character, cadence and clarity.

Plain English, plain speaking, pure correspondence. Words that work.

www.aspiruscopy.com

Great Knights off Libya's Thundery Shores

We were just 40 short miles from the busy shores and ports of Libya, where refugees queued with fear behind them and uncertainty ahead.

Inbound, arms and expertise to fuel and influence the war were being exchanged for shallow promises of loyalty and ongoing supplies of oil in whatever new Libya might eventually unfold.

A lone Bell UH-1N Twin Huey helicopter of the Armed Forces of Malta flew low along the shore line on one of its twice daily patrols.

The memorable phwhud phwhud phwhud of its rotors announced the presence of its authorityto ensure that any overloaded floating refugee camps continue north towards Italy.

The uproar would be enough to rock the poolside cocktails if, heaven forbid, one were to slip the net and dock alongside a sleek Manhattan 63 of the plentiful Sunseeker range docked in Portomaso’s Marina adjacent to the Hilton here on Malta’s steadfast rock.

It’s only because my mind was fuelled by a particularly good thriller (a lightweight Peter Robinson but a great post conference read) that I noticed even this much activity. Poolside, Hilton, Portomaso at St Julian, Malta was disturbed only by the gentle rustle of the palms overhead and the occasional gloup of a bubble easing through the sea of mint to break the surface of my Mojito.

It is so pleasing, to the point of shock and disbelief, to fly somewhere (in just under 3 hours) where the British are so welcome – rare indeed. Here still the post and phone boxes are red, the steering wheel is where you’d expect it to be and they drive on the left hand side of the road … mostly!

Laptop now resting in my Marina-view room and replete from a breakfast befitting the Knights themselves, today my breakout room was a quiet sun lounge with deck service from the bar and ‘Bad Boy’ – my book.

The Hilton Resort Hotels are a different breed to their standard native city series. You can’t compare the two even though they fly the same flag. Take the formulaic service levels of the resort hotels and add the kindness and culture of the Maltese people and you put icing on the Hilton cake in Portomaso.

The Hotel itself has several dining experiences. Poolside dining is an option, though fewer covers are available than requested. But note, for corporates and incentive groups, these guys are well versed in setting up a privatised al fresco function with choreography worthy of the Queen’s Birthday Celebration Parade.

The atmosphere of the Bottega del Vino is very pleasant and the food excellent. For an Asian interruption to Mediterranean cuisine the elegant Blue Elephant Thai repertoire can be savoured from its private deck overlooking the Marina. Dining beyond the hotel is an extensive must with something for every palate and pocket.

We enjoyed one of the best Indian meals ever – and we’re based in the Midlands so there was much to beat. Equally, squid, octopus, barracuda, shark, bass and bream are just part of the local catch to be enjoyed in any one of the dozens of water side restaurants in the old Spinola Bay. The flavours are Mediterranean, the influence Italian, the result wonderful, and great value.

For a pizza with attitude, you have to try Raffael’s Restaurant where fellow guests applaud the arrival of the truly enormous Calzone Bolognese – comparable in size only to Desperate Dan’s Cowpat Pie.

Chic this is not, so if you want to wear the sleeker threads you hauled all the way through Gatwick then the Marina Restaurants at Portomaso are a must, at least for one lunch or evening.

There are eight establishments set together and tiered overlooking the chandlers’ dream and boat voyeur’s steamy high below. The boats reflect a chic wealth in their gleaming chrome and the restaurants are priced accordingly.

That intimated, there is a good range and if you’re sensible with the wine selection (how does that work again!?) you may still get it through on expenses.

'Do Brazil' kills cows and grills them before your hungry eyes. Al Molo offers a fine Italian menu. The Spoon is Chinese, whilst Zen offers a delightfully refined Japanese alternative.

Nightlife is extensive in St Julian. From The Hilton, one of several Casinos on Malta is right on the doorstep adjacent to the Conference Centre. Next to this, 22 is a bar on the Tower’s 22^nd floor but you’ll have to tell me what you think as it and its architecturally naïve home is way beyond my social comfort zone.

If you have to walk more than 4 minutes to find what you are looking for, then you’ve taken a wrong turn – or Portomaso is not for you.

Our thanks go once again to United Travel our Destination partners in Malts & Gozo - truly superb.

ASPIRUS

Incentive Travel

02476 609 104

A piece of the Middle East – insh’a Allah

It was just eighteen short months ago that I was in Cairo on an inspection trip, building the itinerary for a group incentive.

For over 4,500 years the Great Pyramids of Giza have stood over the extraordinary bloody turmoil that has blighted and corrupted the countries evolving in the geographic arc from Turkey round to Morocco to this very day.

Eighteen months ago we marvelled at the relics of an ancient world dubbed the creation of civilisation. Having just finished reading “Jerusalem – the Biography” by Simon Sebag Montefiore it is easier to understand the current conflicts and the desperate history on which they are based. In Syria this morning the Sunni majority population hurled makeshift missiles at the tanks of Bashar al-Assad’s Shia Government, their sandals kicking up clouds of four thousand years of skeletal dust and decay.

One of the overpowering feelings of hope that quite literally warmed my heart as I spoke with our Egyptian partners and their staff came from the fact that here, in the sweltering heat of down town Cairo on the soulful banks of the River Nile, Arab worked and lived hand in hand and side by side with Christian.

We cast off on a felucca excursion as Nile traders had done for hundreds of years. Our guide, Muhamed Samy, was a professor at the University, is so knowledgeable and a joy to listen to. When asked he said that he, Arab, lived alongside Christian ‘because it is so’.

It was Ramadan at the time. Muhamed and Rehab sat with the little water they were permitted in the mid day heat, whilst we guests and Egyptian Christian hosts enjoyed a cool beer and hearty on-board buffet.

The problem with ‘because it is so’, is that it can so easily become ‘not so’.

Sadly it seems that ‘not so’ is becoming the new ‘so’ in Cairo. There appeared to be a settling down after the removal of Hosni Mubarak, but this was possibly more of a lull after the euphoria of the people’s apparent triumph over thirty years of an oppressive regime.

Jordan was an up and coming Incentive Travel destination, which is now in the danger zone. Egypt, well Cairo and the Nile delta regions are a risk not worth taking. Tunisia is troubled, though The Residence north of Tunis Airport is still most definitely worth the effort.

Skip on round the southern Med and even Morocco has joined the worrying loss of safe place status thanks to the recent bomb attack in Jamaa el Fna in its famous Medina quarter.

Nil desperandum – there is still a world of safe adventure and innocent play waiting to host your Incentive Travel winners. And we’re not referring to the recent well publicised American ‘team building’ event in Abbottabad, including abseiling, paint-balling and dawn panoramas by helicopter.

We’ve a Maltese recce in a couple of weeks. Despite its close proximity to Libya (being just 60k offshore), its fortifications have seen off better men and open warmly still to welcome deserved guests.

Yes, you may see the odd Tornado fly over heading south from Italy and double take at the dolphin as it breaks water, which could be a sub launched cruise. But Potomaso still suns itself peacefully in sartorial elegance, serviced by The Hilton and a wonderful array of chic boutiques, bars, restaurants and clubs.

The genesis of multiculturalism has decipherable records dating back nearly five thousand years and still can’t make up its mind where it wants to be and how it’s going to share.

Travel is a faux blend of cultural mix but still offers those who partake of it a glorious array of colour, character and cuisine far from the mundane pressures of meeting targets and managing domestic life.

For those who believe in the values of Travel as an Incentive, there will always be a new horizon worth working for – insh’a Allah.

Make a difference to your sales and staff motivation

by calling me directly today on

07500 896 783

 

INSPIRING WORDS - getting your mojo back for Spring

Thanks to colleagues at eCircle who hosted the Connect Europe 2011 conference for Digital Marketers I returned from London tired but inspired.

The fatigue came from the post conference party downstairs in The Grange Hotel, St Paul’s own nightclub – great hotel, great venue … despite running out of Guinness on Paddy’s Day.

The inspiration came from the speakers, other delegates and phenomenal exchange of thought.

Top of the pops was Dan Cobley from Google. He is the VP Marketing for North & Central Europe. His words were music to my ears (but then I am beginning to worry about me and my unhealthily obsessive relationship with words (http://www.aspiruscopy.com/)).

From the mouth of this representative of one of the foremost exponents of all matters digital Dan said: “Digital Marketing is DEAD”. No, he wasn’t throwing in the towel, Dan was extolling the virtues of Marketing Integration.

During one of the breakout Seminars, Graham Ellor of EHS 4D Discovery (formerly Brann) spoke about how Diageo embraced eCRM. Their greatest sticking point seemed to be the inertia of Diageo's creative agencies who needed to move away from the pretty and into the practical, addressing problems like pics not opening to most browsers and messaging succinctly within the preview page, giving maximum pre-opening sales impact. This was just five years ago, which had a double interest to me because I was trying to teach Gleneagles' agency the same thing ten years ago (Gleneagles is owned by Diageo).

Dan Cobley opened the conference and we were lucky enough to hear from Steve Robinson, CEO of M&M Direct, who wound up the technical presentations prior to a light but humorous keynote speech by Duncan Bannatyne on the subject of … well, Duncan Bannatyne.

Back to Steve who has been a hands on e-commercialist for fifteen years. He looked back ten years and across the period when you were nothing if you didn’t have an ‘e’ prefix to at least one part of your business. Steve recognised the ‘bust’ when, after initial innovative rush, the follow through didn’t come and the eee’s were dropped.

Then we got wise, data grew, analysis exponentialised opportunity and at last technology and data knowledge sat (sit) together to provide the most powerful marketing tools of all time.

Steve closed looking forward ten years and showed just how ‘joined up’ this conference had been, certainly for me. As Dan had spoken of Marketing Integration in the morning, so Steve closed in similar cohesion. He spoke of the move from e-commerce to o-commerce – omni-commerce.



From this...



Despite the tools, data, knowledge and skills at our fingertips to use the web, e-mails and ‘phones as core marketing vehicles we have to employ the breadth and explore the depth of communicative vehicles and language to reach, listen to and support our audience whether B2C or B2B.

OK, what’s this got to do with Incentive Travel?



Well, nothing and everything really. Whether your business organisation is national or global; whether it employs staff or networks through self-employed or franchised service outlets, your staff, outlets and franchisees are your primary customer. If they are not HAPPY, if they’re not MOTIVATED they are not going to deliver the end sales you need to keep your shareholders in the manner to which they ASPIRE (that word again!).



Perhaps not at the same level as M&M Direct. Certainly not with the same diversity as Amazon. Maybe even without the skills that eCircle have to offer in the world of digital communications … But to keep your key players on board, happy, pulling in the parallel they need to be motivated.



...to this !



Motivation needs effective communication using quality tools and qualified language across your intranet, e-mail, staff blog, Twitter to hear what they want and give them the benefit of Travel as an Incentive to which they can ASPIRE.

For INSPIRING WORDS: http://www.aspiruscopy.com/

ASPIRE    ACHIEVE    REWARD

0044 (0) 2476 609 104

Communicate to Motivate: WORDS – a NEW SERVICE from 'ASPIRUS Words'

 

A Travel based Incentive can’t really work as hard as it should unless it is sold to the sales force. They need to learn about the destination and be inspired by the buzz of participation that winning a place will mean, so that it truly motivates additional net effort and sales.

 

So - packaging, writing and communicating the benefits is as important as sourcing the right destination and building an inspired itinerary.

In this the era of diversification and playing to strengths, we are pleased to announce the launch of ASPIRUS Words:

 

http://www.aspiruswords.com/

  

Thanks to 20 years in Direct Response Marketing & Advertising, Direct and CRM Communication, the skills used to package and sell global destinations as incentives is now available outside of this arena.

 

The media base to talk to your staff and / or customer base is now broader than ever. The corporate message may well be singular, but the words that package it should change from medium to medium, to best fit their environment:

 

Brochure

Web

Blog

Mail

E-Mail

Tweet

Script

 

B2B and B2C both must understand the social networking opportunities enveloping contemporary and traditional communication platforms.

 

ASPIRUS Words offers the opportunity to out-source or in-source this copywriting skill. The service is available for Incentive, Travel and general corporate communication tasks. Use it project-based or retained to manage communication continuum.

• From long copy letters to bulleted KSPs;
• wistful brochure copyline to technical operating procedures;  
• hand-holding click click action through the website; 
• new ways with old words on the blog;
• even e-mails need to say what you mean so the reader does what you want them to;
• and when it comes to fine tuning the task to 140 meaningful characters ... the Tweet is on (73).

copy that counts

&

words that work

now available from ASPIRUS Words 

call Rodney Bashford on 02476 609 104

rodneybashford@btinternet.com

 

 

 

 

Financial Prudence, Motivational Inspiration

Steering your motivational
assets to achieve their goal

You just have to ask businesses like Peugeot, whose top dealers are off to Singapore; KPMG, who are planning event opportunities in Hong Kong; and parcel delivery company Yodel, who are implementing a travel based employee reward scheme – why travel works as an incentive.

Cash as an incentive is retrospective, already spent, just scratching the surface of a MasterCard bill.

Travel (if correctly planned, promoted and applied) looks forward. It’s something to aim for, work harder for. The achievement is a real buzz. The event itself enables social team and corporate bonding, mentoring, fun, enjoyment. True reward for truly incremental effort. It’s something to remember, to share with colleagues on return and to work to achieve again next time.

But - you can’t just pull a destination, venue and itinerary off the shelf and expect what worked for one organisation to be equally motivational for another.

Take time to understand the audience and intentions. Who are the staff, distributors, franchisees and what makes them tick. What do their employers want to achieve and what ‘value’ do they put on the package? Is it just a top achiever reward or a competition based driver to push additional net business across the board.

Ironically it’s the lower budget incentive schemes that need more effort, innovation and creativity than the big budget Singapore and Hong Kong top achiever events. If you can’t deliver the wow factor from HK’s plethora of super luxury hotels, Michelin starred restaurants and glamorous night life then there’s something very wrong. 


Low budget inspiration for a well-travelled client was delivered last year with two nights in Annecy for 30 top achievers and their partners - yes Annecy.

When you've done all the capital cities and travel hot spots, it's time to step off the usual well-trod paths of venue sourcing.

Annecy is the picture postcard Savoyarde town on the northern banks of Lake Annecy. This hidden gem is circled by the snow capped mountains of the Rhône-Alpes and is reached after an hour’s picturesque coach ride from Geneva.

The Thiou River drops via the dramatic gorge, flowing through the town into the lake whose waters are the cleanest in Europe and reach a comfortable 24°C in the summer months.

Canals add to the waterways dissecting the geranium-clad restaurants, cafes, bars and boutiques to add a Venetian flavour to the cultural heritage of this French theatre.

The lake is a playground, busy with boats both sail and power. The water buses, boat taxis and rental power boats take visitors to picturesque villages and hideaway restaurants that are dotted around its 30KM circumference.

Hobbie Cats zip over the surface dodging water-skiers’ arcs of crisp clear water, yet the noise is somehow lost, absorbed in the hillsides and dramatic mountain peaks that encircle the fun packed scene.

There is so much to do, see, taste and savour that the itinerary is a challenge of exclusion rather than inclusion. Much will depend on the chosen hotel.

The obvious lakeside palatial venue is the Imperial Palace (left), a short distance from Annecy’s bustling centre. It understands and provides for conference and corporate visitors, has its own casino, three restaurants, spa and lake access.

Less obvious is a thirty minute boat ride to the tiny village of Talloires (below right) where l’Abbaye de Talloires’ 17^th Century features reflect elegantly in the calm waters of the lake. Guests are here to enjoy its serenity and calm, to sip cocktails on the services pontoon after a delightful swim in the lake.

Locally, restaurants offer less gastronomic but equally tempting Savoy cuisine.

One of the group lunches must include it to taste the fabulous fresh fish, such as whitebait and trout; cheese, including Tome des Bauges and Reblochon, and the classic Savoy dishes: tartiflette, raclette and fondue.

Success is dependent upon: how closely the event is tailored to the profile of the audience; how well it is packaged and promoted to them to drive sales and effort; and how it delivers value for money in terms of budget, its management and the 'wow factor' that even a provincial French town  by a lake can deliver - with a little creativity and innovation from its planners.

02476 609 104

ASPIRE   ACHIEVE   REWARD

Wonderful Wonderful - the varsatility of corporately accessible COPENHAGEN

Hamlet’s life would have been less of a tragedy if Shakespeare had only been able to look to the future and see life in 21^st century Copenhagen, as it is today.

Ooosing cosmopolitan cool with its theatrical back-drop of copper towers and spires, Copenhagen is a city of easy living, filled with cafés, restaurants, museums, fountains, statues and squares, all humoured by playful street musicians and colourful performers.

No princely rage amid a life of treachery, incest, revenge and corrupt morals could befit the bard’s pen today. Author and subject would be intoxicated with joy, tasting the latest cocktail at Ruby’s, dining at the Michelin Starred Herman Restaurant or experiencing taste-busting New Nordic cuisine at Noma.

The Prince would most definitely have found a more suiting bride simply by hanging out in the bars and café of the Meat Packing district or waterside at Nyhaven docks. The city is surrounded by water, threaded with canals and hugged by the sea - the maritime atmosphere is indelible and at night the centre is illuminated by the 100,000 glittering lights of Tivoli Gardens.

Residents of the ancient Kingdom of Denmark hung up their horned helmets and shored their longboats long ago and now invest their energies in cutting edge design. Copenhagen is one of Europe’s exciting centres of contemporary art, modern architecture and stylish living.

A word foremost in Danish minds is hyggelige meaning cosy. Hyggelige is reflected in the ambiance, furnishing and character of just about every hotel, bar and restaurant whose warmth and welcome is all part of the unique Danish sense of wellbeing and conviviality.

As an Incentive Travel destination, Copenhagen is possibly one of the most versatile short haul cities in Europe.

According to GQ Magazine, Copenhagen is one of the best places to laze away the day in one (or several) of its many al fresco restaurants and bars.

It’s easy to get to, easy to get to know and easy to get around. The range of hotels and variety of à la carte entertainment make it as fitting a venue for three hundred chaps on an unaccompanied bean feast as it is smaller ‘sophisticated’ crème de la crème staying with partners.

Two favourite hotels are l’Angleterre which stands proudly in its central location on the King’s New Square near the north end of Stroget pedestrian street where boutiques cafes and restaurants abound.

Regarded as Copenhagen's Grande Dame, this 250 year old mansion has housed everyone from Hans Christian Anderson to Michael Jackson. 

If you want no more than a dozen luxurious rooms, we can use the Nimb hotel whose features are as iconic to Copenhagen as Tivoli Gardens which each room overlooks.

Sit in front of your own open fire nursing a fine old cognac and look out over her sparkle, fun and endless frolics.

There is so much to do that groups can spend a fun-filled, successful time with a light informal itinerary, which delivers effectiveness from an ‘informal budget’.

But to formalise an action-packed dawn till dusk itin followed by group dining in a variety of restaurants with a fantasia of entertaining accompaniment is a question of choice, there being so very much to see and do.

For such a stylish city, why not arrive in style. From the airport it is five minutes to the small harbour village of Dragor where we board a beautiful square rigged wooden schooner.

En route the group is entertained by accordion players and served a Danish buffet lunch washed down with the first aquavit of many.

What an arrival. What a city.

In the words of Danny Kaye – wonderful wonderful:





Click below to see our Danny singing

Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen



To discuss Travel as an Incentive for your company
call ASPIRUS on 02476 609 104

your successful staff could soon enjoy their reward

in The Bard, The Prince and Danny Kaye's emotive Copenhagen

Other fine cities and countries can be their reward globally too.

ASPIRE     ACHIEVE     REWARD