The Travel Retail Consortium (TRC) settled at the Botley Park Hotel,
Southampton, UK for its annual retailer weekend. An exciting itinerary awaited the members of
the Travel Retail Consortium plus guests and partners, giving suppliers the
opportunity to mix with airport retailers, airlines, ferries/cruise-ships and
distributors/agents for this strictly social weekend in June.
A drinks
reception welcomed members and guests on the Friday evening, with an
introduction to the Sailing Regatta by Simon Hedley giving attendees a glimpse
into their upcoming Saturday of sailing. A BBQ on the hotel terrace followed, whilst a charity
tombola with prizes kindly donated by suppliers was held throughout the
evening. On Saturday guests were divided
into teams for a day of sailing on the Solent, experiencing a beautifully sunny
but windy day. The teams faced tough but
highly enjoyable conditions whilst they raced towards the Isle of Wight and
learnt how to manage the stunning yachts. The winning sailing team, ‘Stuart’s
of Rod’ consisted of Corin Lehmann, Andy Hoile (Guinness), Andrew Hunter, Karen
Hunter (Guinness), Brooke MacPherson, Matthew Popek (Harding Retail), Becci
Calver and Philip Elliott (Taittinger Champagne).
After returning slightly battered and bruised, the Fair
Oak Suite hosted the ‘Summer on the Solent’ Gala Dinner. Ladies wore their fancy frocks and the men
donned their bow ties, with everyone enjoying a champagne reception. This was followed by a delicious dinner and
the chance to dance the night away to Simply Swing. As is tradition, bacon rolls were served to
all surviving guests at 1am.
During the evening a £5 in the pot charity draw saw an
additional £500 raised for the TRC Chairman’s dedicated charity Guillain Barre Syndrome.
With £400 already collected from the Friday night’s tombola. Chairman Peter Ayling auctioned off a magnum
of Champagne on behalf of Champagne Taittinger to increase the total raised to
£1020.
Says Anthony Fletorides, General Manager, DFASS UK LTD, “Once again the TRC held a great event that allowed everyone
to interact, meet new people and have great fun. Sailing was a new activity for me and I
certainly enjoyed it. The gala dinner
and evening was enjoyable too and I even won a prize - very nice.”
Assistant Buyer, Caitlin Allen, Harding
Retail comments, “This
was my first Travel Retail Consortium event and it certainly did not
disappoint. Sailing was a perfect way to
meet new people whilst having a lot of fun and I was made to feel very welcome
by everyone who was involved. The entire
weekend was beautifully organised from start to finish and it was truly a privilege
to be part of such a fantastic event.”
Buyer, Anthony Faull, Tourvest
Inflight Retail Services, “Had a great time catching up with old friends and
meeting some new people. I found the whole weekend to be a great break , well
organised and it ran like clockwork. Can’t wait to see how they are going to
top this one next year.”
“I would like to thank everyone who helped to make this weekend such a
success. The TRC has always run quite
safe events previously and I wanted to organize something different, which
according to the feedback has definitely paid off” says Peter Ayling, TRC
Chairman. “We are a unique industry, one
which relies on close relationships. Events
like the TRC weekend are vital to make new relationships and strengthen
existing ones. I will be thinking hard
as to how we can better this in 2016.”
The amazing photographs were taken by Paul Wyeth Marine Photography. Paul specializes in photographing Marine
products and sporting events with an emphasis on getting right to the heart of
the action. Delivering creative images
for a wide range of clients. Paul’s work
is featured in Marine and lifestyle publications in the UK and overseas, some
of which can be viewed at pwpictures.com
Notes to editors: The Travel Retail Consortium was originally conceived in the late 1960s
and formalised in 1971 to further the interests and development of the Travel
Retail Industry within the UK through the member companies
The organisation's objectives are to improve standards of
business within the travel retail industry, promote members’ products and services,
discuss industry issues and provide social and business networking
opportunities for key industry customers and members'
representatives at annual events. The TRC is also active in raising funds
for charity and the Chairman nominates a charity of his choice during his
tenure.
For membership enquiries
please contact Peter Ayling at peterayling@hatch.co.uk
TRC members are: Aeon, Accolade Wines, Aurora World , Coty
Prestige, Guinness, Heineken, Imperial Tobacco International, Invu, Mars,
Morgan & Oates, Rémy Cointreau, Sekonda,
Taittinger Champagne & Twinings.
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