Kylie Clark, Senior Office Administrator

 

A few weeks ago, back in November, I was invited to speak at Lochaber’s Ideas Week – a week run by the Lochaber Chamber of Commerce where they bring together the businesses and stakeholders within their area to discuss different topics that affect them all and invite guest speakers within particular industries as case studies. I was speaking on the Tuesday which focused on ‘tourism’ and presented Bowhouse as a case study for agri-tourism. It really pushed me out of my comfort zone but I relished the challenge and it was a great event to be part of.

At the end of November we held a team ‘walk and talk’ which I organise quarterly. We focus on a different department each time and the whole Balcaskie team meet up and the chosen department show us what they have been up to recently and the plans they have going forward. This time it was the turn of the Forestry department where we took the tractor and trailer to Falfield followed by drinks and nibbles at the Inn at Lathones. As we have such a diverse team and job range on the estate, organising events like this is a fun and interactive way to bring everyone together and learn what’s happening across the estate.

December seen not only our busiest Christmas market but our busiest market ever at Bowhouse! I work as part of the team who organise and set up the markets so it was all hands on deck decorating tress, putting up lights, building stalls and dressing the place up to get everyone in the festive spirit. However, once the weekend was upon us I didn’t even set foot in the market itself, instead I was in the car park directing traffic and pushing out cars from our incredibly muddy car park which suffered after having so much rain the weeks leading up to the market weekend…. Not that that had any affect on my own Christmas spirit at all, I loved every second of working that market and all the customers were lovely and patient as we all worked our hardest to ensure that everyone had a positive experience.

Last weekend was our Balcaskie Christmas day/evening, another social event that I have been organising over the past few weeks. Each year we try to do something a little different so this time we organised a car treasure hunt around East Fife, we brought in an experienced quiz master to create the quiz and threw in some extra challenges for all of the teams to compete in – the car karaoke was a hit, as was the many many creative selfies! We finished the whole day off with a meal at Balgove Steak Barn and drinks in St Andrews. As with most businesses, the staff Christmas party is a big social event and making sure that you do something that everyone enjoys and getting the logistics right was a big job but seeing everyone having a great time made everything worthwhile!