16 September 2024
Nearly 50 twentyfifty colleagues gathered in Barcelona, Spain, last week for our annual team event. We reconnected, celebrated our company’s 20th anniversary and explored how we can continue to be pioneers in our work with businesses and their commitments to respecting human rights.
At twentyfifty, we envision a world in which sustainable and responsible businesses thrive, where everyone, everywhere, lives in dignity and flourishes. This year’s retreat presented another step towards bringing that vision to life by celebrating our story and embracing our past, present and future.
Colleagues from across the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Africa met at a sustainable hotel located in a stunning nature reserve, for learning, discussion and networking, as well as relaxation, fun activities and a well-earned party!
Looking to the future
The all-company retreat offered an essential opportunity to think more deeply together about the twentyfifty model, mission and strategy. In focused sessions, we reflected on how far we’ve come as a business, and enjoyed thought-provoking discussions about the services we offer, and the ways in which we can make them even more valuable for clients.
We considered the Human Rights and Business landscape as it currently stands – and how it is being shaped by legislation – and took time to learn from twentyfifty consultants who have previously been clients themselves. We then looked ahead to the next twenty years to explore how we can continue to innovate for businesses and their supply chains in the context of a fast-changing and often unpredictable world.
It was important to take some time to explore our impact too. Several of our colleagues illustrated how they are working with forward-thinking companies to ensure that the changes they implement now will truly transform operations and bring about positive effects, for both business and people, well into the future.
Culture and storytelling
Alongside learning and discussion, the team enjoyed personal development through fun colleague-led workshops on a ‘storytelling’ theme. Sessions ranged from smartphone photography, to recognising bias in photography, to telling the twentyfifty story and making our writing more powerful.
We learned about the fascinating history and culture of the beautiful Catalonia region, and there were plenty of opportunities for colleagues to get involved with a scavenger hunt, forest walks, crafting, contributing to a creative ‘tapestry’ of imagery and key takeaways from the event, and even group singing!
Employee recognition – and relaxation!
Each year, the Employee of the Year Award recognises a twentyfifty colleague for their outstanding work. This year was no exception as, during a lively celebratory dinner, the award was presented to senior consultant Gurdeep Mall.
Gurdeep is incredibly hard-working, well-respected by clients and popular among colleagues – not to mention having a sharp sense of humour! He truly lives the twentyfifty values of compassion, commitment, creativity and curiosity and is a great role model for the team. (Enjoy an article that he wrote recently, about meaningful rightsholder engagement, here.)
Chocolate-based awards were also handed out for several colleagues, including the rightsholder engagement hero (Daisy Banda) the sportiest (Rebecca Webb), the funniest (Guy Wilson), the coolest at their desk (Madeleine Mauwer), the snack champion (Julieta Hierl), the best-dressed (Luke Wilde), the party animal (Frankie Whitwell) and the LinkedIn pro (Hazel Culley)! And, of course, after dinner, colleagues were able to let their hair down and throw shapes on the dance floor.
The twentyfifty team event has taken place each year thanks to founder and chief executive Luke Wilde. Luke says:
“The twentyfifty annual team event is always a valuable opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and focus on what we have achieved and our incredible potential both as a company and as individuals. As 2024 is our company’s 20th anniversary, it felt like a particularly important milestone: a great time to reflect on the past and look ahead to our future.
“Seeing the team all come together in celebration, I can’t help but feel proud of – and inspired by – their sheer talent, and the motivation and passion they bring to contributing to a sustainable society by helping businesses on their human rights journeys.”
