Not only was it Shrove Tuesday today but it was also the first event in the Fusion calendar for 2011 and what better place to be than doing a Teaser event at one of our newest members, the Kingsmills Hotel.
We were warmly welcomed to the hotel by Craig Ewan who gave us a brief run through of his background, his career and then moved onto the history of the hotel. It was fascinating to hear that during World War 2 the hotel was the HQ for the Northern Fire Brigade. Craig also told us that they had recently found some very old marketing materials which described the hotel as "the country hotel in the city" - a description that fits today as well.
We heard about the operational problems in running a hotel and the effect on the business of recession, ash clouds and snow. Wintry conditions have not only meant that guests couldn't get to the hotel to check in but they also meant guests weren't able to leave too.
We were left in no doubt about Craigs passion for the industry and it was interesting to note that he referred to the team at Kingsmills as associates, a small but significant difference. Then we were off to have a look round the hotel but for once we also went behind the scenes and had a look at the back of house areas including the kitchen - what a very accommodating chef!
After our tour we headed back and enjoyed discussion over pancakes - personally I think these should be a feature of all future networking events. The Teaser was a great opportunity to know all about the Kingsmills and gain valuable insights and business tips. We hope that Fusion members will be keen to visit again - it may be worth checking out a discount site called Groupon on Thursday for a special offer related to the Kingsmills and there are also plenty of great offers on their Facebook page including a swim lunch offer for only £15.
The Kingsmills Hotel will also be the venue for our Fusion conference on the 17th and 18th of November and you can find details of this and all our upcoming events on our Fusion events page here.
It was great to see so many different companies meeting and connecting at the event today and just illustrates again that Fusion is open to any business from any sector. Fusion is all about support, it's about networking, it's about us networking on members behalfs and it's about just being with similar people to you. Why not have a look at the benefits of being a Fusion member here
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