Our first annual garden summer party for staff

The Thakeham family reunites for first-ever Summer Party

This summer over 200 of our colleagues were invited to attend the very first Thakeham garden summer party at Kew’s botanical garden at Wakehurst. The event was designed as a post-pandemic thanks to everyone who worked through two years of a precarious time often working remotely and missing that interaction staff used to get on a day-to-day basis, especially for new starters.

Most importantly we gathered as a chance to reflect, celebrate, and relax on another year of remarkable growth in uncertain times.

Handmade with love

The party was set as a traditional garden theme with a British twist in correlation to the Queen’s platinum jubilee last month.

Guests were guided through to the main lawn by our own Thakeham branded signage. We recycled old pallets from the site to stay true to our sustainable core value, handmade with love by our colleagues who took the time to paint and repurpose for the event.

Sustainability was considered in every minute detail from all furniture being a product of old apple crates and cutlery also being sustainable.

Complimentary drinks were offered on arrival while our harpist added ambience to the area in preparation for the most important thing…the food!

We kicked it off with traditional garden games to get the blood pumping before settling into a gourmet BBQ, followed by pudding. As the sun started to set The Delorans band made sure everyone was up and filling the dance floor below an amazing sail tent provided by Love Tipis, not to mention the glorious weather making it the perfect night!

As an infrastructure-led business, continuous growth can be challenging, meaning we have to be adaptable, motivated and passionate as a team. Despite a lot of us spending time working from home and not having social interaction with old and new colleagues, the ethos of teamwork remains.

Thakeham would be nothing without the people who drive this business. This is more than just a summer party but a sincere thank you to the whole team for everything achieved, we hope everyone enjoyed themselves, you all deserve it!

A special thanks to Nicky Marsh & The HR team who took time out of their busy workload to make this all possible

Wakehurst

Wakehurst, Kew’s Is home to the millennium seed bank, the most substantial and diverse collection of threatened and useful wild plants, making it the most biodiverse place on the planet.

Situated in the High Weald of Sussex, the grounds include over 500 acres of land filled with the world’s plants, including temperature woodlands.

”RBG Kew launched its 10-year strategy Our Manifesto for Change 2021-2030. The institution’s goal is to step up to help to end the extinction crisis and contribute to creating a world where nature is protected, valued by all and managed sustainably. In the wake of a global pandemic, and with the future of the planet in peril, the strategy represents a public commitment by RBG Kew to do everything in its power to reverse the environmental devastation of biodiversity loss and climate change.”

Royal Botanical Gardens Kew