The depths of rural Derbyshire in mid-winter… it was never going to be an ‘average’ Christmas party. Leaving our bustling city centre offices behind we ventured to the beautiful Gradbach Mill, nestled in a secluded tree topped valley – our DFC base for the next 24 hours.

Hilarity ensued quickly during our ‘Pecha Kucha’ slide offerings. For those not familiar with the Japanese concept to prevent ‘death by Powerpoint’, in essence a set of image-only slides which automatically advance after 20 seconds allowing the speaker succinct time to impart their wisdom.

So what did we learn about each other in response to the pre-set questions including ‘what is the scariest thing you’ve ever done?’ and ‘what would be your first purchase after a £100m lottery win?’. Unsurprisingly, everyone was family-focused, something that DFC prides itself on supporting. We learnt team fears ranged from the unknown through to throwing yourself off tall buildings on a piece of elastic, that some family pets were loathed and that most of us are ‘foodies’.

Following a Director-led update about the growing team at DFC, the business plan and the bright future ahead, we donned varying numbers of layers (from ‘not cold enough for a jumper’ to ‘lagged boiler’) and headed off to become Bear Gyrlls for the afternoon.

Under expert tuition from ‘Moorlands Bushcraft’ we wielded knives to whittle down logs, built and started campfires, boiled water in our kelly kettles, toasted marshmallows and competitively built dens.

The time flew by. We laughed, focused, breathed fresh air and switched off. Some grabbed the opportunity of a pre-dinner ramble in the breathtaking countryside, whilst others relaxed in the hot tub or enjoyed a game of pool.

As Christmas parties go, this was epic. No luke-warm turkey offering in a hotel banqueting suite for us! The DFC team was given the chance to relax, breathe and revitalise. We got to know each other, forge friendships spanning our three offices and gather laughter lines.

We returned to work refreshed, ready for pre-Christmas busyness and excited about all 2019 has in store for DFC.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Words by Anna Hutchinson

Images of our time at Gradbach can be found in the gallery below.