On November 11th 2009, Bales Worldwide held our annual World Travel Market dinner, to say thank you to all of the travel specialists who help us to provide our customers with the very best travel experiences.
This year the dinner was held at Formans Fish Island, the oldest salmon smokery in the UK, and the closest venue to the new 2012 Olympic stadium. Formans Fish Island may seem like an unusual choice of venue (fish is not something that springs to mind when you think of an elegant dinner) however the evening was fun, and unique which is a true representation of Bales.
Over 130 guests gathered at the venue, and were treated to a cooking demonstration by a world record breaking chef. The demonstration took place in the factory, where guests sported blue hair nets, and gloves. After learning how to de-bone a salmon in record time, guests were escorted upstairs to the dining room, which was beautifully decorated in the Bales blue.
Of course, every dinner is not complete with out a speech or two and much to the guests delight, both were amusing, 
and heart felt. Mrs Bales (Life President) kicked off the speeches, and told past stories of travel experiences, that were both surprising and very funny. Then Mandy Nickerson (Managing Director) took to the stage with a short dance to “girls just want to have fun”, the dance got the guests spirits high, and set the tone for the evening. Mandy’s speech (when she had finally stopped dancing), encouraged all the guests to get creative and think of new and exciting ideas for travel experiences and destinations.
Once the speeches were finished, dinner was served, which was delicious. It was great to meet all of the ground agents, airline specialists, and hotel operators who work with Bales, most of whom have an interesting story to tell about Mandy or Mr and Mrs Bales. The evening was thoroughly enjoyable, and was a great way to say thank you to all of our co-workers who work so hard to make Bales the company it is today.
About Tessa Biddulph
Other articles by Tessa Biddulph
Tessa Biddulph works in the marketing department and is new to Bales Worldwide. She is spending a year at Bales Worldwide before heading back to university to complete a PR degree. Tessa’s favourite destination she has travelled to is Sydney, Australia, but since working at Bales she has already drawn up a long list of places she’d like to visit (number 1 being Machu Picchu, in Peru). 