At the end of each year, Parity likes to provide an away day for its staff which doubles up as the company’s Christmas party. For December 2022, they chose Winton Castle half an hour east of Edinburgh to lay on an entertaining Murder Mystery, their Christmas dinner and a ceilidh.
Parity Group plc is a data, technology and transformation business with offices in Edinburgh and London, specialists in recruitment for digital transformation, IT and business change. They connect their clients ‘with the best data, technology and transformation talent’, and place over 1,200 skilled professionals each year, as well as providing teams to deliver projects.
“This year, Parity asked a small committee of employees to research and suggest ideas, venues and locations to be considered by their leadership team”, says Charlotte Fereday from Parity.
“The various ideas were shortlisted down to a final three, and one of our Edinburgh-based Consultants found Winton Castle and championed it. Then, leadership decided that Winton Castle would be our venue for Christmas 2022.
“Our away day in 2021 had been extremely successful and enjoyed by all, so the benchmark to match or surpass the previous year’s expectations was already set very high.
“Winton looked great from the images on the website, and that it was an exclusive hire was key to the decision. The in-house entertainment options, including the Murder Mystery, which could be arranged aParity likes to provide an away day for its staff which doubles up as the company’s Christmas party.
“For December 2022, they chose Winton Castle half an hour east of Edinburgh to lay on an entertaining Murder Mystery, Christmas dinner and a ceilidh. Winton, also made it an attractive decision for us.”
“The cost of the corporate events venue was reasonable and within our budget, and Winton also provided flexibility to ensure all aspects of the evening suited our needs.
“All our employees at Parity attended the event, and everyone had a great time. They loved the venue and the activities surpassed expectations.”
The Christmas menu for dinner included smoked salmon tartar and brie filo parcel with Christmas spiced wild plum as starters; turkey ballotine wrapped in pancetta with stuffing and mustard green peppercorn crusted beef port sauce as main courses; and Christmas spiced brulee poached fruit and shortbread as desserts.
Charlotte Fereday continues: “My colleagues felt that even the smaller details were taken care of. The Murder Mystery entertainment for the night was great and really engaging…
“Overall, the reviews from employees have been really positive and everyone agrees that it was a unique and unforgettable event.”
Were there any funny moments?
“Our workforce pride themselves in having healthy competition between each other so they really got involved with the murder mystery interrogations, taking them extremely seriously. This was very entertaining for our staff, but may have been challenging to the actors, yet somehow they managed to survive the night.
“The Ceilidh dancing in the ballroom was the perfect finish to the evening. Many of our London-based staff didn’t know what a Ceilidh was, on top of having to learn the dance while feeling a little merry. This made for some real entertainment for anyone watching!”
What do you particularly like about Winton?
“The scenery and setting were absolutely beautiful, giving the atmosphere of being very grand, but very personal at the same time. The Winton Christmas tree and decorations added a really lovely feel to our Christmas Party.
“Having one of Winton Castle’s Events Managers attend our event to ensure the smooth running of the evening was brilliant, as it allowed our leadership team to relax and enjoy the evening too.”
You can learn more about company away days and other corporate events at Winton Castle on their website.
Photo Credits
We’re very grateful to Tent Peg Murderers for the photos of their Murder Mystery at Winton.
