Team building is important to us at TDS. It’s what helps us build the culture we’re extremely proud of.
Not only do we have monthly social events for our teams located across the UK and Poland, but every year, we host an away weekend, where members of our team travel outside of their normal location to spend a weekend together and switch off from work.
This year, our away weekends took place in September, with our Newcastle and Edinburgh teams heading to Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands, and our Wrocław team visited Gdańsk, a major port city on the Baltic coast of northern Poland.
UK away weekend: Aviemore, Scotland
Aviemore is a small town, located just south of Inverness. It is known for its range of scenic outdoor walking routes, as well several lochs.
The UK team arrived in Aviemore on Friday night, with everyone heading out into the town to find somewhere to socialise over dinner and drinks. Since Aviemore is so small, the team, even after splitting off into smaller groups, bumped into each other throughout the first evening.
Many team members wanted to climb the Cairn Gorm mountain, which is part of the Cairngorms range and wider Grampian Mountains. Cairn Gorm has a summit elevation of 1,245m above sea level, is classed as a Munro and is the sixth-highest mountain in the British Isles. The team met up and took a local bus to the mountain.
“We climbed to the summit on a very windy day, but it was great fun and we had amazing views of the valleys below,” Simon, one of the team members on the trip, says. “In addition to our original group, most of the other TDS members showed up at some point during the day to climb it too, so it was a very popular option.”
Cairn Gorm is also home to a funicular railway that can take you up and down the mountain. After a long climb up, many members of the team chose to ride the funicular back down.
Elsewhere, instead of climbing Cairn Gorm, some team members decided to go wild swimming in one of the lochs in Aviemore, before everyone came back together in the evening to go walking.
On Sunday, some of the team rented mountain bikes and set off to explore the local lochs, taking in the spectacular views and peaceful atmosphere. Others spent time at the hotel after discovering the huge swimming pool, water slide and sauna, with many of them highlighting that they “stayed on the water slide all day.”
The UK away weekend was a huge success, with mountains climbed, lochs explored and good times shared between our Newcastle and Edinburgh teams.
Poland away weekend: Gdańsk, Poland
In Poland, our Wrocław headed to the train station early on Friday morning to travel over 200 miles north to Gdańsk for their away weekend. The journey took just under five hours.
After finding the hotel and dropping off luggage, the team met for a walk around the city, stopping for lunch and exploring the centre of Gdańsk. Although it was raining, the team didn’t let it dampen their spirits, and instead, they headed to Elektryków for the evening, a former shipyard area with food spots, bars and clubs. The evening began with dinner, followed by time spent on electric scooters to explore the area a little more and find somewhere to spend the rest of the night.
On Saturday morning, the team enjoyed breakfast together in the hotel before heading to Sopot, which is known for its beach and long wooden pier that extends into the Bay of Gdańsk. The day was filled with relaxing on the beach, taking photos of the beautiful landmarks and visiting the famous pier before heading for lunch. From there, the team decided to return to Gdańsk on electric bikes, which took around 50 minutes.
“The ride was absolutely fantastic,” Izabela, who took the trip to Gdańsk, says. “The route was beautiful. At first, we cycled along the beach and later, we continued through the city. It was such a pleasant experience and one of the highlights of the trip.”
Later that evening, the team took a walk through charming Gdańsk at sunset, taking in every bit of the magical atmosphere the city has to offer as the sun goes down. The night ended with dinner and drinks.
The team returned to Wrocław on Sunday after spending the morning together in the hotel lobby, where they spent time chatting and laughing before heading back to the train station to return home.
Ready to start your career at TDS?
The away weekend has been a key part of working at TDS for several years, and we are dedicated to giving back to our team and giving them the opportunity to spend time together outside of the office.
Our annual company away weekend is just one of the many benefits we offer our staff, with others including monthly social events, remote work and flexible working and a discretionary bonus scheme.
If you’re looking to take the next step in your career and are interested in joining TDS, all of our current open job positions can be found on our careers page.