Menu amazes guests as GSF go on safari
GSF Car Parts added to an already eye-catching series of 2015 customer events, which has included ‘glamping’ in July and stately home fine dining in May, with the latest being a safari-themed extravaganza.
The trip, hosted at Brooklands Farm in Petersfield, Hampshire on 25th to 26th July, saw GSF regional and senior management pull out the stops with an elaborate camp that amazed their intrepid party of garage guests.
The campsite was set up by a hardworking staff team during Saturday morning. The teepee centre tents, housing cocktail bar and log burners, were surrounded by a horse shoe ring of bell tents accommodating visitors who arrived Saturday and left on Sunday.
The menu, which was in some sense an animal lovers delight, included crocodile, zebra, ostrich and ‘creepy crawlies’. Even the barbecued steak, remarked upon by some to be as good any they had tasted, was from the cow’s bulkier distant cousin – the bison. Crocodile guests tell us ‘tastes like pork’.
The UK’s largest family-owned motor factors have aimed to bring some fun into the guest experiences, to create an impression that lasts longer in the mind than the more generic corporate hospitality fare.
“Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves,” said John Wright General Manager of GSF’s Garage Essentials Programme – and part-time cocktail bar tender. “It was a great opportunity to spend time with valued customers, away from the hustle and bustle of work.”
These ‘Area Focus’ events, introduced as a new initiative for 2015, serve a serious purpose too. In all cases, the finale is the hosting of a customer social event, with a team-building strand because staff are heavily involved in set-up and management.
Ahead of this, there’s an area programme run for several weeks prior. This typically includes supplier training sessions to build staff awareness on new product technology, with garage visits made by both a GSF team and key suppliers.
