CASE STUDY
A retreat that brings the whole team together
170 colleagues. One annual thank you.
Bringing 170 colleagues together, their way
Annual country retreat for Kearney London Office
Global consulting firm | UK rural location
At a glance
Kearney’s annual retreat is part thank you, part team reset. After a year of hard work, around 170 colleagues leave London behind for a day built around spending time together, trying something different and celebrating properly.
The trick is making a shared experience work for a lot of different people.
So the programme deliberately changes gear. The morning gets everyone involved in one team challenge. Later, colleagues choose from activities that suit them, so they have space to connect in ways that feel natural rather than top-down. Over the years that’s meant everything from survival challenges and treasure hunts to gong baths, yoga boxing and mindful chocolate.
Finding the right setting matters too. Country-style accommodation, enough room for the whole team, and close enough to London that getting there doesn’t eat into the day. Powwow manages the programme and delivery around that, leaving Kearney’s internal team to focus on its people.
Then the pace changes again. BBQ, drinks, silent disco. Work is done.
And that long-running rhythm seems to be working. As Kearney’s own team puts it, the events “just seem to get better and better”.
“These events are always successful, but they just seem to get better and better the more we do and so much of that, if not all of that is down to your ideas, impeccable organisation, professional hosting skills and wonderful attitude and smiles. You are an absolute pleasure to work with.”
Not everyone wants to spend the afternoon doing the same thing.
The morning brings all 170 colleagues together. Then the agenda opens up, with activities people can choose around their own interests and energy.
Explore how we co-design experiences for different kinds of people