Page 28 of Just Like That

‘Yes. We thought that they might have grandchildren they can bring here to give mum and dad a rest.’

‘OK, perfect. What else?’

‘They are maybe looking for things to pass time when on their own. Maybe also, for connection,’ says Monika, the park’s gift shop manager, in her lovely Eastern European accent. ‘When I am in the shop, I am always having long conversations with our… more mature guests. I think, even if they have grandchildren, they are sometimes lonely.’

‘Bingo.’ I clap my hands together. ‘Loneliness is an epidemic in our country – and it’s not just older people who are affected by it. We also have an ageing population. Around one in five people in the UK are age sixty-five or over. That’s a huge potential customer base to tap into.’

‘Yes.’ Monika looks thoughtful. ‘And if we put on events for retired people – maybe weekly coffee mornings with park tours and special demonstrations – it would help them with connection, maybe even to build friendships.’

‘Exactly. I love that idea. Thank you, Monika and Serge. OK, who’s next?’

I work my way round the pairs, asking them to recount their conversations, which seem to have gone exactly as I intended. Not bad for an events person who only studied marketing briefly at university, if I may say so myself. From these conversations, we add the possibility of corporate events and a Christmas market running through December. The latter could be particularly lucrative as the park is the perfect canvas for creating a magical festive atmosphere.

Moving on to the final group of two, Nick and Hakeem, who’s the head groundskeeper, I invite them to share their thoughts. I’ve intentionally left them till last to make sure Nick doesn’t dive bomb the activity with one of his assault-style comments.

‘We had the twenty-somethings,’ says Hakeem with great discomfort, probably because he’s in his fifties and feels a bit weird trying to get into the heads of the ‘young ’uns’.

‘OK, great.’ I suppress a smile so as not to add to his unease.

For some reason, the idea of him and Nick lolloping round the park talking about what might excite young people is a source of great amusement for me. Nick may only be in his early thirties, but his position on the grumpiness scale makes him seem a lot older. I would have loved to have been able to listen in on their conversation, purely for entertainment value.

‘So, what did you both come up with?’ I ask them.

Hakeem looks at Nick, who blatantly ignores his plea to take over, then shifts in his seat and gives a little cough as he answers my question.

‘I’m sorry, Hakeem. I didn’t catch that.’ I move closer to him, which seems to make him squirm even more.

‘I… um… OK, this is only because my daughter is twenty-five, and she is mostly glued to one dating app or another…’ Hakeem trails of and clears his throat awkwardly.

‘Ah, I see.’ My insides light up with enthusiasm as I realise Hakeem has stumbled upon exactly what I was hoping he would with the demographic group assigned to him. ‘You’re thinking we hold dating nights here?’

‘Yes.’

‘I think that’s a brilliant idea. That group are likely to be our most difficult to get through the gates and the draw of possible romance as part of a quirky new dating experience might just be a winner. Thank you, Hakeem and Nick.’

My gaze lingers on Nick with some disapproval of him not supporting his teammate or engaging positively with the exercise, but he seems to be intentionally ignoring me. Scrawling this final idea down on the flipchart I’ve brought outside, I stand back to review the list.

‘Gwen, I’m keen to know what you’re thinking in a moment, but my initial thoughts are that we could focus on the Christmas market, as we have the gift of time on that one, and for me, it’s a no-brainer. People love an outdoor festive experience. I’m also drawn to the event for retirees, because of the potential for it to be so lucrative – there’s perhaps even an annual membership opportunity lurking there. And I’m also loving the dating nights idea.’

‘I think they all sound wonderful.’ Gwen looks elated by what her team have come up with.

‘All right then,’ I say to her. ‘If you think your teams can cope with a little extra work, how about we set up three project teams and get the planning underway. With the right focus, we can get the dating and retiree events up and running quickly.’

Gwen looks round her management team, whose expressions range from looking ready to get going right this second to desperately seeking an escape route.

‘With the visitor levels being what they are, most of us have capacity to get involved in this work,’ she says to them. ‘The only people I’ll give a pass to on the planning are Nick and Hakeem, because their teams’ work levels don’t fluctuate as much based on footfall.’

Nick crosses his arms and adopts a self-satisfied smile, which makes me want to reprimand him for his lack of team spirit, while Hakeem looks deeply relieved.

‘But,’ Gwen continues. ‘I expect both of you to support with any requests for help that relate to your areas of responsibility, or that will help to get the events up and running successfully. Understood?’

They both nod like sulky teenagers and I find myself wondering how all this is going to play out. Planning events is a tough and stressful business even when everyone is aligned and aiming for the same goal. But with the staff here being as unpredictable as the animals, it looks like I’ll have more of a challenge on my hands than I first thought.

Chapter 13

At 5:30 p.m., we wrap up our brainstorming session, having agreed the key features of each event, and who will work on which project. While Nick and Hakeem were given a pass on being part of the project teams, I was pleased to see that Gwen stepped up and worked them hard during the remainder of our time together. This was helpful in that it kept things under control and it allowed us access to information we would otherwise have had to seek out later.

With the park having now closed for the day, the team members who have been keeping the place running trickle into the picnic area while Nick and Gwen fire up the barbeque. At the same time, Serge disappears then reappears with a pile of fresh produce from the main restaurant kitchen, and takes over from Gwen. I can’t help eyeing the food and wondering how much it costs them each time they hold one of these barbeques, but then I remind myself that keeping the staff motivated is important – especially now with their jobs at risk. Plus, they’re probably paying Capital Events a hell of a lot more.

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