Earlier this week, the AlliedOffsets team headed to Porto for our annual retreat, a chance to step away from the day to day, reconnect as a team, and reflect on where we're going as a company. Here are a few highlights from the trip.
Sunday: arriving in Porto
Most of the team touched down on Sunday, ready to explore. The adventure began immediately, not with the sights, but with a three-hour queue through passport control. Once through, Porto made quite the impression, stunning city, incredible views, and hills. So many hills. Nobody warned us about the hills.
That evening we headed to a food market, good food, cold drinks, and a chance to finally sit down after a day spent mostly standing in a queue.
Monday: pastries, branding, and a very good dinner
Early start on Monday with our all hands and a branding session that we're genuinely excited about, watch this space, as a shiny new AlliedOffsets website should be landing in the coming weeks.
Then came the main event: a Pastel de Nata baking workshop. The team threw themselves in wholeheartedly, and what followed was roughly two hours of flour, custard, and competitive pastry-making. The results were eaten at an alarming speed. Nobody wants to see another pastel de nata for a very long time.
Dinner at flow restaurant rounded off the day perfectly, the food was exceptional and a very welcome reward after eating our body weight in pastry. Several bottles of wine were also harmed in the making of this retreat.
Tuesday: wine, bikes, tiles, and football history
Tuesday saw the team split off for their chosen activities. A group headed out on the Douro valley wine tour, the views were genuinely breathtaking, though the four to five hours in the car did make each sip feel increasingly hard-earned. Others painted tiles and cycled through Porto's streets, which at this point everyone knew to be extremely hilly.
The day ended with a team dinner by the river, a perfect way to close out the trip, with good food, great wine, and the whole team finally in one place after a day spent scattered across Porto.
By Wednesday we were homeward bound, a little slower than when we'd arrived, but recharged and full of ideas. A mention too for the three team members who couldn't join us, representing AlliedOffsets at Ecosperity week in Singapore. Someone had to keep things moving while the rest of us worked our way through the wine list.
It was a brilliant few days. Great city, great food, great company and a renewed sense of what we're building together at AlliedOffsets.
If you're reading this and thinking "I want in", we might just have a role for you. Check out our open positions here: https://alliedoffsets.com/team-careers/