Winners Trip 2016 - Miami

By David Farmer - Senior Partner

One of the many benefits of working in recruitment is having the chance to make your way onto the Winners Trip, arguably the most exciting part of any recruiter’s year. This year, we were lucky enough to spend a long (all expenses paid) weekend in Miami – and from the very moment we hit our targets for the trip, it was a count-down to get a cocktail in hand!

After topping up our fake tan the night before, we met our group early in the morning, already feeling like we were going to fit in (orange is the new tan, didn’t you know?) – and after a tipple at the airport, a casual bump into Mr Motivator himself – we were on our way!

Bienvenido a Miami

We stayed in the luxurious SLS hotel on South Beach, a hotel with beautiful interior decoration and some of Miami’s hottest spots – after a quick change in our beautiful rooms (and concurringly for a work trip, with ceiling mirrors) we went to the bar to begin what would become a solid weekend of fun.

The first night, albeit slightly tired, we were raring to explore the city and had heard great things about our dining destination – we were not disappointed. After a couple of cocktails at the hotel bar to get rid of jetlag, bar we uber Lux’ed our way to an Italian Restaurant that was clearly one of Miami’s undercover gems.



The next day, the real action began, after a delicious and lengthy breakfast in our private dining room, we headed out to the pool for a couple of hours of sunbathing and sending pictures to our colleagues in rainy London. We have to admit, there is nothing more satisfying than ignoring the work emails and relaxing in the sun on a Friday morning.
After lunch we all set off for the part of the trip we’d really been looking forward to – a speed boat trip around Miami and all of its outrageous celebrity mansions.

With the sun beating down, a Miami playlist blasting our way past the massive houses, boats and questionable art with  huge smiles on our faces. It was just past the 80-million-dollar concrete wall that none of us quite understood that we hit an unfortunate blocker… our driver (an ex-recruiter) had run out of fuel… Maybe he should head back to a desk based job!

Of all the places to wait for fuel, outside a $10m dollar mansion, bobbing around in the sun isn’t too shabby as we waited for some emergency petrol and soaked up some extra time in the sun. The boat trip was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable parts of the trips and it really hit home to us, it was the ultimate I can’t believe I’m on a boat on a Friday afternoon… in Miami!

That evening we put our Miami best on for a dinner at Miami’s top seafood Restaurant, Joe’s crab shack. We arrived early to enjoy some champagne in the bar before we eagerly made our way to the main restaurant for one of the most filling and delicious seafood feasts! With plenty of food to eat and drinks to enjoy we spent the dinner laughing at some of the most ridiculous topics of conversations. Even our resident vegetarian donned a bib for the requisite photo to send back home!



Still full from dinner, we headed to extremely popular HYDE where we had our own table and an ice bucket of champagne to get through. We struggled through manfully. Surrounded by bachelorette parties and locals ready to dance, we needed to represent for both Harnham and the UK.

The next day we enjoyed a luxurious lunch in the sun, and that evening, we ended up having so much fun at the hotel bar that we never even left. When you’re in one of Miami’s best hotels, why would you?

Needless to say, the next day we found the hardest of them all, so we spent the day shopping and eating before hitting the beach for one last walk before we headed back to the UK.

Recruitment can be hard and tiring and frustrating at times, but there is nothing that motivates you quite as much as experience such a luxurious and amazing weekend – it drives you to come back and make sure you get on the next one!

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