London calling: the Gang on tour
Things happen so quickly: January is already behind us, and the Gang plunged straight into a busy month in February which began with the entire Westfield Rise Germany & Austria team heading off to London for two days packed with fascinating insights, useful meetings and, of course, plenty of team-building. A few members of the Gang had flown out early at the weekend to experience the city in a non-work atmosphere.
The official visit got underway on Monday at the Westfield London head office with a strategic kick-off entitled ‘Road to 26’. Together with our UK colleagues, we took a deep dive into strategy for the year ahead and discussed how Westfield Rise can work even more closely internationally. The main focus was on common goals, synergies and the key tools for the future.
After so much strategising, we needed a change of pace to relax those swirling heads, so in the afternoon we went on an exclusive tour of Westfield London. Naturally, we didn’t just acquaint ourselves with the centre’s business credentials. Some of us didn’t want to miss out on an exclusive opportunity for some retail therapy and a decent bite to eat after work!
On Tuesday we headed early to London’s East End, and the next flagship asset: Westfield Stratford City, where the Gang kicked off with its own strategy meeting for 2025 – centring, as you’d expect, on the opening of Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier in April and sharing in-depth thoughts and opinions on the key tasks and challenges. In the afternoon, we were able to go on another centre tour and take a closer look at the destination and its eclectic collection of advertising spaces.
There was no time for another shopping tour this time, as we had to catch our flights home after a packed schedule. After two intensive days packed with new impressions and a host of knowledge and ideas, we made our way home to Hamburg and Düsseldorf. In summary, we can only say: the short trip was more than worthwhile and, as always, there was plenty of fun to be had.