London, Salon Vert at L'ESCARGOT
We Wish You Were There
Dear Friends,
It’s my first full day back at my desk post travels in Europe, and I’ve spent much of today recounting to colleagues just what a productive and inspiring trip it was. I came back feeling so very grateful for my Bennett colleagues—those I already knew and those I got to know better on this trip—and for our partners at Young Expat Services (YES) in The Netherlands and Educatus in the UK.
For those of you who missed our travel itinerary, we were celebrating our formalized working agreements with YES, now providing Bennett services in the Netherlands, and Educatus, who provides our services in the UK and Ireland. Our opening event was a lunch in Amsterdam on June 21st at Brasserie Van Baerle, a lovely French restaurant, where we introduced Bennett’s and YES’s corporate clients to our extended team. Many of them, already working with YES, were happy to learn that YES is now an arm of a global provider and that the same, consistent service can now be had everywhere in the world. Eline Hausel, Founder and owner of YES, had prepared a brief overview of the current education landscape in the Netherlands for our guests, and her comments were well received.
The venue was exquisite, the food delicious, and the company outstanding, and it was a fun and productive event. In attendance were Bennett colleagues Tim Dwyer, President; Leticia G. de la Rasilla, Global Team Lead for EMEA, who sits in Madrid; Samantha Davidson, Director of Client Relations for Europe; and Jane Choy, Bennett consultant based outside of Amsterdam. And from the YES team: Eline Hausel, Founder and Owner; Anita Hensen, her Co-Pilot; and three of YES’s education consultants: Mieky van Schijnder, Annelous Wetzels and Eliane van Oosten Slingeland.
From Brasserie Van Baerle, Team Bennett + Eline Hausel hurried to the airport, victims of a canceled train and a canceled flight, and now trying to make an unexpectedly earlier flight at Schipol airport. My imagination was filled with stories of six-hour lines at Schipol, and my heart was in my mouth. Moments like that bring out the best or worst in people, and I’m happy to say that fabulous team effort prevailed—someone called an Uber while someone got luggage from the hotel storage room while someone canceled the ride at City Airport in London and scheduled a pick-up at Gatwick, instead, while someone downloaded new boarding passes. We were still laughing when we arrived at our hotel in London at almost 11pm.
In London, we were joined by Bennett’s Warsaw consultant, Dagmara Sotowicz, and our colleague Sarah Teasdale, Founder and Owner of Educatus. After a full two days of visiting with clients and schools, we put on our finest finery and sallied forth to host a dinner at L’Escargot, a gorgeous French restaurant in Soho. Despite a train strike and traffic mayhem, our clients and school colleagues traveled significant distances to join us, so that we could introduce them to our partners at YES and Educatus. The feedback was tremendous, and we were very grateful to them all for their efforts. I believe the travel awards go to our Weichert friends and to the K2 team who spent three hours driving to the event to be present—thank you!
And so, back at my desk after a bit of R & R in Ireland, I’m happy to say that our in-person “roll out” of our European partnerships was a huge success and that our clients embraced what we now offer: in-depth expertise in the Netherlands and throughout the UK and Ireland, locations where the school landscape is particularly tricky and where employees are increasingly expected to use local schools, paired with global consistency. A win-win for all.
Thank you again to all of our friends and clients who made the effort to join us, and we look forward to ongoing work with you; and a huge thank you my inspiring colleagues at Bennett, YES and Educatus, the world’s most fun travel companions—for your professionalism, your dedication, your warmth—in short, for being world-class education consultants and for bringing your expertise to bear on behalf of Bennett clients. You make us proud, and I’m so honored to be working for you.
Love,
Elizabeth
