NUMBER 1 IN THE WORLD? HOW DID IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?

Balbirnie House, 2018: ‘The World’s Best Destination Wedding Retreat’, via Haute Grandeur global awards.

There it is, Scotland's trophy on a Dubai Versace Palace armchair:

Welcome to Balbirnie’s first blog post of 2019. 

That very Ballroom in Dubai:

To begin, on behalf of all at Balbirnie, our sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to the summer 2018 Haute Grandeur 'Rate Us' campaign. This was seen by over 100,000 people in Scotland alone, and input from Scotland's people proved absolutely fundamental for what has subsequently happened. Every single tiny piece of contribution, we thank you one and all.

I hope that this new blog post goes some way to conveying what the new global award has meant to those who work here, and those who have worked here previously.

I’m writing 2 and a half months after making the trip to Dubai with our Special Events Planning Team, to attend the global hotel awards. Amongst quite incredible glitter, and the glamour of the Versace Palace host venue, we were the only hotel to be invited to attend, representing Scotland. It was such an honour to be invited to attend. The night of the 1^st of November 2018, is certainly a night that we will never forget.

Dubai:

Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building:

I was going to post this blog just before Christmas, but something unexpected happened. For a Christmas present, I received a wee ribbon-wrapped box from the work colleagues who I took the trip to Dubai with. Inside, it contained a dried white rose. Unbeknown to myself, it had originally been taken from the table centrepiece on the November awards night. So, emotively-speaking as you can imagine, it’s taken me a few more weeks to recover from receiving that truly remarkable gift.

As far as I understand it, this is the first time any hotel in the world has been denoted by Haute Grandeur, as best in world in this specific category. But how did it happen? Why did it happen? What motivated the organisation to make that conclusion? What justification existed? As one thing is absolutely for sure, it was certainly not an overnight decision taken by a handful of people.

In straightforward terms? Market research defined that there is no wedding venue in any country in the world, which has achieved anything approaching the consistency of recognition that Balbirnie House has received over the last 15 years, from our own country’s hotel recognition schemes.

Balbirnie House is currently the 12 time winner of Scotland’s Scottish Hotel Awards scheme, ‘Scotland’s National Wedding Hotel of the Year’. That’s 12 times in 14 years. So that’s what our brigade had to achieve, in order to lead to what then happened globally, in Dubai.

We’d said in advance, ‘If there’s success, there will be commemorative Saltire pale blue smoke coming out of Balbirnie’s chimney’. Dubai is some 4 and a half hours ahead of Scotland’s clocks, we’d worked out that the potential announcement would coincide with dusk here in Scotland. We’d shifted on the night from twitter-exclusive onto our main social media portal on facebook. The footage was seen in the first few hours by 50,000 people. Our thanks again, for the specialised drone filming from Maddison Productions. 

A Scotsman interviewed on the night, for Middle East TV: 

And one other thing I can absolutely assure you of. We would never have won Scotland’s Wedding Hotel of the Year once, let alone 12 times, by overnight circumstance either. Annually, the most rigorous assessments we can experience. As an example, in 2016 when Balbirnie was also defined as Scotland’s outright National Hotel of the Year, we had 5 phased judging processes, an entire collated judge dossier, hundreds of photographs taken, team interviews, personal interviews, and assessments that drilled into all aspects of financial performance, factored to geography and demographics. 

Christine and I, about to have a wee whisky after the Dubai award news! 

Everything as always of course, is set against the organised chaos of working in hospitality itself. An endeavour to achieve perfection for our guests, but with the continual potential of human error. An ever-changing backdrop of contending with wear and tear on the property itself, desire to always keep all presentation minted, but amongst never-ending necessity for reinvestment. In context, we have bedrooms here, that are now heading into their 5^th re-design refurbishment since I started working here, as our bridal suite shows:

We’d like to thank those who have been involved with the Scottish Hotel of the Year awards scheme. In particular, for such encouragement over all the years, relentless and hugely important constructive criticism, appraisals of national and international industry trends, and ongoing focus with what we’ve always been working on with evolution and innovation, to Gary McLean-Quin, Renata Lucia Parolari Fernandes, and David Welch.

Leaving for Dubai:

In Dubai: 

Dubai host venue, The Versace Palace: 

In 2018, we were informed that the Scotland Wedding Hotel of the Year decision, was the most discussed and closest decision ever taken by the judges. We were apparently only successful by the tiniest of margin, due to ongoing applied innovation in what we do. And there lies, the measure of industry competition.

Meghan Davies, in Dubai signing off as Balbirnie Special Event planner. 12 truly wonderful years of input into our brigade. Meghan, our thanks for everything over the years, and it was amazing to have had the opportunity to take this trip with you. 

Christine Cunningham:

Gaynor Russell:

Leah Kinnes:

Sarah Rees:

Oh but hold on a wee minute. How did we actually get on the original 14 year roll with The Scottish Hotel awards? Easy answer? I can begin to put that down to what happened in the 12 years prior to that. Certainly, since starting working as Balbirnie’s GM at the age of 25 back in 1992, there have been so many absolutely dedicated hoteliers I’ve had the pleasure of working with.

Ultimately, we are always a people business. So, it’s fair to say that all achievement in defining the new global award, is a result of decades of work from so many people. That also extends further, to our associate recommended suppliers of wedding services, suppliers for all hotel goods, and of course, to our clients over all the years.

And in defining this remarkable accolade, it was the most joyous occasion I have ever attended, simply because I was there with those in our brigade who have always spent the most time working directly with our clients. It was absolutely relevant that the award should be collected by our wedding planning team.

Coinciding with the opening of The Millennium Ballroom, my very lovely wife and fellow company director Gaynor began running our wedding planning department back in 1999. Back then it was a one girl role, usually 7am until 7pm daily, hours out of choice. An absolutely relentless focus on Scotland hospitality, and dedicated personal attention. Prior to opening our Ballroom, we provided a backdrop for around 50 weddings per year, mostly Saturdays. That figure quickly grew along the years 1999 onwards, the most weddings we have to date now ever catered for in a single year, 165 weddings.

To quote from a previous blog, ... 'To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought, Scotland' ...

To successfully achieve a previously unachieved global feat for Scotland has been remarkable in itself. To represent our industries of hospitality and tourism, knowing how amazing Scotland is in all these regards, so proud for all of us, that I can’t begin to say.

In context? Competition in Scotland, from wedding venues alone? There are now 350 wedding venues listed in The Scottish Wedding Directory.

You know, I was going to run a social media feature from Dubai in the days immediately preceding the awards night, highlighting the working lives of our Special Events Planning team, and what a remarkable and satisfying working role that can be, within hospitality. Well, that was until one of them said to me, ‘Boss, don’t do it, don’t tell them our secrets!’ So that was that then.

Having begun working here in 1992, this writer is applied these days with the working formality of Managing Director and all that entails from legal and accounting practices, also with the most welcome burden of responsibility of ownership, continually seeking to maintain reinvestment, prioritising the Grade A Listed property itself, and safeguarding and improving it for the future.

The overview of working priorities has only ever been about the house itself, and using every single penny of capability we’ve ever had, to secure it for the continued employment of jobs within the company, and in turn to do our best for local community. It is that view from ownership, every capability that we have ever had, that has always enabled so much reinvestment, reinvention, and innovation in what we do. All of that I hasten to add as well, out of a primary motivation to survive and thrive within the ever-changing dynamics of Scotland’s hotel sector. Long may it all continue.

The most joyful part of my working week, is having the opportunity to meet new clients, and every single circumstance is always different. People, geography, numbers, and the anticipation of how a special day is envisaged. Nowadays we see many clients who envisage their wedding celebration, with a wish to create scope for socialising over more than one day. There are those who desire a formal and classic occasion. Others wish, albeit after the formality of the exchange of wedding vows, simply to have a massive and informal celebration, a huge party. My colleagues and I are at your disposal.

Balbirnie’s brigade has received many awards over the years. But up until November 1^st 2018, do you know how many prospective wedding clients would arrive to visit Balbirnie for the first time, and then mention accumulated awards? Hardly any.

Even when, in our two most recent years, we also managed to achieve Number 1 in Europe, in multiple different Haute Grandeur categories: 

The global result therefore, has been a gradual process: 

But after November 1^st 2018, do you know how many prospective wedding clients arrive and mention the accolade for number 1 in the world? Virtually every single time!!! The global award has immediately and without doubt, struck such an emotive and poignant, resonant chord, a totally romantic and brand new dimension to our accumulated history. 

So, onwards we go ... 

Leah Kinnes by the pool the next morning, being interviewed for Fife's Kingdom FM: 

Leah joined Balbirnie's brigade and Special Event Planning Dept straight from school, age 16. Now age 21, the youngest of our brigade in Dubai. 

Many people say to me, ‘You should write the book!’

Well maybe I will!

Any interested publishers, please get in touch …

Congratulations to the brigade past and present. The Haute Grandeur global award is dedicated to the boys, girls, men and women who made it happen.

Versace Palace:

Over the years, more than 2,500 people have spent time working at Balbirnie House. A few individuals specifically from our management team, who our company directors would like especially to congratulate and thank for all input over the years. Jeremy du Plessis, Phyllis Wilkie, Kenneth Wilkie, Tracy Smith, the late Alan Gibb, Ian MacDonald, Rita Dick, Dougie Docherty, Izzy Docherty, Mhairi MacLean Linton, Kelly McGovern, Stacey Fleming, Norman Sproule, Rosemary Spenke, Wolfgang Spenke, Anne Ramsay, Teresa Watson, Sharon Munro, Samantha Slight, Mark Lindsey, Ian Patterson, Laurie MacMillan, Stephen Cowper, Oscar Sinjorgo, Dick Halley, Denys de Klerk, Paula Coutts De Klerk, Donna Reid, Meghan Davies, Michelle Alison, Tracy Brunton, Renata Korosi, Derek Martin-Stead, Callum Dow, Kirsty Keys, Angela Ferguson, Kerrie Guthrie, George Russell, Erdal Ozer, as well as today’s Special Events Planning team, of Christine Cunningham, Leah Kinnes, and Sarah Rees.

Sincere gratitude for all media liaison over the decades, to Gordon Walker, and the late Seuna Walker, of Milestone Media. 

Thanking Versace Palace for Memories of a Lifetime.

Thanks for all 2018 Haute Grandeur media coverage, to Lauren Dall, of Dall Communications.

Moving ahead, nothing changes. We'll keep doing our absolute best for every single client, and for each other within Balbirnie as a brigade. New ways to work, without ever losing sight of where we've come from. 

In this fascinating world of hospitality, today is of course never ever a dress rehearsal for tomorrow. Before the return flight jumbo jet wheels had even touched down on Edinburgh's tarmac, our event planning team were already considering what we can now newly introduce, to help celebrate the global award, and to further focus on delivering Scotland hospitality.

Thank you for your time. 

Nicholas Russell / MD Balbirnie House