Stepping back to move forward: The Up Team Retreat

On a characteristically wet and windy British morning, we traded laptops for wellies and headed to the Surrey countryside for Up’s first-ever team retreat.

Laser clay pigeon shooting, an escape room and more than our fair share of excellent food set the scene, but what made the two days memorable wasn’t the itinerary, but rather the space to properly talk, laugh and spend uninterrupted time together.

Taking 48 hours away from the usual pace of search gave us the chance to reflect on how we work, where we’re heading and what we want the next chapter of Up to look like. It reinforced something we often see in the leadership teams we build: trust, clarity and shared ambition don’t happen by accident - they’re created deliberately.

With Anca and James at the helm, we’ve kicked off the year with fresh perspectives and shared momentum behind a vision that energises and unites our team.

We’re incredibly proud of the people we have on board and excited to continue our mission of building category-defining leadership teams with some of world’s most exciting businesses - while having a lot of fun along the way.