For those who have not yet visited our venue, it offers genuine peace, stunning views, luxury and full on comfort making it a perfect base for meetings, retreats, small conferences.

We operate a one client at a time policy so that you have total flexibility and privacy throughout your stay.

Our next project is to convert the 17th century vaulted cellar into a restaurant for evening meals, adding to the list of eating place choices;

• African hut surrounded by emus
• Poolside
• Fireside
• Coach house
• In a field
• The huge farmhouse kitchen

If you want to review the venue for yourself please call.

We all like to think we are honest and tell the truth. Then why is the giving and receiving of feedback so tough to do and so tough for businesses to get right. Countless companies are still spending significant funds on formal processes to get us to talk to each other about how we are performing, the impact we are having and the changes that are desirable. Many attempts fall at the first hurdle with formal exchanges that say nothing of value and alter nothing as a result.

A couple of tips to chew on:-

1. Hit the pause button on introducing a formal system if informal day to day feedback between management and employees and between colleagues is in short supply. Focus first on getting day to day feedback as a natural part of business life before plunging people from "blissful ignorance to the annual once over".
2. Help your line managers understand their own barriers to giving and receiving feedback and give them some basic practical tools for day to day feedback exchange. Yes exchange and not one way.
3. Include the skills and processes of feedback exchange as an integral part of your development programmes with loads of practice opportunity on whatever course is attended.
4. Build in practices that make feedback an integral part of business life, e.g. a team or meeting effectiveness review to be conducted at the end of each meeting, quarterly review checkpoints for departments and projects, reviews at the end of presentations so the presenter gets real and immediate feedback on the audience clarity of message and impact.
5. Create the right conversations in your business that will lead to increased openness about what is really going on e.g. "if you felt able to tell me how it really was what would I be hearing right now?" "what has been unsaid that needs to now be heard?" "what is the most important thing we should be talking about?" "given the situation we find ourselves in let us explore both our contributions to it" "what was the impact on you when I….." (be specific)
6. Be totally explicit that as a business real and ongoing shifts in performance and behaviour requires candid and accurate feedback and that as a business you are desiring and encouraging this.
7. Help set realistic expectations and expect to "FAIL" - First Attempt In Learning. Initial exchanges may not feel great or productive and could upset – help people get over this and carry on until the typical anxieties surrounding being informed about our real impact and effectiveness are quietened.
8. And all the above is equally relevant to the exchange of praise and delight. It is reported by employees as "tough, sometimes tougher" to give praise as it is constructive criticism.

If you want further tips or tools email or pick up the phone.