Time getting to know colleagues is so beneficial to wellbeing in the workplace and helps to enhance the working environment. It is important to create a positive place to work – to prioritise fun and have something to look forward to.
The Together Collective is a female-run business which started in Lockdown 2020 offering a huge selection of experiences all designed to improve employee wellbeing within the workplace. They started with a small selection of ‘virtual’ activities and now offer both ‘virtual’ and ‘actual’ experiences which are hand-picked and hosted by independent specialists and small businesses. We chat to Kate Healy, the Founder, to find out more…
Our aim is to bring teams together and build connections whether in the office (Actually Together) or working from home (Virtually Together). Our fun team workshops are expertly led by individual specialists and small businesses and are designed to enhance employee wellbeing. Our events are more than corporate team building; they’re here to improve the mental health of employees and to help nurture company cultures. Our wellbeing workshops educate guests in areas such as self-worth, imposter syndrome, burnout and creating a work-life balance. We also offer a huge selection of experiences which are ideal for team building, socials and new joiners across many categories including tastings, creative workshops, experiential shows, interactive games, foodie workshops and more. In short, we are able to organise any experience you could possibly imagine, and for any occasion. All events are hosted by trained specialists, life coaches and nutritionists who will share their tips and tricks with your team.
I worked at L’Oreal for a number of years before leaving to do my own thing. I had originally started a luxury hen party planning business and all was going well until Covid struck and within weeks I was cancelling or re-arranging hen parties. Feeling sorry for the brides-to-be, I came up with the idea of doing virtual hen parties and had 5 or 6 different options including nude life drawing, afternoon tea, flower crown making, wine tasting and a dance class. There was a huge uptake and I realised that I was limiting myself by just doing hen parties and, over the course of a weekend, I built a website and launched my new business offering a wide range of virtual events. I managed to get listed in a couple of publications and things took off from there.
We started off as mainly business to consumer and then the corporate market took off and most of our business then became business to business. Even now most of our work is arranging corporate events and team building exercises. Our Actually Together collection specialises in mobile experiences for clients who have returned to the office. If you wanted candle making in your office or experiences/entertainment for your work party, that is where we would come in.
There are 4 of us - I founded the business in 2020, Alex joined me as Sales Director shortly afterwards. Sophie joined in 2021 and is our Digital Marketing Manager and Cecily joined us last year as a Sales & Marketing Executive to complete the team - for the moment anyway!
It has been a gradual process starting off with the more traditionally popular activities, the things which people would probably search for – like a cocktail class or an escape room game. We have a huge repeat client base so we need to keep on our toes for them, regularly brain storming to come up with something different. Most recently we have launched Facial Cupping Workshops, Terrarium Planting Workshops, and Chinese Lantern Making Workshops, to give you a taster! Some experiences will be available year-round and others will be limited edition seasonal events – perhaps using existing suppliers but adding a seasonal twist. There is a big focus on Wellbeing and workshops of this nature lend themselves well to seasonal events.
In 2022 the split was 85% virtual and 15% face-to-face, however we expect this to evolve and change in 2023 as we grow Actually Together and increase our presence in this space. A surprise to us but people have new ways of working now and it’s all about inclusivity and we often have a blended/hybrid approach where people might be joining from several locations or perhaps several will get together and join in from one place.
We run our face-to-face experiences across the UK with suppliers all over the country. Our virtual events are with customers all over the world.
We would like to officially launch Virtually Together in the USA. Currently it is our 2nd biggest country in terms of traffic to our website and bookings, so we know that there is a huge opportunity over there. Our plan with Actually Together is to establish ourselves as a top quality provider of mobile experiences across the UK. We will also be launching ‘Away Day’ or ‘Offsite’ package days which include meeting room hire and team building or wellbeing activities, which we hope will be really popular!
If you think your business or workplace could benefit from some of the services offered by The Together Collective, find out more at thetogethercollective.com and book a free discovery call.