Edinburgh Business School (EBS), the graduate school of business of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, is renowned as one of the leading business and management schools. Their network of worldwide business partners come together bi-annually for a 3-day conference.  The main conference always takes place at the business school.  The 80 partners came from 20 countries across the globe including Trinidad, Ukraine, Egypt, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland, Zambia, Uganda and Lebanon.

Objective
To create a memorable gala evening providing true Scottish hospitality. The venue needed to offer an environment which would be conducive for networking. With such a well travelled, international audience, exceptional service and luxurious surroundings were a must.  They wanted it to be memorable!

Solution
For the final night dinner, Dundas Castle was selected to impress their valued partners.  The experience needed to be one which their guests had not been exposed to previously and were unlikely to ever see again. Taking over a spectacular Scottish castle, exclusively for the evening provided this unique experience.   With the castle being within 20 minutes of the business school and the surrounding hotels, the guests only had to travel a short distance from their accommodation to their surprise venue for the evening. 

The night commenced with a Champagne drinks reception which many enjoyed on the lawns with the façade of the castle as the backdrop.   For the first time, Dundas agreed to provide an informal buffet within the house for a large corporate event.  This was a crucial element as EBS wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere.  Partners were encouraged to dine throughout the castle’s luxurious reception rooms after helping themselves to the buffet in the main hallway.  This met the clients’ needs for the partners to be able to network with each other, rather than being constricted to table seating arrangements.  Dessert stations were positioned in each reception room, again encouraging the partners to not only enjoy the whole castle, but also to meet with their peers.

Throughout the evening small groups were offered tours of the house and medieval Keep, by the Dundas Castle team.  Lucy Scillitoe, Commercial Director of Dundas Castle said: “We have never had such interest in the castle from an international business group.  Everyone either had a tour with their counterparts from another country or an individual viewing of a particular area of interest.  It was wonderful to be able to show the castle off with such a relaxed atmosphere.”

As a Scottish Finale, the partners were invited to the front of the castle where they thought they were going to hear a final few words from the Director of the Business School.  However, immediately the speech came to an end, the sound of 12 pipers could be heard and then as the large white gates opened electronically, The Royal Burgh of Renfrewshire pipe band was revealed. They marched in front of the group as they performed the traditional, ‘Beating the Retreat’, to the backdrop of the castle.

Photographs by Duncan McBride

Success
Sally MacLeod, Director of Marketing of the Edinburgh Business School commented that “We have used Dundas Castle for an event before and the service is exceptional.  For this evening however, due to the number attending we did not think that the evening could go ahead with the format we needed.   The team at the castle were flexible and agreed to our request, I believe for the first time. The combination of the elegance of the castle with the relaxed atmosphere was perfect for all of our partners.  The team at the castle seemed to genuinely care about our guests; this really shone through in the way that they interacted with our clients. We received overwhelming feedback from our partners, an example follows.”

"The evening at the Dundas Castle was an exciting one. It is something I will never forget. I was seeing a wonderful Castle for the first time. It was exciting especially that we were taken to every room in the Castle. For me from Zambia where Castles are non-existent that was a memorable moment I will treasure for ever. I will not hesitate to recommend to anybody visiting Scotland to visit Dundas Castle". Sandford A. Mupanga, Lusaka - Zambia

Case Study supplied by: Dundas Castle
For further information, please contact:
Lindsey Mitchell or Siobhán Leith
Dundas Castle
South Queensferry
Edinburgh
EH30 9SP

T: 0131 319 2039
E: sales@dundascastle.co.uk
W: www.dundascastle.co.uk