The Portico Annual Conference is the perfect opportunity for our people to meet with industry leaders and share ideas about our business, helping us gain a further understanding of our prosperous guest services industry.

 

We hosted our 5th Annual Conference this year at Bloomsbury’s charming Goodenough College in London. This year was better than ever, with over 300 Portico people and clients in attendance across the whole day, filled with fantastic food and entertainment.

If you missed this year’s Portico conference, don’t worry, here’s a look inside our annual event of innovation, diversity and development.

 

First, Let’s Feast

 

It’s not like we spent the whole day sampling some of the most delicious food. Let’s be honest, the majority of our favourite moments are food-related. Thank you so much to Holroyd Howe who provided us with mouth-watering bites and kept us fed and happy throughout the day with fusion dishes ranging from Thai to Latin – we really were spoilt for choice. Not only did these flavours pack a punch, but they were also made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and packed with nutrients to keep us energised.

Looking to the Future

 

Learning how to inhibit technology whilst retaining the ‘human touch’ and impeccable service is at the forefront of running a successful business, and something we are always keen to keep up with.

 

This year, we had the pleasure of welcoming Vpod to our Annual Conference. Vpod specialises in providing for the needs of modern customer engagement, making the most efficient and effective use of time in the front of house environment. They showcased how they are combining technology with creating compelling and engaging customer experiences which can be used throughout front-of-house.

 

“We’ve been working with Vpod for a couple of years now, and it’s been a great success. The idea of people and tech mixing to enhance the visitor experience means we’re culturally a great fit, and we’re looking forward to the future together.”

– Paul Jackson, MD Portico

 

Watch Vpod’s video from our Annual Conference here.

Additional excitement came from the Biometric Identity Management Service, QikID. They introduced fully autonomous facial recognition solutions for our reception and concierge services. Its futuristic technology can support our Portico people in recognising people of interest for the success of the service they provide.

 

We also had the pleasure of having BluePoint and ProxyClick, who are transforming our visitor journey and management experience. It’s an exciting time for us here at Portico, with such exciting new technology developments.

 

Our Charity Partner 

 

With life-changing success stories, we have worked with a plethora of worthy organisations over the past decade. If you didn’t already know, this year’s chosen Portico Charity is Veterans with Dogs.

 

Veterans with Dogs are passionate and dedicated to supporting our British Armed Forces and military heroes, who may be suffering from mental health conditions such as PTSD. Veterans with dogs help to train service dogs, which in turn help our heroes by providing both psychological and physical support. Through shining a light on mental illness and raising awareness about the benefits of service dogs, this charity has helped 1000’s of individuals.

 

In the next 24 months, we have challenged our people to raise a vast £30,000, which will allow us to fund a PALS Programme fully, which will see a puppy go through training and be able to help those in need. We think this is a fantastic cause!

 

Find out more about Veterans with Dogs and support them here.

 

Learning & Development 

 

At this year’s event, we looked at leveraging technology in our L&D department through Digital Coaching Initiatives. This will transform our business in an age of digitalisation and constant change. An exciting step forward with technology will provide more support for our Portico people. Further developing their growth mindset to create and cultivate in different guest service environments. We are dedicated to the training and development of our people, and always on the lookout for new ways that we can inspire others for future success.

The Map of Portico People

 

Here at Portico, our family is made up of all kinds of people from all around the world. There wasn’t a better time for us to celebrate this than at our annual conference.

 

The map of Portico People is a celebration of our people’s diversity, pinpointing different countries around the world that we call home. This diversity creates our best talent, and it’s one thing that we all have in common at Portico. Our strengths are defined in differences, not in similarities.

Portico Talent Attraction

 

There is always time for fun and games at our Annual Conference. Attracting talent is paramount for finding the next Portico person. What better way to get everyone involved than a dose of healthy competition in the form of an old classic board game (with a twist). We highly doubt this is the last we’ve seen of Recruitment Snakes and Ladders.

The Portico Raffle 

 

This year we teamed up with our Portico charity, the amazing Veterans With Dogs, who were kind enough to host this year’s raffle. With a range of fantastic prizes, Abbie and Fraser drew and announced our 2019 winners. We want to thank everyone who entered this year’s raffle and a big well done to our winners. Thank you to Abbie and her glamorous assistant Fraser for also announcing the ’19 winners!

 

If you love a good Boomerang, then check out our Instagram Story with all the highlights from the day.