We have been delighted to be working in partnership this year with local winery Squerryes, makers of a fine range of international award-winning wines and also home to a restaurant and deli at their estate in Westerham. The family motto of owner Henry Warde is ‘Licet esse beatis’ (‘it is permitted to be joyful’) and Squerryes is ‘in the business of creating joy’ through their delicious food and wine and also through enjoyment of their beautiful estate. They are seeking to grow an authentic sense of ‘terroir’: of connecting with the local community and belonging to the local land.

After bidding for a place on the partnership project, fifteen Lower Sixth students worked in two teams to respond to two business briefs, one on sustainability and one on marketing.:

Visiting the estate and working with their team over a period of two months, the girls worked to develop a series of ideas in response to the briefs, in order to prepare a presentation for the winery’s leadership team in April. At the end of the project, both our teams gave confident and impressive presentations in Squerry’s atmospheric ‘Cork Room’, having done a great deal of research into their topics and striven to ensure that all their ideas were closely linked to the company’s ethos and aims. Henry Warde spoke of how strongly the girls’ ideas resonated with him, and we can be sure that some of these will be implemented shortly. He praised the girls not only for their exceptional ideas and concept-creation, but also the confidence and strength of their delivery. He gave some great advice that the secret to a persuasive presentation is to be authentically yourself and to believe in yourself and your ideas.

This has been a super opportunity for our students to gain real-life experience of working on a business project, acquiring the crucial skills and experience that employers are always seeking. We are hugely grateful to the team at Squerryes for giving us this project, particularly alumna Emma Hull, Squerryes’ Wine and Membership manager.