Hey!

So here we are in week 10 already- how did that happen?! I can't work out if it feels like I've been here forever or still haven't started yet!

Last week contained two defining moments in our internship- a fundraiser for the Saltire Foundation and a presentation for MD Mark Addis. If someone had said I'd be doing both of those things at the start of the internship I probably would have felt unbelievably nervous at the thought of it, but it just seemed like such a normal thing to do!

So after hearing about the Saltire Challenge, my fellow scholars and I thought it might be a nice way to give back to the Saltire Foundation and to have more of a presence around the office. We decided we would have a Scottish-themed day, with fancy dress, a bakesale and a raffle. We did suggest to our colleagues that they dress up as something Scottish, but the only response we ever got was "What, wear a kilt?" which we figured was unlikely, so we thought it was better they leave it to the experts (us) to show them what's really Scottish...

That's right, Tennants, The Famous Grouse (/Saltire Foundation fan) and Irn Bru!

We tried to have matching raffle prizes but we couldn't find Tennants anywhere! We had a similar problem with locating haggis- I've never felt so far from home! We asked an assistant in Harrods if they sold haggis and his immediate response was "Is it Burns Night?"! Another shock was that no-one had ever heard of tablet (or 'a tablet' as one of our colleagues kept calling it) so we got baking Wednesday night to educate the Londeners! A few other people brought in cakes they'd made, including one colleague who carried a tub of cake around for the whole of the previous day while on a visit to meet a client, before returning to the office at 7pm to drop it off for us because he wouldn't be in the next day till the afternoon! We were really thrilled by everyone's enthusiasm- the CEO Chris Giles gave a very generous donation and happily allowed us to use his face on posters we put up around the office...

We really did get a great reception, selling almost a whole book of raffle tickets (despite the fact no-one seemed to like whiskey) and all of our cakes! One of the managing directors Mike Smith encouraged us into the board room where there was a big meeting going on with directors from throughout the UK, resulting in some very generous donations! The day was a fantastic opportunity to introduce ourselves to a lot of people we wouldn't normally have met and was a great way of feeling more at home in the office- I really would recommend anyone on an internship to do this as early as possible! I'd like to thank everyone who donated money to the Saltire Foundation, helping us to raise a grand total of £267.53!

Now if getting the tube at 8.30am dressed as a bottle of whisky wasn't a strange enough experience, we also insisted on embracing the after-work drinks! In London there's definitely a culture of going for a drink at lunch and after work, meaning all of the nearby bars are always full of people in suits, so we didn't stick out at all! Lots of people from the office came out with us, including some of the directors we haven't had much of a chance to speak to, including one who kept telling us we've been "a breath of fresh air"! Definitely using him as a future reference!

Sadly the next morning I did not feel like a breath of fresh air... And cue the presentation! The main point of it was to show the progress we've made with the project so far and to get any guidance for our last few weeks of the internship. We had prepared a powerpoint presentation, including tables and graphs (hello pivot tables)  from the data we've been analysing, as well as some input from our supervisors Nick and Matt. After gathering in the board room and finally mastering the projector (it does help if you remove the cap, Matt) we got started with the presentation to Wholesale MD Mark Addis. It was quite a laid back presentation, with Nick introducing the purpose of our project and the effect it will have on the company, and the three of us discussing the data. Mark added his thoughts throughout the presentation which I think made it seem less formal and far less scary! The Group MD Sarah Lyons was unable to make it at the last minute so we have arranged to meet her this afternoon to go over it- this time it will be without our supervisors though! We've also just found out we're giving a presentation on our final day- the 19th of August- to the CEO and a number of the directors. This will be to display our findings as well as to document our progress and make suggestions for the hand-over, as someone will be employed when we leave to take over the project on a long-term basis. It seems strange to think that the work we've done will be very much integrated into the business as a permanent feature. I remember reading on the job spec that our project would have 'real commercial significance', turns out they weren't lying!

In terms of exploring there's still loads to do! This week we went to the Ice Bar- which, as the name may suggest, is a bar made of ice! Even the glasses are made of ice so they start to melt as you drink them! Thankfully they throw a big cloack (with furry hood and gloves attached) over you before you go in because it's freeeeezing in there! Not much of a surprise really... Other than that I seem to have worked my way around a lot of museum-type places recently, with a trip to the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert and Westminster Cathedral, which is very close to our flat! There are so many different sides to London, I still can't get over how different a place it is to the rest of the UK!

Until next time!

Sarah xxx