Blog By Aspen Kissinger, Product Growth Lead
On Friday, April 11th, I had the opportunity to help organise (and attend) my very first Fennex Strategy Day at the beautiful Shell Woodbank House. I’d heard so much about last year’s event from the team: the stunning venue, the incredible food, the late-night team bonding (code name: poker). So expectations were high — and it didn’t disappoint.
We kicked off the day bright and early with a keynote from our Managing Director, Adrian Brown, who walked us through our strategic progress over the past year and set the stage for the year ahead. Seeing how much we’ve grown — not just in size, but in capability and innovation — was incredibly inspiring. The number of new solutions we’ve developed and deployed in just 12 months was a powerful reminder of what this team can achieve.
I even had the chance to present to the team myself — a session on how we communicate about Fennex to clients and the wider world. With a bit of a push from Nassima, I (reluctantly) agreed to share a clip of me speaking at the recent Scottish Energy Futures Conference as an example of how to use storytelling in our messaging. Thankfully, the video played while I was out of the room — because I’m still not quite ready to hear my own voice echo through the speakers again!
After the presentations, we got into a team-building challenge using our very own BBSS™ observation paper cards. The goal? Launch a ping pong ball into a cup from the farthest distance possible. As a social scientist (not an engineer!), I can’t say I brought much technical edge to my team… but it was amazing to see how each group approached the task differently — a testament to the creativity and diversity of thought that runs through the entire Fennex team.
What makes our Strategy Day special is how unified it feels. We’re a small enough company that everyone — across commercial, technical, and operations — gets to sit in the same room, hear the same updates, and contribute to the same conversations. It’s rare, and it’s powerful.
We also spent time reflecting on our six core values:
Creativity, Agility, Family-First, Integrity, Respect, and Customer Focus.
In a quick team vote, Family-First and Customer Focus emerged as the most strongly felt across the company which made me proud. It really does show how people-focused our culture is.
After some strategic (and top-secret!) afternoon discussions, we took things outside for a much-needed break and a game of kickball, organised by Mitch from our Party Planning Committee. We might be agile in the office… but on the pitch? Let’s just say we had fun trying. The sun was out (a rare 18°C in Aberdeen!), and the energy was high.
That evening, we got to unwind with a lovely dinner — joined by a few special plus-ones, reinforcing our family-first culture — followed by some drinks and a raucous game of Mafia, where we attempted to unmask the “killers” among us in a classic social deduction game.
Looking back, my first Strategy Day was not at all what I expected. A year ago, the idea of just attending one would have excited me. The fact that I helped plan and present at this one? That still surprises me. But it also speaks volumes about the Fennex culture — one that values learning, trust, and empowering its people to step up and grow.
Adrian and Nassima consistently give us the space and support to develop as individuals and as a team. It’s part of what makes Fennex so unique. We may be small, but we’re mighty — and we’re only getting stronger.
I can’t reveal too much about what’s coming next, but I’ll say this: there are big things ahead.
We have big dreams — and even bigger capabilities.
