Last week, one of our longstanding Naimuri colleagues crossed off the very last day on his working calendar. The end of April marked the time for Charles to retire but unfortunately, due to the current lockdown situation, we weren’t able to give our very first retiree the Naimuri send off that was planned – the send off that he deserved!
Charles has been a key member of our team, a caring colleague and a friend to many since joining the company in 2016. Having also worked alongside some of us in the pre-Naimuri era, many of Charles’ colleagues worked with him for almost 15 years! As you might imagine, it’s safe to say that we were all very sad about not being able to go out to celebrate the occasion.
Instead of a card full of written messages and a physical get together, we had to get creative and take things online…
We made short video clips where people said goodbye, shared anecdotes and showed off their lockdown-looks (there were lots of new beards). The clips were compiled along with some photos capturing Charles at past Christmas and Summer parties letting his hair down, and a soundtrack of “Charles in Charge” was added. The finished product was a funny, heartwarming and personal video that we hope can be treasured for years to come.
When his final working day came around, we held a virtual get together where we were able to have a toast to Charles from the comfort of our own homes. In his honour the dress code was, as you can see, ‘Wear a Hat’ – not just because of how bad our hair is looking right now, but because Charles is rarely seen without his trademark flat cap. There was a Q&A on how he will be spending his retirement (post Lockdown of course), some emotional speeches and a fun, interactive quiz. The quiz featured a Charles themed round of 10 questions relating to the man himself (where Charles managed to score 3 out of 10) as well as rounds on Netflix, music and general knowledge. The winner overall was Rachel W who won the coveted prize of ‘bragging rights only’.
Although it wasn’t the send off we had originally planned, it was a lot of fun and we all got to say our farewells. When the time is right, we’ll be able to have a face-to-face celebration and see Charles off in proper Naimuri style, but for now, many thanks and best wishes Charles!
Co-authored by Joy P and Marie P
