The award-winning CEO of a thriving tech firm is taking her entire workforce on a five star holiday to Ibiza for smashing their growth targets.
Carrie Rose founded Sheffield-headquartered Rise at Seven alongside Stephen Kenwright in 2019 and promised her staff she’d take them on holiday if they hit £1m turnover in their first year.
The startup ended up hitting £1.5m but because of Covid, the entrepreneur has not been able to honour her promise – until now.
Next month the company will be flying most of their 100-strong team – including their American staff – for a three-day, all inclusive holiday, to Ibiza.
However since making the promise the company has opened new offices in London, Manchester and New York and the workforce has grown so much that 29-year-old Rose has had to hire an entire plane to get them all on.
The cost of the trip, which includes sunset watches, has not been revealed but it’s been met by the founders rather than from the company’s balance sheet.
Rose, who has been included in the latest Forbes 30 Under 30 List, explained how the holiday came about.
“In our first year of running the agency (in 2019), we had big ambitions,” she said. “Most startups make a loss in their first year but we had a small target of £300k.
“Within a few months we were achieving these numbers. We hit £500k, then £600k and then £700k and I said to the team ‘if we can hit £1m in our first year I give my word, we’re going on holiday’.”
Before long the agency was doing work for the likes of Klarna, Pretty Little Thing, Odeon, GAME and PlayStation.
Rose said: “We hit £1.5m (turnover). I’ll be honest, I didn’t think we would hit it. At this time we had eight members of staff. We all celebrated and started researching where to go. And then the Covid pandemic hit.”
That was in 2020 and hopes of a holiday were well and truly grounded.
“I thought we would be locked down for a few weeks and get back to the planning,” she recalled. “Two-and-a-half years later we still weren’t able to go and by this time, we were at 100 staff.”
However, having given her word, the team will be jetting off for their long-awaited holiday on September 16.
Around 70 of the agency’s 100 staff will be going and Rose said it’s the least she can do.
“We have grown fast,” she said. “We have delivered some of the best work the industry has seen and won Best Large Agency Worldwide because of it.
“There is no doubt the Rise at Seven team has worked hard. They wanted to win so the time has come to head off to Ibiza. They deserve it and it wouldn’t be possible without our incredible clients.”