Hi, I’m Nikki. For those who know me I’m not one to brag and boast about my achievements, or be in the spotlight but I wanted to tell you a little about me and the inspiration behind Swurf.
I’m originally from the north-east of England, Durham to be precise. I spent my early career working in hospitality sales. It all started with a part time job in banqueting operations at the Hilton Blackpool whilst studying photography at Lancaster University. I never looked back. My venue roles took me back to Durham and to Leeds where I was swept off my feet by a lovely Scot called Tim who eventually persuaded me to settle down in Edinburgh.
I always had a passion to drive the very best in event management experiences so it was a natural jump for me to go from venue sales into an event management agency as joint managing director. With my partner in crime (and she still is); Anna Wilson, we grew Naked Events and quickly established a very satisfied client base through our philosophy of choosing to only work with best venues to maximise ROI from events for our clients.
Naked Events has suffered during the pandemic. Both Anna and I have been forced to rethink our business strategy and come up with new ways to move forward. Ever-ambitious I’ve always known I had a start-up business in me and I created the idea of Swurf whilst staring at my own four home office walls in Leith. I know venues and they’ll want to capitalise on the new remote working community but won’t have a lot of funds to do it especially right now. And there will be a massive community of young professionals who miss the networking and buzz that office working brought them. They’ll crave collaboration with friends and colleagues again. How could I bring the two together for a win-win for both?
With the help of some absolutely fantastic partners and creative team, Swurf was born. And I love where we’ve got to so far. We’re recruiting host venues to the platform at the moment with an app launch imminent as soon as hospitality businesses are allowed to re-open again. I want Swurfers to feel they can be welcomed wherever they work, that they can choose where they work based on what they need to achieve and that we can get everyone back to doing what we do best, collaborating and sharing ideas face-to-face.
And it doesn’t stop there. I have bold ideas for the app and once I’ve launched in Edinburgh, there will be new features and new host cities to recruit. If you fancy joining me on the journey, then follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Thanks for reading!
