News

The annual Partner Event took place on 21 and 22 November in London. Around sixty international Partners followed Biotop’s invitation and came to the event in Great Britain despite the impending Brexit. Among the participants were Partner companies from Turkey, Israel, Spain and the Netherlands. The majority of the attending Partners were from Germany and Austria, however.

On Wednesday, 20 November, all guests who had already arrived were welcomed with the traditional drinks reception at the hotel—a pleasant get-together before the two days of intensive work to come.

Thursday began with a review of the year 2019. The first presentations dealt with the numerous international Partner visits, the activities in the BENELUX region, the implemented marketing measures and the eagerly anticipated technical innovations by Biotop. The afternoon session began with the presentation of the projects nominated for the Design Frog Prince awards, following which all Partners were asked to vote on their favourite facilities in the categories Swimming Pond, Living Pool and Conversion & Refurbishment. After the voting, it was time for a brief city tour in one of the traditional red double-decker buses that ended at “The Dickens Inn”, a pub in the centre of London.

The subsequent gala evening—a festive occasion every year—was marked by the awarding of the various awards and prizes.

Partner *freiraum was able to secure the Sales Frog Prince for the highest turnover, and also received the Golden Frog Prince for the most completed projects along with Partner Fuchs baut Gärten.

Anticipation was high in regard to the Design Frog Prince awards for the most aesthetic facilities. The winner in the category Swimming Pond was Partner Teich & Pool from Austria, while Partner Munter Tuinprojecten from the Netherlands secured the title in the category Living Pool and Partner myGarden from Luxemburg won the category Conversion & Refurbishment.

Musical accompaniment for the evening was provided by a Beatles cover band that inspired the event participants to dance and sing along.

The second day of the Partner Event saw presentations on the topics “Biotop Monopools”, “Electricity around Water” and “Water in English Designer Gardens”. The ample breaks between talks gave the Partners opportunity to compare experiences and ideas.

Following the two days of intensive exchange, the Partners returned home with a wealth of information and inspiration or extended their stay for a few days of sightseeing in London. As has become tradition in every second year, the coming iteration of the Partner Event will take place in Vienna, and Biotop hopes many of its Partners will be in attendance to make it a great success once again.