Helicopter Trip over Shropshire

Three Nock Deighton estate agents were treated to an unusual view of their sales patch thanks to a special trip arranged by a company director.

The members of staff were taken on a whistle-stop tour of Newport, Telford and Ironbridge by helicopter as part of a campaign by the company to showcase the variety of homegrown produce and activities on offer in Shropshire.

Graham Taylor, managing director of Nock Deighton, arranged the outing with Shrewsbury-based Helitrip, which charters helicopter flights, to celebrate the opening of a new office in Newport and outstanding sales figures at the Ironbridge and Telford offices.

To mark the opening of the Newport branch, the team also visited Apley Farm Shop to taste a special cheese handmade in Shropshire by Martin Moyden, Newport 1665 - named after the great fire of Newport.

The group then took to the skies, along with a wheel of cheese, to view their property territories from a very different angle before dropping into The Corbet Arms in Uffington to surprise Nock Deighton lettings director, Dawn Clarke, who was having lunch in the restaurant.

Dawn and her husband then joined the team in the helicopter for the trip back to Apley Farm Shop.

Mr Taylor said the unusual day was all part of a campaign by Nock Deighton to thank staff for their hard work while promoting Shropshire at the same time.

He said: “Throughout this year we are working to a theme of ‘Experience Shropshire’, when we reward staff with special activities provided in the county.

“As a company, Nock Deighton has been part of the community since 1831 and we are keen to do what we can to promote the many wonderful homegrown businesses here in Shropshire.

“The helicopter trip had a number of elements to it. Firstly it was a great chance to give our staff a different perspective on their job by showing them a bird’s eye view of the vast areas they cover.

“And secondly, we wanted to give them a taste of some of the fantastic produce being created in Shropshire, and Mr Moyden’s cheeses are a great example of that.

“With our new office opening in Newport, it seemed apt to taste some Newport 1665, and we also tried some of the new Apley Cheshire cheese which is a recreation of a cheese made on the site of Apley Farm Shop in the 1950s.

“It was a wonderful day and I would like to say a big thank you to Lord Hamilton at Apley Farm Shop, Helen Bourne at Helitrip, Dave Robson at The Corbet Arms and Martin at Mr Moyden’s Cheeses for helping us make it such a success.”