IN RECENT MONTHS SEVERAL OF MY CLIENTS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT I AGAIN CONSIDER AN IDEA THAT I HAVE BEEN MULLING OVER FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, WHICH IS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MY MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF ACCUMULATED KNOWLEDGE AND CONTACTS, TO LEAD A SMALL AND EXCLUSIVE GROUP ON A TRIP TO LONDON TO MEET WITH A NUMBER OF LEADING LOCAL ARTISANS IN THEIR WORKROOMS. THEY WOULD ALL BE MASTERS OF THEIR INDIVIDUAL TRADES AND THE TRIP WOULD OFFER A UNIQUE INSIGHT INTO THEIR WORK.

I therefore took advantage of a recent brief business trip to London, which I commented on recently in this blog, to ensure that such a trip would be viable and was delighted with the very positve response I received from my contacts over there.

In brief the key elements included in the luxury package, if I were to go ahead and plan the “Cutler Artisan Sojourn” would be:
- A 9 day trip with 6 nights in London
- Visits to between 12 and 15 artisans across a range of high end luxury goods and associated industries
- Accomodation in an iconic 5star hotel in the West End
- First class air travel
- Meals at a number of London’s best restaurants
- I would lead the group throughout
- Numbers restricted to 10-12 people
- Partners welcome to accompany their spouses
- Timing to be finalised but most likely departure between mid-March and early May 2011
- Indicative cost of package A$50,000. The costs and duration are based on departure from Sydney but I am sure arrangements could be made to join the group in London if you wished to travel from elsewhere in the world.

I am currently looking for expressions of interest from those who might be interested in making this unique trip. I would appreciate it if you could call me on +61 (0)2 9232 7122 or email me at contact@cutlerbespoke.com by the end of July if you, or anyone you know, might be interested. I would of course be happy to discuss the idea further with you, or answer any questions you might have.

If successful further trips to London or other centres of excellence such as Florence might well be considered. I am very excited about having the chance to share some of what I have learnt over the years and have been much encouraged by the positive feeback received to date. I very much hope that I have the opportunity of turning the concept into reality.