Kieran McLaughlin and David Thornton, two of Brodies' new trainees and alumni of the University of Aberdeen, recently took part in the International Negotiation Competition (INC) 2016, this year held at the University of Luzern in Switzerland from 5 - 9 July.
Having won the national competition back in March this year, the University of Aberdeen team were selected to represent Scotland against 23 other teams from around the world.
Coached by Adam Davies, a soon-to-be second year trainee at the firm, and accompanied by their national representative, Dr Susan Stokeld from the University of Aberdeen, Team Scotland went up against teams from Singapore, Japan, Italy, India and Russia.
In order to negotiate the best deal for their client from a set of common and confidential facts, Kieran and David negotiated on all aspects in the supply, production, distribution and all the nuances associated with representing a family run 'fine art' chocolate making company (when in Switzerland and all...)
After a masterclass in negotiation strategy and style on day 1, the remaining four days saw the teams put their increased knowledge into practice with some skilful negotiating, proving why they were chosen to represent their respective countries. The awards dinner saw Team Canada going away as overall winners, followed respectively by Singapore and Australia (joint second) and Northern Ireland in third place, with Team Scotland unfortunately missing out on a top spot.
Having gone to Luzern as national champions and leaving as INC delegates both Kieran and David look forward to putting their newfound skills into practice...no pressure gentlemen. Well done to both of them!
