Jonathan Knott

Former British ambassador to Hungary, Budapest

Part of UK in Hungary

3rd June 2014 Budapest, Hungary

Out of Office

We had our annual Away Day last week.  It’s a day for staying out of your office and meeting with the whole Embassy team to chat about how to improve what we do (and how we do it) in the following year.  And then to have some fun relaxing together.

The Yellow Team posing for a group photo on the successful completion of a task, with the lovely Buda Castle in the background.
The Yellow Team posing for a group photo upon successful completion of a task, with the lovely Buda Castle in the background.

This year we had  really good morning sessions on how to build on the impact we have here in Hungary and in London, and on imagining the ideal workplace of the future.  There were so many ideas about how we can make the Embassy an even better, more fun place to be.  Some do-able, some (like having an Embassy dog) a bit more aspirational.  We selected our favourite twelve and I promised everyone we’ll work to realize as many of those twelve as much as we can.  Though I’m not sure how I’m going to arrange getting the Embassy building moved to the seaside!

The morning workshop concentrated on key
The morning team workshop concentrated on how to make the Embassy an even better place
Teams visualized their ideas on how to improve our working environment
Teams visualized their ideas on how to improve our work environment

In the afternoon we broke into smaller teams and did a “treasure hunt” around the city centre.  It was themed around our Emergency Plans (the plans we have in case of a local crisis in which British people are involved).  So while we had fun following clues and working out routes round town we also practised some of those crisis – related skills.  And there was a crisis-related quiz.  One of the questions was how many Brits live in Hungary today?  [Answer at the end!]

Teams completed timed tasks - another question was to determine the maximum hight of the Danube, which was 891 cm in 2013!
Teams completed timed tasks – another question was to determine the maximum hight of the Danube, which was 891 cm in 2013!
XX
How to convey your messages in a crisis situation? Communicating with the media

The big bonus was that it was such a beautiful day – the best of the year so far – so it was a real pleasure to wander round from checkpoint to checkpoint, especially when we had to do a task next to the river.  It’s good to mix things up at work once in a while!

The Pink Team at the Embassy Awayday - the winners of the competition, with Ambassador Knott's lead!
The Pink Team, winner of the competition!

PS. The answer is that we estimate approximately 5,200  Brits live in Hungary today.

About Jonathan Knott

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take up his post. He left this post on April…

Jonathan Knott was appointed Her Majesty’s Ambassador to
Hungary in March 2011 and arrived in Budapest in February 2012 to take
up his post. He left this post on April 2015.
He has previously held a variety of diplomatic posts at home and
abroad, several with a particular focus on commercial and corporate
finance issues. Jonathan has served in a number of positions in the
British Diplomatic Service since joining in 1988:
Before his appointment was Deputy Head of Mission and Director for Trade and Investment in South Korea from 2008 to 2011.Between 2005 and 2008 he held the post of Deputy Finance Director in the FCO.From 2000 to 2005 he served as First Secretary (Trade, Corporate Affairs and Finance Negotiator) in UKDel OECD Paris.From 1996 to 2000 he was First Secretary (Head of Political/Economic/Aid Section) in Mexico.From 1995 to 1996 he worked in the FCO as Deputy European Correspondent at the EU Directorate.Between 1991 and 1995 he served as Third later Second Secretary (Political / Press and Public Affairs) in Havana.From 1990 to 1991 he was Desk Officer in the FCO’s First Gulf War Emergency Unit.Between 1988 and 1990 he worked as Desk Officer in the FCO in the Anti Drugs Cooperation Department.
Jonathan holds an MA in law from Oxford University, and he is a
member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He speaks
English, French, Spanish and Hungarian. He is married to Angela Susan
Knott and has one daughter and two sons.

Follow Jonathan