When we think of the workplace, romance is not usually the first thing that comes to mind but it is reported a 58% of employees have engaged in a romantic relationship with a colleague.
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching Furniture@Work has run a nationwide competition to find out the most romantic (and not so) stories of love in the workplace. From dating your HR manager to finding the love of your life in the bathroom, here are some of the best stories, including the winning story from Dodgems to parenthood!
1. When Adeeb Met Megan [WINNER]
Adeeb 34, and Megan, Leeds
“I started working at Waitrose in December and they invited me along to their Christmas party. There weren’t many seats available, and I was fairly new, so I sat myself down next to a guy alone at one of the tables. He was a real talker, but once I found an opening to go and get a drink, I bumped into Megan. The first thing I noticed was her smile and hair. She was beautiful and very friendly; I was completely in awe of her, to be honest!
“We kept bumping into each other throughout the night, I wanted to ask her to dance but I genuinely thought she was out of my league. To my surprise, she asked me if I wanted to go on the dodgems (yes, there were dodgems). I was so drunk I don’t remember too much after that except for the fact I was pretty bruised, so I must have crashed a few times. I managed to get Megan’s number at the party, and we agreed to go on a few dates. After a few months, we became official and haven’t looked back since. We now have an 18-month-old boy called Theo!
- How to Win a Guy In 10 Years,
Erin 36, and Phil, 40, from Bristol
“Phil and I started working for a bank when I was 18 and he was 22. We started lunching together every day with other young colleagues on our team. We became great friends and were so for ten years. Relationships came and went, the people we lunched with changed and eventually it was just him and me. I was so used to our “jokey” relationship that I laughed it off when he said he could take me on a great date.
“Not long after, he invited me to the cinema. It was all normal until there was a weird chemistry when we said goodbye, and I suddenly thought it must have been a date. I texted him at home asking if that was the case and he said yes! Cut to 19 years since we first met, and we are now happily married with three daughters. For so long, I wondered if I was ever going to meet Mr Right; it turns out he was right there all along.”
- Sleepless in Harrogate
George, 82, and Gwen, 78, from Harrogate
“I met my partner on night duty. When it was quiet, I would do my best to ‘chat her up’ and one day she told me she had a driving test coming up. We agreed if she passed, she would pay for drinks to celebrate, but if she failed, I would buy them to commiserate. She passed and we are still together after 54 amazing years.
4. Dirty Sudancing
“My husband and I met in Germany in 1998. We were both teachers in an international school. For me, it was love, but at the time he said he wasn’t ready. So, I left Germany and moved to Sudan. After I left, he changed his mind and proposed. They do say that absence makes the heart grow fonder! We’ve been happily married for over 20 years.”
5. H.R. I Love You
“I often used to be late for work because of the awful public transport, and it got so bad I was asked to attend a review meeting with my manager and the HR manager. At the time, I didn’t think I was going into a meeting with the woman I would spend the rest of my life with… I received my first warning from her that day (it wasn’t my last) and in the weeks to come we found ourselves chatting as she “checked in” on my progress.”
6. Four Weddings and a Cubicle
“Rather embarrassingly, I walked in on my now partner taking a wee in a shared toilet at our office because he forgot to lock the door. I had never met him before, but the experience gave us something to laugh about. We used to chat when we saw each other leaving the office, which eventually led to a date. If it wasn’t for that moment, we might not be together today!”
We loved going through all our entrees, and picking a winner wasn’t easy. There were so many good stories proving that love does come when you least expect it, even during a HR disciplinary to view them all you can visit the blog here: https://www.furniture-work.co.uk/blog/post/christmas-parties-to-bathroom-mishaps-the-best-office-romance-stories-revealed and share your workplace romance on social here: https://www.instagram.com/furnitureatwork/
