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12.November.2008
Times Like These...
It seems like forever since I wrote an entry in my blog. This has not been due to lack of interest, but has been due to being very busy over recent months. Once you get out of the habit of doing something it is very easy for it not to happen. Anyway I have been encouraged to make the effort to include an entry before the end of the year.
One thing is for sure: a lot has happened in recent months and we find ourselves in unchartered waters. As a business involved in the property and construction industry, we are seeing some very unpleasant things happening to friends and colleagues. The confidence and buzz which there was about our industry has now completely gone and there is shock and fear in the eyes of many people I meet now. Many people are a little lost as to what to do and it is certainly very disturbing.
I have no doubt that this is very much the beginning and will be a case of battening down the hatches and working hard to get to the other side of this recession, whenever that may be.
At _space we have spent the last five years not only diversifying our sectors but our offer. We are now diversifying our geographical location and to sustain the business we need to fish further afield.
This has meant new offices and new markets for us. I seem to spend all of my time now on the train or in the air. Yesterday I was in Bristol and today in Leeds.
Many people have moved to other parts of the world such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi to find stability and opportunity. This may be a good short term answer and certainly a clear indication that we are in a global market. Several of our Directors are in Dubai during November so I will be able to give an update as to what we are doing over there early next year.
I hope that there is some stability in the future, however there is no doubt we will come out the other end very different and things will never be as they were before.
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19.May.2008
Leaving On A Jet Plane
Today I have flown into Heathrow’s Terminal 5 for the first time. I have seen many articles over the years and many pictures of progress as the building has developed. The opening of the terminal was much anticipated for many reasons, not the least because the construction process set new standards in process and delivery.
Unfortunately all of this was lost when, on the terminal’s opening, a logistical weakness presented itself. Sitting in the north of the UK, I wondered how this could possibly have happened. Several of the Directors lost their jobs and the Chief Executive didn't get his bonus. It is interesting that the Board did not push out the Chief Executive and instead saw the bigger picture; after several years of poor profits the company has done well in recent times. It is sad that one error has had such an impact on the perception of this project.
When I arrived at the new terminal I was stuck by the quality and freshness of the building, which reaches high standards throughout. There is also considerable consideration given to the customer’s experience, which is refreshing. In the UK we are so keen to find fault and I had a strong feeling that the building would be associated with the shame that first week brought. Despite the focus on the negative, 99.9% of what has been achieved at Heathrow is fantastic.
I am sure T5 will be seen as a great asset to the UK and will provide a great gateway for the Olympics. In the UK we should try and focus on what is right and spend less time focussing on things which don't go well. We need to look at the big picture and the impact that bold developments have on ‘UK plc’. more…
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13.May.2008
Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
I spent last weekend in Yorkshire and it ended up being a bit of a fiasco. I was picked up at Newcastle Central Station after spending the day in Leeds, to head back down to East Yorkshire and a cottage which we had booked for the weekend. To cut a long story short, when we arrived the recently refurbished barn conversion turned out to be nothing of the sort! The ‘recent’ refurbishment was obviously carried out in the last century if the avocado bathroom suite was anything to go by. We decided to move on and checked into a hotel for that evening.
The following day we managed to find an alternative cottage near Bridlington. This one was much more to our liking. What I found particularly interesting was that we ended up on a farm where the buildings had all been converted to a thriving holiday business. The husband and wife team who had the set up had sold their dairy herd several years earlier and had retired to run the existing farm as a holiday business. The wife even provided a fantastic menu which she would serve to your cottage if you so required.
They had also kept on a small number of cows, sheep and machinery which was particularly fascinating for my three year old who loved the idea of staying on a farm. This really showed intuition by the existing farm owners who identified how they could sustain their living going forward.
We spent the day in Bridlington on Saturday and I was fascinated by how busy the town was. Bridlington has invested wisely and has a very clear understanding of its target audience. On our arrival, we were hit by the fantastic smell of fish and chips which filled the air. My daughter was more interested in the pink bucket and spade and getting on the beach to start digging holes and we ended up having a donkey ride along the beach after digging for several hours for buried treasure.
Everything I saw demonstrated a community which was working well to sustain itself and enhance the best of its past. The promenade had been developed several years previously and there was an ongoing project to refurbish the existing Spa for future conferences.
Generally we have as a family looked for thrills and spills for the children in all sorts of exciting and expensive locations and it is good to know that doesn’t always have to be the case, if you can find them in your own back yard.
As our business now focuses increasingly on sustainability, it is great to pick out sustainable success stories in the most unusual locations.
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