Another year older (and hopefully a little wiser)

Here's a few thoughts on what I've seen and learned in the past 12 months.

So, today….it’s my birthday (!) and I’m old enough for that to hurt a little but also “experienced” enough to have opinions that I think are worth foisting on others….so here’s what I learnt in my 53rd year:

Nobody cares about location any more. Sure, people want to spend locally where they can, because who wouldn’t want to support their own communities? But, quality of service now far far outweighs the need for your office to be close by.

Nothing is more convenient than just opening your laptop. Our clients are getting further and further away and this is happening in leaps and bounds. It's more noticeable with every passing month.

So I've attempted to look back at what I've lived through and the steps that brought us here.

By chance, Gmail has its 20th birthday on Monday. Email is older still and I can remember my first and having it explained to me using a fax machine as a metaphor. By the following year, 2005, Skype was hitting the headlines with 50 million sign-ups, Zoom followed in 2011, Teams 2017.

Then the pandemic arrived at the end of 2019 and our offices changed forever, and for the better.

Now, everything is about quality and that is a tremendous opportunity. We can reach further, learn faster and more people than ever can see our work.

Global challenges aside, these are exciting times. We should never allow ourselves to be too negative.

Thank you to my colleagues for the birthday wishes (and cake and card!). There’s a big year ahead.

- Rich