Slaters and Chimney Sweepers

Always love seeing old painted signs like this still (roughly) in one piece around the city.

Got an intriguing email from one of the directors at my old workplace today. Interesting that it's suggested I had 'loyalty and faith' in the previous administration (and not that, in reality, we basically just had to do what we were told); and he's looking forward to that adventure ahead. Oh, and that the point was missed completely as I'd actually brought up the fact that remaining staff got pay rises and bonuses for their contribution to 2010....

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Kept meaning to get back to you but been a bit busy. How is the new job? Still within cycling distance? You and I always had a good relationship so we should not let what happened at X sour this. So if you are around Madrid give me a shout! I am in London this week but will be there next week, etc, etc!

I did want to share a couple of thoughts with you. I was interested in your comment on loyalty. Loyalty to what or to whom, and under what circumstances? Think about it. X managed to lose more than GBP2 million in 2009-2010 and that was after only breaking even in 2008. Not exactly on a path to success. How can one have loyalty in a management that was so obviously ill-prepared? And who won from this arrangement? The previous owners that sold to Y were the ones that made a killing from X. They got paid for their shares plus large salaries. Have you ever thought that hey could only get away with this because of the loyalty and faith that staff like you and others at X had placed on them? If they had a bitter taste, it has had a lot of sugar thrown at it!

People forget is that by the time G, M and I got involved as directors we had no choice: the only course of action left to us was to reduce the size of the company drastically. The office in Edinburgh closed last Friday 6 May 2011. Sad day. All the IT was moved to London without a glitch. And things are looking up. The remaining staff are busier than ever. And Y are still supportive but we intend to use this to build and not just to survive.

Some of the bitterness may never quite disappear. I know what this is like since I was there when LE imploded in 1999-2000. But life is still full of opportunities. I still think we can build on the X brand. I may be wrong. But because our hands are no longer tied, this is where this adventure will get more interesting...