Extra light, endless conversations
You know how it goes, the sun rises east, sets west, day after day, completely out of our hands. But spring? Spring’s handing us a gift, 2-4 extra minutes of daylight every single day from right now until the June solstice. What we can control is those bonus minutes of light, plus the other 1,437 in every 24-hour day.
Last week we packed our 1,440 minutes with conversations that stick, from fire service veterans now teaching Building Safety Act courses, to Oxford stonemasons keeping Merton College’s stones talking to the future.
Monday
Colin Millar launched his first Building Safety Act 2022 Awareness course via Teams, to an international audience, no less. From fire service and dangerous goods training to online delivery, Colin absolutely crushed it. Delegates left informed, Colin debriefed with his trademark “what can I improve next time?” mindset. Classic Colin.
Tuesday
Early start north of the county for a site compliance tour. Lee and the site manager got straight down to business, commissioning, logistics and managing expectations. Then the conversation took a turn toward Stoic wisdom, “we’ve seen this before, we’ve solved it before.” C offee poured, actions assigned.
Later came CDM catch-ups and a client lunch celebrating Bury Cross garage’s phase 1 recovery and smooth phase 2 handover. Next steps? Strengthening their operational controls. Can’t wait.
Wednesday
Leon led a proper lively two-day CITB SMSTS Refresher (hosted by MS Associates). Meanwhile, out on the road for a Porton Down site tour. Not just paperwork and checklists, but real conversations with the leadership team and boots on the ground.
What followed was an impromptu detour to New Forest Fencing and Gates, where Pete in the panel shop explained how their health initiatives have become “the new norm.” That’s culture, collective responsibility in action.
Thursday
SMSTS delegates all passed with flying colours. Conversations kept flowing via Teams, admin reviews, project planning, our “Reflections to Actions” initiative. Lunch catch-up soon followed with a friend of the business to talk quarterly “Reflections to Action” events. Watch this space.
Friday
Pre-dawn drive to Oxford and a Brompton ride from Redbridge Park & Ride along the Thames Path to Merton College, Oxford. John Lister (Owlsworth Conservation) greeted me with coffee and that warm smile of his. We started talking stone replacement works, but it quickly became about the soul of stonemasonry:
“You’re not just fixing a building; you’re keeping a conversation going between past and future.”
John’s words lit a spark, a series capturing these client team conversations about craft, challenges, solutions. First one drops soon.
Then onto Henley-on-Thames for a team review (and yes, pizza with 6 trades in the canteen mid-meeting). More laughter, stories, connections.
Closing Thought
What a week, fire safety experts, site managers, stonemasons, workshop teams, trades demolishing pizza mid-review. This is why we do what we do, to hear the stories, learn from the experience, offer practical help. Whether it’s CEOs, business owners, senior leadership, operatives, support functions, or our own team.
Every conversation plant’s a seed. Some grow into compliance systems. Some become blog series. All make us better at what we do.
