The time has come, the walrus said, for this jaded old adventurer to pack up his staff and head back north to find himself a single brand that needs his particular school of manipulation magic.
With the help of a LinkedIn job seekers account and the understanding of the good folks at Tank, I'm moving house and role some two hours up the A1 to the East Riding of Yorkshire. I'll be taking up a new position as Senior Marketing Manager for JD Garage Equipment, the UK's leading independent designer and supplier of workshop and engineering equipment. No more delicious coffee from Outpost Coffee Roasters (unless I buy it online), hipster vintage shops or sly breakfasts at Flavours in Hockley.
The last five years with Tank have been a pleasure and I'll miss the team dearly, but the future calls and I need to be closer to family. Tank has evolved to be a veritable PR and digital powerhouse and it's been a pleasure to watch the team grow around Trevor's vision. The Midlands has been very kind to me, but I miss my roots. My favourite brands have always been the B2B, tech, engineering, mechanical, AI, mining and automotive... so JDGE is a win from the beginning. A challenge keeps this old brain fresh and thinking, plus James and Nick Everard - the two brothers who own this multi-million-pound company - have offered me virtual autonomy with solid plans for video and outreach. Our clients range from BMW and Lambogini to Audi, Maserati, Porche, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes Benz and even high-end commercial repair and spray shops. More of an all-'round role, it'll be a joy to do more work behind-the-camera and get my hands dirty again.
I've found a converted barn in North Newbald, only 10 minutes from work, with its own water supply and a walled garden for the pooch - very handy in a zombie apocalypse. The electrics and plumbing are shocking, but I don't mind a project. To put North Newbald into context, it's home to the whipping post used in the last public flogging carried out in Britain and the phrase "He's a bit Newbold" is used locally to describe someone who, shall we say, 'thinks outside of the box.' The beast can come into the office (on a trial basis) and there's great walking along national trails and around the wind farms of Sober Hill.
I'll be carrying on this blog, potentially more frequently as there are fewer distractions out in the middle of the Yorkshire Wolds. Heck, I may even have a go at vlogging (if I can think of a suitable topic that wouldn't just work better as a podcast) now I've got a decent 4k phone.
I wish all the team at Tank, and my old friend Star Commander Palmer, the very best for the future. H, Lou, Claire, Dex, Molly, Eileen, Addie, Stoney, Michelle, J-Dogg, Ed, Dan, Fi and the rest, I can't recommend their diligence and professionalism and sheer team talent more highly. They are spacemen (and spaceladies) amongst monkeys. I achieved what I achieved at Tank by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Watch this space, and thanks to everyone who put the word out for me while I was looking.
I suppose I'll now be commenting from client side, rather than agency side? This could be fun...
