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29.9.06

British transport - bad for business?

Have been invited up to Scotland for a new client meet on Sunday! More details to follow on this, as it captures everything to do with social media, social marketing and... social business. My lips are sealed for now.

The nature of the company means that we can only convene the requisite members of the "board" in Fife on Sunday afternoon.

Fine book a train from York. Erm. No. Unless, I leave at 6.30 in the morning (on a Sunday!) it will take GNER more than five and half hours to get me to Waverely and then I've got to get to Fife. Impossible.

Okay let's fly. From Leeds-Bradford I can get a flight. Great. How much? £300. I took the whole family to Prague a couple of weeks ago for just £60 each. It's not the cost to the business that annoys me - it's just the ridiculous price. Sunday can't be their busiest day surely.

Try Manchester Airport. It's a bit cheaper but I still have to drive to Manchester!

Solution: Make a weekend of it and drive up to St Andrews and stay with friends. Attend meeting in Fife and drive home.

I don't resent it because, although I haven't met the client yet, I like him as he sounds really passionate about what he is doing.

My main question is: British transport - bad for business?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can relate - I had a job in Thurso a few years back. Took about 12 hours by train the first visit, including an unscheduled stop in Inverness. Flying LBA via Glasgow to Inverness ended up being the best option long term. Fife's nowhere near as far though. Have fun.

Anonymous said...

Doh! Forgot to give my views on the state of British transport. I try to travel most places by train (for altruistic green reasons of course, but also so I can catch up on reading instead of wasting time on the M62 or A1). I am happy with the trains maybe 70% of the time, but when things go wrong it's usually catastrophic and I get stranded in Birmingham New Street for 8 hours. --sigh--. Sundays are always a nightmare. Once you meet a client once (I do value face to face meetings, especially on an initial meeting) do you use Skype or video conferencing to keep in touch in future? This of course saves not only time, but carbon (she says, with her green hat on again);o)

News Update said...

Hi Mel,

Thanks for this. Like you I generally think that British public transport is great. And I try to use it as often as possible - but it seems Sundays are out of bounds.

GNER to London from Wakefield, Leeds and York is generally brilliant although my business partner is launching a campaign against GNER as they are planning to get rid of the 11.30 to Wakefield - usually a crowded train that communters use in West Yorkshire if they don't live in Leeds.

The frustrating bit for me was I tried to cut the carbon miles as much as I could. As it stands I've got a five hour drive tomorrow.

By the way thanks for the comments about greenblog.

Tim Chapman said...

Hi Ian,

If you're really trying to cut the carbon miles, the short-haul jaunts across Europe might be a better place to start...