Greetings from Spain
Hope you are doing well and feeling a bit more upbeat.
It was a good day on Wednesday as the vaccine approval came in. But it seemed like everything came right on Wednesday.
Last week I was telling you about some Hugs & Incites @ AW you can read about it here.
So on Wednesday, the warehouse deal finally, finally completed. If you have been following the story you will know it's been a bit complicated. And if it had gone to pot it could easily mean that AW are out on our ears looking for a new warehouse.. but all the moving parts miraculously came together this week. On Monday the funds arrived from the USA pension fund, on Friday the last details of the ten year lease were resolved - Katka signed the lease, funds went to the aerospace company selling the building, and the deeds changed hands and the lease came into being at that moment and AW has official secure tenure. Affinity Park is ours!!
On that Wednesday morning I'm driving to Malaga to do some interviews with our shortlisted candidates for two new jobs at the Spain warehouse. On the way I have to stop at the car hire company, they asked me to bring my car back - said I couldn't extend the hire anymore. I must get a new contract. I'm not into flash cars particularly, so I usually hire a modest car. The car I wanted wasn't available.. the girl on the desk asked me if I need a bigger car? I said no, a small car is fine, she asked if I had a family. Strange question? Yes I said, but it's a long story, my wife is in China. I haven't seen her since the 15th of January last year. "It's a long covid related story, I'm alone here" - I told her. Behind the mask I could see warm concerned eyes. "It's only two seats but I'm going to give you this car for the same price". A really nice bright Santa red SLK soft top Merc.. Small but super sporty. I'm even more happy. It's the bargain of the year.
In the car I'm tuned to "Times Radio" - have you tried it?, there is an app or webpage. I love it. Friendly chatty news. And on that morning all about the new vaccine. Lockdown officially over in england, plenty of tiers anyway. But still good news: lots of shops can re-open. Are you opening up? We decided to help our customers with a mega shopfitting deal, check out the beautiful product enhancing furniture below, unrepeatable deals to celebrate the re-opening. (See below)
We put a Christmas tree up at AW HQ, and also had a light dusting of snow.. so it's official - it's Christmas. Plus Rodrigo is wearing his "Let it Snow" top.. so it must be.
This week's apt.. xmas lyrics.. no place to go.. pubs are closed.. can't travel.. so let it snow..
Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Whilst this is going on Toni and I do interviews - we have one booked every half an hour.. and not one misses, everyone turns up.
When you see a lot of people, they can get mixed up in your mind afterwards, so to help me focus - I use this old trick.. I give them all nicknames, which I scribble on the notes. Then I like to sleep on it, think carefully about how they will fit in the team, what talents they can bring and try to visualize the team dynamic. I just chatted to Toni and it seems we both settled on the same two people. Jesus, who lives in Benalmadena and Attila who was originally from Hungary.
So Toni is calling "Jesus of Benalmadena" and "Attila the Hun" right now to give them the good news..
Meanwhile we are working hard to get your orders out. It's absolutely peak time, and with some shops reopening and restocking it's putting some pressure. We slipped a bit behind, but are doing our best to catch up.. there are more orders being shipped that ever before at AW, this week three containers came. Two from Indonesia and one from India.. so lots back in stock.. and lots selling out. Exports to the EU are up 800% as customers panic about getting stock after Brexit. So it's a bit crazy. I know James and his team are working flat out.
Dusan the Aromatic's factory manager is also stressed, taking on lots of extra staff. He is doing his best to up production of bath bombs and shower steamers enough to meet orders. But Greenman soaps are now back. The beast from France is in full production.. next up guest soaps will be back soon.
More news next week.. There are lots of things happening.
Take care and stay safe.