Our Head Office has been based in the centre of Poole for the last 10 years and our lease came to an end in early April of this (very strange) year. Driving past our old offices now, which still have all our signs outside, it looks pretty bleak and deserted and we realised that lots of our local friends and customers were quite worried about what had happened to us.
Never fear, sometimes things happen for a reason. We had been tentatively looking for a new base but hadn’t found anything which suited us and as the world started to go just a bit crazy in March we decided to move our office back to the Sailing School at Rockley Point with a view to reassess things later. Now here we are much later, but now we really do have a view!
With most of our office team furloughed we have not needed much in the way of office space and of course we have been learning new ways of managing and delivering the administration and customer service required to keep Rockley afloat (couldn’t resist getting that in there!), including going on the water ourselves when needed.
Our move back to the beach
Moving back to the beach has had its benefits –
Firstly it has saved us money, as with considerably less customers through our centres this summer, we have had to try to make big cost savings.
Secondly, it has been lovely being back at the centre closer to our customers and to our team. Being close to all the activity means that we can really see how beneficial outdoor activities are for young people, we can engage with the teachers who book an activity trip with us, and we get to see how our young adults thrive on the many Further Education programmes we offer. Of course, the only problem with this, is that a 5-minute stretch of your legs can turn in to a 20-minute chat with our lovely customers or colleagues, but we’re certainly not complaining about that!
Thirdly, there is of course that view! Research has shown that being by the water is good for the soul and, after only just a short while, we can confirm these findings to be absolutely true! It also feels good being this close to the natural environment which we are, as a company, passionate about protecting.
So far, we can’t think of any negatives – even the fact that we have fewer parking spaces seems to have worked in our favour. We’re all pretty much cycling to work when we can (OK we write this as the sun still shines!) which means we’re all getting fit whilst doing our bit for the environment.
Looking ahead
Coming out of all this in the strongest and fittest way possible is our main focus; as we have our eyes set on next season and the many seasons after that, to continue to provide amazing, life-changing outdoor activity experiences to our school groups; excellence and fun watersports training through our RYA courses and opportunities and confidence through our unique, vocational Further Education programmes.
It has certainly been much tougher for us this season, but we are super positive about the future and looking forward to being able to offer our special brand of professionalism, excellence and fun in some of the UK’s and France’s most beautiful natural outdoor locations all based at Rockley centres.
We have really exciting plans for the future and a top team to deliver them to you, our loyal customers and friends. Watch out 2021 and onwards!
Stay safe and healthy so we can all get back to doing what we love.