After my last couple of articles about my trip to Manila, I thought I would share a bit about what I’m doing here in the UK.
Whilst I was in Manila, I was having the finishing touches carried out on the new Frontline UK office (Not officially right enough, the registered address has not changed.)
So as soon as I got back, I was delighted to move in!
I’ve lived and breathed the remote work philosophy for most of the last 10 years.
Before joining Frontline, my HQ was usually in London and not as far afield as Manila!
I could regularly hop on a flight and be in central London in under 2 hours, meet up with my colleagues in an office environment, stay for a day or 2 and be back home and working the next day.
Whilst it’s the same premise to get to Frontline HQ, we’re now talking more like 20 hours travel plus 1 or 2 days of jet lag.
So given my proximity to our HQ, now seemed like a good time to invest in a dedicated, stand-alone space to once again have “my office”.
Somewhere out of the house, away from distractions (like the fridge 😆), somewhere I don’t have to ask the kids to keep it down when they come back from school as well as be active in my day either standing and walking whilst on a call or even doing a workout completely uninterrupted.
My observations so far are that I'm way more productive.
Even that small walk from the patio doors, unlocking the office door, switching on the lights and booting up for the day really helps to separate from the house and engage “work mode”.
My increased productivity in December alone means that I know my cost vs value economics were significantly lowballed.
Even in -10°C that we’ve had in Glasgow this month and the extra £££ I’ve spent heating the place, if you are thinking of investing in your own space – I highly recommend it.
For accountants out there, if you’re wondering about the economics of it - I’ve calculated that should the building last 10 years, it will cost me £125 monthly and £83 if it lasts up to 15.
With utilities and connectivity, etc on a 15-year timeline is working out at around £100 a month.
You can’t get a full month co-working arrangement in the UK for anywhere near that – so, so far, it all makes sense. It's all positives so far so I’ll possibly follow this up in summer when I’ve had 6 months to settle in. Hopefully I will have time to kit it out and decorate the way I want early next year.
Anyway – if you made it this far, you’re probably thinking – that’s great Mark🙄, but what are you actually doing with all of this extra productive time? Well, it hasn’t been all just watching the World Cup, I promise!
I’ve been growing the UK business primarily.
With at least 8 new clients slated to come on board this month and existing ones all continuing to grow their teams, we are showing no signs of slowing down.
The UK may be going into recession but the dearth of accounting and finance talent in the UK continues to bite hard for accounting firms and businesses alike.
So, with so many new clients coming on board in 2022, we want to make sure that everyone has the chance to ask the questions and learn from the best when it comes to building and managing an offshore team.
So, I’m working with our Marketing team on creating 2 in-person best practice events for the UK next year.
Our new clients can hear from us - the OG’s that spearheaded the offshore accounting model.
We will also be joined by our pioneering clients that are running accounting firms today and have been in your position – failed, recovered, and succeeded.
They will be sharing advice and best practices to help you succeed in building and managing your offshore team.
We are currently working on the details.
If you could express interest by answering this POLL, it would greatly help us with organisation and logistics. You may also click the button below:
The poll will be closed on 31 January 2023 at 9AM UK time.
We’ll be devising content and what you would really like to know from us and from the clients that are having the most success not just in the UK, but globally too.
This will be my last post until 2023, I’m sure most of you will be quite busy between now and then!
I look forward to catching up with you all in the new year, no doubt a few pounds heavier, having enjoyed a great festive break.
From me and all of the Frontline Family, we hope you have a great holiday with friends and family!
All the best
Mark M