FM Conway - Going the Extra Mile

Afterword

many months, and that is before the tender gets submitted and then one has to wait three months and go through a number of interviews and maybe a best and final offer stage. By that time you are exhausted and begin to wonder was it worth it. And at long last you get the letter informing you have won it and suddenly everything that got you to this point becomes forgotten in the adrenalin rush that follows. Before you know it another tender shows up and you are back on the merry go round. That is the way it is. My wife showed me a photo of myself on my 50 th birthday: I was shocked. I looked 65 and totally stressed out – it had been after a period of many tenders going in. I have learned from that, and now have learned to handle the stress and prioritise things so that it does not affect me in the same way. For many years, all of my energies had gone into the business at the expense of my family and my health. Age has taught me to listen 5 times more than I have to say and in so doing allows me to view things with a wise head and give experienced advice. There have been many people that have affected my outlook on life. My father was one as I often wondered why he left me those spread sheets and left all those years ago: did he feel that confident in my abilities that he knew by leaving the business to run it was in very safe hands? No, I don’t believe he did. He left because he had taken the business to where he

After reading this book many times before I sat down to write this, it occurred to me that although the book describes the years as they rolled past and the great people that I have come to meet and know well (sadly many are not now with us, and that saddens me greatly), it does not let the reader know the pleasure and the pain that go hand in hand whilst trying to build a successful company. I have sometimes mentioned to people within Conway’s the pressure that we feel when a tender is submitted, it can be immense and leads to tears and exhaustion. All is forgotten however when we win a contract, whether it is a new contract or a renewal of a contract, and everyone rolls on to the next one. You would have read that many new contracts have been won in the last 10 years and long may that continue, it is what we get paid for and all my employees benefit through job security and expansion. Before the world went mad and life was much more practical and simpler, all I had to do was apply for a tender with some very simple questions: turnover, profit, and references. Then you received the tender, shut yourself away for a few days and it was priced, put it into an envelope and delivered on time, and then we waited for the phone call. Oh no, not now! What one person did 15 years ago now takes a whole division, between bid writers, planners estimators and directors and

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