I need a beer

Monday this week got off to a bit of a slow start.  I'd spent the weekend ripping up carpets from the upstairs of the housing and doing some final painting touches.  This meant on Monday morning my legs were stiff to say the least.  Anyway I still dragged myself into the office and enjoyed  a clear day in the office catching up on e-mails and with the team.

On Tuesday I headed down to Bristol for the NTSB meeting.  Of course it was raining when I got to the station; 15 minutes later and very wet I arrived at the meeting.  It turned out to be a really good couple of days.  The first day featured robust discussions on, amongst other things, the role of intelligence in a modern service and how the NTSB can really lead the profession.  Despite the challenges ahead I think we are in good hands.  The Tuesday night saw a nice meal and night out in Bristol a by chance we bumped into the mayor of Bristol.  He was interesting to talk to and certainly had a clear vision for what he wanted his City to be.  Whilst challenging I always think it is better when politicians provide this clarity.

The Wednesday was more of an update day and it gave me a chance to update the board on our work.  I had to rush off home, as I needed to clear the upstairs of as much furniture as possible ready for the carpets on Thursday.

Thursday saw two meetings in London.  One was a good open discussion with Trustmark on the future of approval schemes.  Certainly get the feeling that we can work together and build something that works both from a consumer and business perspective.  The second was a meeting at the Local Government Association, LGA.  It was good to see that the LGA has regulation high up the agenda and there was certainly a challenge put to us about how we can help our members deliver on the LGA vision of 'open for business'.  I shot home again to move some more furniture before dashing back to meet up with the board, ahead of Friday's meeting.

Today's (Friday) meeting saw some really good discussions about what the Institute should prioritise going forward.  We agreed a draft vision and strategy to discuss with council and others going forward.  A busy week but very valuable.