Real Gone Kid

Forty years. Wow. That is (very nearly) how long I have been working in full-time, paid employment. On the first of January 1986 I was probably recovering from a hangover somewhere, I can’t remember, but I do know I was rapidly approaching my final exams of my Biochemistry degree at Royal Holloway, University of London. There is a long story I could tell about my student days, how I came to be there, what it was like, but the purpose of this blog is to document, in forty stories, the first forty years of my working life. I hope you enjoy reading them, but if you are not happy with any of this, please leave me a comment below. I may take your feedback onboard!

There is one pertinent fact about those student days, relevant to the start of my working life, and that was how much I had become involved in so-called student politics and the role the Student Union played at the University. Unlike many other unions at the time it was not heavily politicised, and though politics played a part, they were often more personality-driven, rather than ideological. 

All that said, I was a very idealistic young man, and I was quite keen to build some experience and possibly pursue a career in politics. Just look at the idealism and the hair!

I had various volunteer roles over my three years as a student, and I was determined to get elected as a full-time Sabbatical officer, as were two of my friends, who we will call Bill and Ben. If they are reading this they can work out who is who. I put a huge amount of effort into getting elected, speaking to hundreds of students about why they should vote for me, and surprise - first lesson, hard work can pay off - and I duly won with about 70% of the vote. Bill and Ben polled similarly, and we formed three of the five full-time officers of the Union.

So it was that after I had passed my degree, and all the end of year festivities were over, I pitched up at the Union (in reality I was a fairly permanent fixture there already) on 1st July, for a month’s handover with my predecessor as the full-time Finance Officer. Only, as I recall, it turned out to be just a few days’ handover as my predecessor was anxious to get out into the “real world”, wherever that is. Not that it mattered much, then, just as, some may say, now, I had a lot of clear ideas of my own. In any case, the permanent member of staff, Cath, had all the systems and processes nailed down in a well-oiled accounting machine. 

Now you may be thinking that  these types of roles are fairly cushty and not proper work, whatever that is. Far from it, there was lots to do, both at an operational level, as well as a strategic one, planning the finances of what was then in effect a small business, albeit one that existed to serve the interests of the students at the University. I was also part of the key decision-making bodies of the organisation. In theory the student body could make the big decisions, but people like me had massive influence in how that went. 

The single biggest issue was housing, in particular the University’s decision the previous year to hike the rents for student accommodation by a whopping 20%. Given the location of Royal Holloway, in an affluent part of North-west Surrey, and the real scarcity of external alternative places to live, almost all first year and a large chunk of third year students and post-grads lived in University-provided halls of residence. Hiking the rent would leave the students significantly worse off, with few other options for people to choose.

 The previous year’s group of student officers had kicked that can down the road and left us with a problem to deal with, as they had failed to reach agreement with the University in any form of compromise. But they had also left us with a strong weapon in our armoury - a mandate from the students for the Officers to take any action they saw fit to try and get that increase down to a reasonable level. 

So over the Summer, the incoming full-time officials, and a whole host of volunteers connected to the Student Union, organised a Rent Strike.

I’m not going to give you full chapter and verse of all the politics with a small p, the negotiations with University officials, the General meetings, and the splits in the Student Union, suffice to say it was a massive learning experience. At one point we had the opportunity for a reduction based on a compromise, and I was supportive of accepting that offer. But more radical voices who urged “no compromise” prevailed, and this led to the collapse of the rent strike with nothing gained at all. 

Things had also not gone too well on the big P Politics front either. I lost out in a selection contest for a national role, by virtue, if that is the right word, of some machinations that I was completely unaware of. Sadly, this has been a recurring theme of my career, but this particular one cause me major disillusionment and I left the political party soon after. Instead I applied for Management training schemes and accepted an offer to join Lloyds Bank in September 1987.

But despite all of that, my first year’s work was actually great fun, and I did learn an awful lot. About work in general, being part of a team, and managing other people, despite no formal training whatsoever. Don’t get me wrong, I was still largely incompetent at most of that stuff, as subsequent stories will show. But I had experience of effectively running a business, making decisions, and at a most basic level, putting in some serious graft.

I also got to meet a lot of bands, as I was the person responsible for paying them. Such stars as T’Pau, and Deacon Blue, who I directed to the chip shop after organising their £250 in cash for their set, as well as lots of others I have forgotten. The highlight was undoubtedly dealing with the chaos of the Summer Ball, and the drunken off-stage antics of The Pogues. They could barely stand up, and as i gave their manager, Frank Murray, £10,000 in cash, I was seriously worried about their ability to perform. But I needn’t have been concerned, they turned in an awesome set, and stole the show.

As an introduction to the world of work it had been amazing, and quite different to that of most of my contemporaries. It was also unique for me too, as nothing has come close to matching it in terms of variety, chaos, novelty and sheer unpredictability. It had been great experience and great fun. As I packed my stuff into a van to make the move up to central London,  I was a bit sad to leave. But I was also excited for the bright lights, the glitz and glamour of big-city London in the late 80s, but most of all, I would have proper money in my bank account for the first time. I’m sorry to say I was excited about that the most!