blueViews: UK Diary #1

31 August 2006

By Shannon Smith
CobaltNiche Europe Business Development Manager

It feels a long time since Fiona and I left Melbourne for our new life in England, nearly two months in fact. But happily we are beginning to settle into our new environment and it is back to work, not quite as usual, but with lots to do.


We have managed to find a place just south of Coventry in a little town called Kenilworth. This location is ideal from both a business and personal perspective, giving us excellent access to most major research and industrial centres in the region, and good access to major motorways and train lines, while allowing us to enjoy a quiet, semi-rural lifestyle, with all the modern conveniences city folk like us are used to!


While Kenilworth is not quite the postcard English village you might see in a cosy BBC mini-series, its position on the fringe of the green corridor between Birmingham and Coventry means that a short walk from our driveway finds us strolling through a lush, pastural landscape dotted with grazing cattle and the occasional medieval castle.

Rest assured though, it is not all country walks and pints at the local! In about three weeks we have managed to fit out our home and set-up an office bristling with the latest, IT equipment, broadband communications and other assorted pieces of essential connectivity technology. Christmas came early in Coventry! One of the coolest items is a Wacom tablet-monitor, which transforms the way we do creative sketching into a digital design process, directly linked to the guys in Melbourne. Recent upgrades to our head-office server allows direct access from the UK and anywhere else we may be, just like I was back at my desk in Melbourne.


CobaltNiche Europe is now officially up and running, and is ready to embark on its own new adventure. Where it leads us I can’t say just yet, but whatever happens it is sure to be an exciting time.

Cheers!
Shannon.