The danger of writing memoirs is that one can give the impression that a life's tale is complete. I sincerely hope that this is not the case. My purpose in writing this account of the evolution, trials and tribulations and the eventual success of the Salisbury School of English and connecting it with earlier events in my life which were instrumental in forming me into the person I am today, is to answer the call from many of my family and friends at various times, to document what actually happened. I chronicle the story of how lucky I have been in my choice of partner, who continued to believe in me even in the darkest of days, the wonderful support from my daughters all of whom are really children of the school, and lastly but by no means least the loyalty and respect of my colleagues and clients. The EFL world is a particularly rich well to draw on when it comes to reminiscences which are seemingly too bizarre to be true, but I assure the reader that as far as I can remember, and with guidance from my work - and personal diaries, this is how it happened.
However, a review of the contents of my work diaries from 1980 onwards made it abundantly clear that I would have to be selective in my account, otherwise the book would be of gargantuan length. Henry Ford used to boast that when he arrived in Detroit he had nothing but the clothes on his back and his rucksack. When asked later what was in the rucksack he is said to have replied, "two hundred and fifty thousand dollars". Well, here I relate exactly what was in our rucksack when we started and where it came from. When we sold the business we did not make a vast fortune, but EFL was very, very good to us in so many other ways. I have chosen to relate the happenings in the first three formative years year by year, and then later I summarise tales of people, significant places, things and events in topic areas rather than in chronological order. Finally, in the last years before my retirement I revert to a more detailed account. I hope that this story may give others considering going into business some encouragement while sounding a warning bell to those who think that growing a company is easy.
- ISBN10 1780353510
- ISBN13 9781780353517
- Publish Date 3 July 2012
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Upfront Publishing
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 130
- Language English