A day in the life of Ian Sandison
7.00am Since it is dry I go for one of my regular cycle rides to Foxton, the 14 miles takes about an hour and this is great thinking time, it allows me to consider the projects I am working on and focus my mind on what I need to achieve today. I like to see the seasons change along the same route and I’ve also been watching with interest the new Addenbrookes access road being finalised.
8.15 returning home I stretch (my wife’s a pilates convert) shower and eat breakfast, checking emails on my phone, the BBC and Cambridge News websites to catch up on the news and reviewing what’s on my to do list today.
9.30 Take a conference call at home, with an associate of mine and our Spanish drug discovery client we are helping to raise €7m. I met the founder at the Cambridge University Judge Business School, where I contribute to their entrepreneurship programme. We are getting our client ready for some important investor pitches in the autumn and just planning a rehearsal day with them in September in Barcelona. The investment market remains challenging but if you have good IP, a strong management team and the target markets are large there is money available. Our client has all three and things are progressing well.
11.00am Drive to Great Shelford to Remtec’s offices my recruitment company, I am interviewing a European Marketing Director for a large US Corporate Healthcare recruiting client. Before I had a portfolio career I held senior positions with large listed companies and I do enjoy meeting senior people. We all have a story to tell and it is fascinating to learn where people have come from, why they have made certain career choices and what motivates them now, I have a great interest in personal motivation.
1.00pm Back home near Mill Road and I pop out to Al Amin’s to get some lunch, we have a great community here and this is one of the range of super local shops, restaurants and pubs in the area. People stop in the street and chat, we put bins out and feed neighbours pets during vacations, there is an annual street party on Gwydir Street and Mill Road Winter Fair in December.
3.00pm Meet at the Guildhall with the Love Cambridge team. I was founding Chairman of Love Cambridge and we are busy reviewing the family of 5 guides that are on display in all the shopping centres, the library, John Lewis, Park and Ride, the Tourist Information Centre and many hotels and independent shops. We are also planning the November 9th Sparkle and Shine ball at the Doubletree Hilton as well as the Big Christmas Lights Switch on and Parade on November 21st
4.30pm Take a call from the CEO of a Medical technology start up I am mentoring who wants some help applying for an R&D grant. I have conducted some assessment of these applications and he wants to arrange a meeting for me to review their application. Cambridge is alive with innovators and I have a small group of about 5 or so I am working with, helping them get started, raise some funds and writing business plans.
5.00pm I love strolling through the Market Square in Cambridge, full of fresh produce and interesting stalls, it is great on a Sunday when the organic man is there, we buy most of our fresh fish from the market. The city centre is teeming with people, shoppers, tourists and language students and I stop and look at one of the new signs and maps that have been springing up around the city, this Wayfinding scheme, facilitated by Love Cambridge is the culmination of three years work and will be completed soon.
5.30pm I pop into Boudoir Femme on King Street, a designer womenswear store owned by my wife, it’s been another good day at the Boudoir, it is one of Cambridge’s best kept secrets.
7.00pm Dinner and catch up, usually in front of a TV soap, easy watching but entertaining.
8.30pm Meeting friends for a drink at the Geldart in Ainsworth Street, I’m a Camra member and real ale fan. We are blessed in Cambridge to have so many good local community pubs serving good real ale, wine and food. The Geldart is run by Elvis and his hospitable team and in the winter with a roaring fire and a newspaper it is a great spot for a pint.
10.30pm Arriving home I check the Liverpool score, yes a northern lad, that’s me, the new season is about to start and they are trying to get into the Europa League proper, they won !! I can sleep easy tonight.
