Although it did start rather sooner than I actually expected, having set the alarm the previous night I gave full consideration to the country's time difference, but awaking from slumber it had slipped my mind completely, and satisfied that I still had plenty of time, turned off the alarm and set it for an hours time.
Of course I didn't get another hours sleep, as shortly after I was woken by a phonecall to let me know that our taxi would be departing from downstairs in ten minutes.
A quick dive in the shower, teeth brushed, smart attire back on and then my previously organised packing went straight out the window as I bundled my possessions back into my holdall in a rather ragtag fashion.
In good time I was back downstairs again and back en route for a factory tour of the huge operation, seeing the furniture develop from it's initial boards, through the process that adds the finishes we order and the machines that sort and weigh bags of screws and fixings, right up to the point that customer orders are loaded up on the back of the lorries that come out to us retailers.
Having had first hand experience of placing bedroom orders and also unloading them as they come off at our Crews Hill warehouse, it was fascinating to witness so much of the furniture's journey that I had never seen before.
The rest of the afternoon before our flight back was spent finalising the details of a new display that should be on show in our Crews Hill branch by July, a beautiful new range that has only just been introduced and we are very proud to be one of the very first places in the UK to see it.
- Glen
