D Pollard

Well I had a very nice letter this morning – so I suppose now is the time to make public what has been known in Private for some time.

After my time off for an operation, I returned back to work at bezier. After only 3 days back (at the end of May) I was asked if I could nip into a quick meeting, only to find the HR director waiting for me. I was put out on gardening leave whilst a consultancy period took place as my role had been identified for redundancy. Well after meetings with HR Directors, ACAS and solicitors, the process ended on the 15th June with me walking away from bezier for good. I’m not saying it was inevitable – but lets just say I filled the car with fuel and took photos of the fuel gauge & odometer before I entered the meeting.

Financially, there was nothing more than statutory offered, which considering my termination date was set a fortnight before my two year point was next to bugger all. Luckily I had a lengthy notice period and payment in lei of notice (Pilon) meant there wasn’t mega-urgent rush to get back to work. Of course, bezier didn’t want me to have the money right away, but spread out over a 3 month period. Thankfully enough there has been a payroll error that has resulted in me getting the money straight away.

Anyway, for the first time in my 39 years of life I got to sign on – Jobseekers allowance and six weeks later, I’ve been paid enough ‘social’ to balance out 1 hours worth of tax (back when I had my own ltd company).

I’ve spent the time since the end of May carefully, balanced between getting those jobs around the home that have been put off due to lack of time – and applying for just about every IT Project Management role in between Leeds and Grimsby. Well I know there is a recession on and loads of unemployment right now, but thankfully my CV was well received and I’ve had a fair few offers of interview.

The interviews were spread across various sectors, but I have been wanting to get back into the public sector – particularly the NHS. That is why despite higher offers and jobs closer to home, I’ve decided to accept a role with the NHS Connecting for Health team in Leeds. It’s actually working for someone who was a colleague of mine back at LeedsMet – only this time he’ll be my boss.

So I’m just waiting for a start date now – whilst Shelley rapidly writes out lists of all the jobs I’ve still got to finish before returning to work.