Mixed Lot

There are many advantages to working from home. There are also many disadvantages. Take last Tuesday for example. I had just picked up the telephone and answered (as I usually do) 'Gary Barnes'

'Hello, is that Barnes Auctioneers?'

'Yes, it is - how can I help?'

When, with a volume more suited to an All Black reciting the Haka my three-year old son shouted 'Daddy, I've just done a big poo in the toilet!'

Those of you who have been to Barnes Auctioneers HQ (on River Green) will know that our home-office is unusual. It was originally built in the late 18th Century and has the oak beams and brickwork to prove it. The floors are many and uneven. We have a 'cave' that doubles as storage for bulky items (all of our valuables are now kept off-site in one of the large city-centre secure storage facilities) and an office on the uppermost floor that overlooks the River Yare. It's idyllic and full of character.

Our saleroom and further storage facilties are at St Andrew's Hall in the city centre and this coincidence in name confuses people as they sometimes come to Thorpe St Andrew to deliver their lots for auction. I'm often lobbied to move to an all-purpose site - to have offices, secure storage, and our saleroom in one place seems, initially, appealing but there would be drawbacks, not least that I would have to commute.

This morning, my commute was from the bedroom to the kitchen (in my dressing gown, naturally - we are civilised) and then up to the study (office) with coffee in hand. If I had to 'leave to go to work' that would inevitably mean an alarm, and a rushed shower, and a rushed breakfast, and a slow slow slow crawl through Norwich's traffic. Not for me, thank you. By the time our rivals have done all that, I have already been working for three hours and that puts us ahead. Work/life balance is something that is important to me - I don't want to waste any time travelling to and from work. I don't need the costs associated with an expensive office either, thank you - which is just one of the reasons why Barnes Auctioneers offers the best terms for sellers in the county.

Although the children are sometimes a distraction during the working day, it also means that I manage to witness some of their endearing enterprises that I would otherwise miss if I wasn't at home. Take Saturday morning (The Cloisters Fair had been cancelled for reasons that are unimportant at this juncture) - Henry (three) and Stanley (two) had woken very early and I made their usual hot milk and sat them in front of Ceebeebies before ascending the winding stairs to the study. Unsupervised, and I am supposing unwilling to wait for breakfast, the two took it upon themselves to take action. My wife and I discovered them back sitting in front of the television with six fromage frais 'We're cheeky little monkeys' they said, having raided the fridge Colditz style using a stool and some old fashioned British ingenuity!

Although this is not a sale week for us, it is a critical one. We have The Cloisters Fair on Wednesday and lots to take in for the next auction (on 10th February). I also have a meeting with an HR friend of mine (tomorrow) to begin the process of appointing our new auction rooms manager. That decision is huge for us because the consequences of getting it wrong could be disastrous. Our team today is stronger than it has ever been and we must make sure that we build on that.