The Things You Are HAPPY About Thread.

[machin05]

Apparently the only time he leaves the house is to get in the van for training/games

If its him, he's got a white Mercedes SUV thing with Portuguese plates.

 

[Paul]

If its him, he's got a white Mercedes SUV thing with Portuguese plates.

Bloody hell Portugal to Bantock Park is a good drive

 

[Pablowolf]

There have been numerous studies over the years that say if you resign and are convinced to stay for any reason, you're much, much more likely to leave within 6 months. I can't remember the numbers, but it's something like 20 times as likely. People stay for more money but people tend to want to leave in the first place for more than one reason.

 

[Tredman]

Can confirm. I accepted a counter-offer, year and a bit later I resigned again.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I've not gone as far as handing my notice in, but I've had offers from elsewhere that have tempted me enough to discuss them with my current employer and I'm still here, got to be getting on for 5 years since the first time that happened.

 

[Paul]

What do you do if you don't mind me asking, I know you spend time at the new retail park, assume you're not just casing the joint ?

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I'm a construction planner, usually do most of my work pre-construction trying to plot an efficient sequence for building things and helping the estimators put an accurate price against prospective jobs, but in the case of Mill Green Outlet Village (is that still the given name?) I was mainly there monitoring on-going works as things got a bit messy on there at times. Thankfully wasn't my project to begin so I didn't have to accept responsibility for why things couldn't follow the original plan but did mean I then had to try and get my head around someone else's logic and adapt what they'd assumed to what someone else had actually done on site.

Glad to have washed my hands of that one now, other than being a convenient place to travel to as a landing stage for family/friends based activities after work it was always a painful site to visit, not really sure what's going on there now, shops should be getting fitted out by individual tenants but we may still have some presence there for some reason.

 

[Kenny]

in the case of Mill Green Outlet Village (is that still the given name?)

No, they went with a name that reflects it location and heritage of the area and called it the McArthurGlen Designer Outlet...

 

[Paul]

I'm a construction planner, usually do most of my work pre-construction trying to plot an efficient sequence for building things and helping the estimators put an accurate price against prospective jobs, but in the case of Mill Green Outlet Village (is that still the given name?) I was mainly there monitoring on-going works as things got a bit messy on there at times. Thankfully wasn't my project to begin so I didn't have to accept responsibility for why things couldn't follow the original plan but did mean I then had to try and get my head around someone else's logic and adapt what they'd assumed to what someone else had actually done on site.

Glad to have washed my hands of that one now, other than being a convenient place to travel to as a landing stage for family/friends based activities after work it was always a painful site to visit, not really sure what's going on there now, shops should be getting fitted out by individual tenants but we may still have some presence there for some reason.

All the vans parked there are shopfitters and sinage companies

 

[Pablowolf]

Maybe they should've consulted the people of Market Drayton and named it Ye Olde Clothe Shoppes.

 

[Pablowolf]

All the vans parked there are shopfitters and sinage companies

Pick that up through your telescopic lense, peeping tom?

 

[Paul]

lense ??

Have to pass it to go to look after my Mom

 

[MARKakaJIM]

All the vans parked there are shopfitters and sinage companies

You'd very rarely see any of our branded vehicles there either way, only the people who come and set up the site cabins and services will have company vans, any site management would just be in cars.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out when it's open I think, to my mind I think they've got a lot of things wrong but I'm no retail magnate. The whole thing just seems to be in the wrong place, surely West of Cannock with easier access to the motorway would've been better for attracting people? There's also very little there beyond shops, maybe 5 food and drink units from memory of which at least one is just a coffee shop so I'd guess most people will be heading elsewhere once they get hungry, compared to somewhere like Cheshire Oaks which has a much bigger leisure element to try and keep people around all day. It's completely open air too, no continuous canopy running above all shop entrances like the East Midlands outlet, so come winter you're no better off running around there than you are your typical high street, I imagine that will push many towards Telford/Bull Ring/Merry Hill and other indoor shopping centres at those times.

I imagine the whole place will feel incredibly cramped when it's busy too, the malls aren't particularly wide because they're over invested in this old fashioned street scape concept and then they've been littered with trees and benches too creating further obstruction to the movement of people.

 

[Kenny]

People can pop down the road the pub I guess or if they are bored of shopping/eating just cross the road and have a tour of the local tip and landfill site

 

[Paul]

You'd very rarely see any of our branded vehicles there either way, only the people who come and set up the site cabins and services will have company vans, any site management would just be in cars.

It'll be interesting to see how it plays out when it's open I think, to my mind I think they've got a lot of things wrong but I'm no retail magnate. The whole thing just seems to be in the wrong place, surely West of Cannock with easier access to the motorway would've been better for attracting people? There's also very little there beyond shops, maybe 5 food and drink units from memory of which at least one is just a coffee shop so I'd guess most people will be heading elsewhere once they get hungry, compared to somewhere like Cheshire Oaks which has a much bigger leisure element to try and keep people around all day. It's completely open air too, no continuous canopy running above all shop entrances like the East Midlands outlet, so come winter you're no better off running around there than you are your typical high street, I imagine that will push many towards Telford/Bull Ring/Merry Hill and other indoor shopping centres at those times.

I imagine the whole place will feel incredibly cramped when it's busy too, the malls aren't particularly wide because they're over invested in this old fashioned street scape concept and then they've been littered with trees and benches too creating further obstruction to the movement of people.

I live less than a mile from it, my main worry about it is the amount of traffic round here, it will be chaos.
Isn't there a phase two in the pipeline ?

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I live less than a mile from it, my main worry about it is the amount of traffic round here, it will be chaos.
Isn't there a phase two in the pipeline ?

There's a phase 2 loosely drawn up, yes.

If you were stood on the A460 looking down at the site then the block of temporary gravel car park immediately to the right of what's been built so far will become more shops and then the plot the other side of the access road which serves that car park will be a multi-storey car park. The latter will probably come before the former to offset the parking spaces they'll lose by building more shops.

Don't think it'll be looked at any time soon though, we priced up the MSCP for them at one point as they thought they'd struggle to meet the required spaces for planning without it but last I heard the uptake of shops wasn't what they'd hoped so expansion sounds like a pipe dream.

 

[leedswolf]

After 4 greatgrandaughters, my first greatgrandson is due in July.

 

[sycophantia]

After 4 greatgrandaugters, my first greatgrandson is due in July.

Congratulations..........5 greatgrandkids eh........you must be ancient

 

[Wombat del combate]

No, he started young.

 

[Templeton Peck]

Tried to leave Virgin today and ended up with double broadband speed, sports and movies and £20 off my bill.