Soup of the Day

The Third Way

Part two: Don’t look back in anger

Christmas 2005 was less enjoyable than I was hoping. Being forced to resign two weeks earlier obviously put a strain on the holiday finances, but more importantly the mortgage for our new property was in jeopardy. I decided to ignore everything and just try and ride the last weeks of December as best I could, then start afresh in January.

The new (current) Polaris Digital web site launched on January 6th 2006, which allowed me to began e-mailing everyone I could think of, but most of the companies in the Mancheter area were not hiring. Meanwhile Standard Life confirmed they could not give me a mortgage in the current situation and my credit card company where starting to want at least some of their money back.

Realising there was nothing I could do to convince Standard Life to give me a mortgage whilst unemployed my attention focused on employment. A few of my friends helped me out a little during this period with a little freelance work, a big shout out to Jo and Joe here. The need for money was growing exponentially and I decided that high-value short term contracts were probably the answer. Getting these golden nuggets is easier said than done. I signed up with every agency I could find and the rest of January was spent being psuedo interviewed by countless agents - by February I was sick of it, tired and depressed. My former employer and I had also just got into legal wrangling over work being displayed on my web site. However in this hour of darkness one glimmer of hope came through.

My mother stepped in as guarantor on our new property and suddenly Standard Life were happy once more. With that in place most of February was spent finalising our property deal and not finding a new job. During this period I started seriously considering my future. I needed money as we were struggling on just Siân’s salary, but I was so disgusted at my former employer I couldn’t trust another. Taking all of this into consideration the conclusion that ‘there must be a better way’ was not a surprise.

As is traditional now, just as a decision is made I received a job offer. The job was lead web developer for a small marketing company based just outside Manchester. The money was adequate and it seemed to be the solution to all our problems. At this point we were in the process of moving into our new flat and so much was going on I just seemed to stumble into this job. However the day I went in to sign my contract and deliver my financial details something wasn’t sitting right, my stomach was tight and I couldn’t relax. I had 72 hours to return the contracts and then I would begin work. With 70 hours remaining I had declined the job.

When I got the job with my former employer I had felt the same feeling. To my peril I didn’t listen to my stomach and paid the price. This time I was not going to make the same mistake. Taking all of these feelings into account, I made a conscious decision to start my own company and try and survive on my own. Looking back now it was the best decision I ever made in 2006. The company I was going to be employed with were dissapointed that I declined, but are now a client of Polaris Digital and we have a very good working relationship. Shortly after starting Polaris Digital as a limited company, a huge government contract suddenly landed and since then Polaris Digital hasn’t looked back.

A year on from last December, things couldn’t be more different. Polaris Digital has earnt more than three times my previous salary in six months. I am working on projects that interest me daily and most importantly I am in full control of the work I do. Looking forward to 2007 our work books are busy up until August at the moment and our project types are beginning to diversify away from web sites. In paricular Polaris Digital are providing a final grade to a promotional video, I am VFX supervisor and completing all Post Production (On-Line Edit, Visual Effects, Grade) tasks for a UK Film Council funded short film. This is the sort of work I have been waiting for.

For a long time there was considerable resentment towards my former employer, but as I consider the company I left behind now the realisation that I don’t have any hard feelings towards them is very apparent. I know why they did what they did, although I begrudge them for the way they dealt with the other three employees. If they hadn’t of forced me out then things would certainly not be as rosy as they are now. Irony has been in abundance in this story, so it will be no surprise that it pops up one last time in this tale. As I began writing this account, news from Sheffield filtered through that more employees had been severed in an unjust manner. This coupled with the loss of a key 3D modeller a few weeks earlier sent alarm bells ringing with the staff and under pressure they discovered things are not so rosey. Some might argue this is karma, some would say they deserve it. I think it is bad management that was always there finally bubbling to the surface.