We’ve currently got four large job’s on at the moment, all in their infancy so the stress hasn’t quite landed yet. In anticipation of this impending mind doom I am trying to get organised so the overwhelm isn’t as great as it could be. This involves setting up files of all the drawings and documents so they are at hand and easy to find when I need them. This mean’s both digitally and physically.
The digital way, while very impressive and convenient is in my opinion a bit boring in comparison to its much older brother… I say older brother, it’s probably more like it’s great great great great grandfather!
Being my fathers son I have inherited that frugal streak… If you can’t avoid it all together, make do, mend and re-use where you can, so, rather than buy new large lever arch files I just went to our records store and found an old one, peeled off the old label, which was plain paper Sellotaped on (allowing for it’s inevitable re-use in years to come). As I tore it off I read what it was previously used for….
Job No. 4092
Job: Tulles Rock Café – Greenland.
It brought me instant nostalgia, memories of dad of on adventures in the arctic, travelling by land sea and air, to fit out bars in the arctic circle, and here I was replacing the file with a Care Home in Stafford. Don’t get me wrong every job is as important as the next at JFW Ltd, but some don’t quite have the same glamour!
Replacing the words Greenland with Stafford encouraged me to do a little bit of digging, maybe as a way to subconsciously distract from the fact we don’t export so much anymore, (despite my efforts…) but mostly to refresh my memory on our history and Dad’s legacy.
I wrote a blog a couple of years ago on our export years and you can catch up with it here: https://jfw-cabinet.com/jfw-ltd-exporting-bespoke-furniture-to-the-world/ this time I’d like to briefly touch on the Tulles Rock Cafe in Greenland’ capital, Nuuk. It doesn’t appear to be there any more as there appears to be hardly any online presence except on our website… Shame, it was a really cool looking place, especially in my opinion being such a Hard Rock Café fan. Tulles Rock Café being there attempt at mimicking the massive global brand, and a bloody good job they did with it!
JFW Ltd by this time (1994) Dad and the team were highly experienced in this field, building in the workshop to accurate architect’s drawings, packing into a container which would be shipped over ready for the arrival of the site team who would arrive, sometimes by helicopter to the area.
Helicopter!! How cool!?! For this job in Stafford I treated myself and took the M6 Toll!! I reiterate for the readers and my own sake – every job is as important as the next!
Dad and the guys worked all hours God Odin sent to get this bar up and running for the required deadline! Some things never change!
And that’s the point… Our past shapes our present, and the legacy I’ve inherited from Dad and the company’s history still guides how we work today. Even though the jobs may look different now (Care Homes vs. Arctic Rock Cafés), the same values, work ethic, craftsmanship, and sense of adventure are still the foundation of everything we do at JFW Ltd and for this I thank him.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Adam
