Monday 20 July 2009

"TRANQUILITY BASE,THE EAGLE HAS LANDED"

I was 10 years old when Buzz Aldrin announced that Apollo 11 had landed on the moon surface and Neil Armstrong took those small steps and giant leaps. I remember the fuzzy TV images and the sense of wonderment that men were exploring another planet. Forty years later we can reflect on perhaps the most theatrical example of mans scientific progress and also the most amazing testimony to the fulfillment of a politicians pledge. President John F Kennedy had promised in 1961 that America would reach the moon and return it's astronauts safely to earth. In our current era where pledges and manifestos are less like tablets of stone, more like pillars of chalk,it is hard to know where JFK got his sheer ambition and bare faced cheek! Maybe part of the answer is that he was a true leader, a statesmen and a man with purpose to match his vision. It's hard to see where our generation of leaders will plant their flag. In 40 years it would be a revelation to think that 2009 was the junction point where bold intentions on climate change, 3rd world poverty or cures for cancer were implemented and not just talked about.

Friday 10 July 2009

A LANDMARK DAY

This really is a landmark day for The Hanley Economic Building Society. Today we are moving to our brand new, tailor-made head office at the other side of Festival Park. It's not a long distance to travel ( we can even keep the same postcode) but it signifies our optimism and ambition for our future as a thriving local, independent mutual. It is invigourating to demonstrate our belief in this great business at a time when so many others in our marketplace are having to retract and to limit their future-planning. The new building is a contemporary,open-plan design with an emphasis on spatial and energy efficiency, and ease of access for customers and staff. We have been in our current building since 1992 and the market environment for all building societies has changed markedly in the years since then but my sense is that the next few years will see an equally radical change in the financial services landscape.However The Hanley is very well placed to seize the opportunities that change inevitably brings, and we will relish the chance to continue demonstrating our strength as a business with local roots and a modern verve.
But just for today our main task is transporting boxes and setting up our new home.