Up a gear

With now just three weeks before we officially merge with Reading, there are plenty of signs around the College that we are in a more agitated gear.

Some of these signs are quite visible. For example, a number of Henley staff seem to have acquired Reading shadows; people from the University who do a similar job and who are spending time at Greenlands trying to understand how we do things here. seeing them around kind of reminds me of the Wim Wenders film 'Wings of Desire'. Since Reading has (had!) no MBA, I don't have a shadow. At least, not one I can see.

There was a time, and there are some here who can still recall it personally, when change was what Henley preached but did not practice and when the expression "I know my place" had resonance. No-one can claim this to be case at Henley in the last eighteen months or so, and if the shock of merging doesn't see us all into an early grave, then I'm sure we will all emerge from this operation much the stronger. The scaffolding, cranes and tarpaulins of a new management structure are being put up around what will be a much-expanded, full service Business School.

I really love this place, this College. I hope we see it out in style on July 31st and then roll up our sleeves and see if we can begin to infect the University of Reading with the best bits of our independent spirit.