Welcome to a day in the life with Charlie Ireland.
When I go into the office (which is around 2 to 3 times a week), I tend to take the bus straight in, or a bus to Elephant and Castle and the Bakerloo Line into Oxford Circus. It takes me around 45 minutes to door-to-door and I like to listen podcasts on my journey in to occupy my time.
I get into the office by 9/9:15, usually there’s people in the kitchen making their morning coffees so I’ll say hi to my colleagues and make a quick cup of tea. I catch up on any emails before the day’s meetings begin. We have a daily catch-up with the whole project team at 9:30 where we update each other on the previous day’s progress and make a loose game plan for the day. I’ll usually then go for a quick walk with my buddies to get some breakfast and a coffee. During the morning, I block out a couple of hours to do some independent work, for example to plan stakeholder interviews. Sometimes I might have some analysis to complete so I’ll put some time aside to focus and complete the bulk of my tasks.
There are so many great options for lunch in Soho, we usually go out in a big group (whoever is in the office). We often go to the market nearby – get food and bring it back and eat on the balcony in the office if the weather is nice outside.
Every week we also have a ‘lunch and learn’ session where someone will usually give a presentation and we order lots of food from somewhere nearby.
After lunch I’ll make another cup of tea before meetings begin. Usually in the afternoon, we have problem solving meetings in smaller groups. This is a good opportunity to take any unresolved problems to the Engagement Manager or director and have their guidance on how to overcome these.
I normally finish work at around 5.45pm. Generally, I head home, have dinner, watch YouTube videos, watch football if it’s on in the evening, and catch up with my house mate. I play hockey on a Tuesday and Saturday, and often play football on Mondays with colleagues. We are also a social bunch – we tend to go for drinks after work on Thursdays and every month we have a whole team social event that I always try and go to.
It’s a really ambitious and nurturing environment.