Being a decorator in a place like Malvern isn't a bad life. With a population of 30,000 or so, there is enough business for anyone who is determined to do a good job and establish a reputation. Having a nice, well designed website helps too!
And although it might not seem so, sometimes the opportunity for travel 'to foreign parts where folk speak differently' does arise. Last month, for example, I dispatched one of the gang to help a friend of mine out 'up north' (or as far afield as Shrewsbury. But those Shropshire lads don't talk right do they! No!) He was helping out on a larger than usual decorating job carried out by our fellow tradesmen at Shrewsbury Decorators, (he can now add a knowledge of Cadfael and Benedictine Monasteries to his CV). The week prior to his adventure across the border of our magnificent county, he was in Kidderminster, (where they invented the carpet!), doing an office paint job and decoration for Kidderminster Decorators, another friend of ours.
What this illustrates is how rapidly the world of painting and decorating is becoming, facilitated by an online presence. In bygone years before the development of the Interweb, it would have been unheard of for me or my team to get involved in such projects, but now, with an online presence, work finds you from unexpected quarters.
But, whilst Malvern Decorators have given their help on occasion to nearby locations, I am still waiting for that invitation from the paradise island of Martinique for a three week decorating role in August, or an invitation from Hugh Heffner at the Playboy Mansion to paint the grotto . . . I suspect I might be waiting a long time!