Working From France Doesn't Change What You Get FromMe

Because the work doesn't stop just because the postcode does.

This week I'm writing to you from France, not the North East. I'll be working from here for the next few weeks, and it's worth being upfront about it rather than pretending nothing's changed.

Here's what has changed: the view out of my window, and where I make my coffee in the morning. Here's what hasn't: everything else. Client work still gets done, calls still happen, deadlines still get met.

This isn't new for me. I've worked from France on and off for years, long before NE Support existed, and it's become a proper fixture of the year, a few weeks most summers, rather than an occasional treat.

While I'm away I don't drop the working day, I restructure it. I work a block in the morning and a block in the evening, and the middle of the day is with my family, which is really the whole point of going in the first place. It's not a holiday from the business, it's the business fitted around the holiday.

I've always been upfront with clients about this rather than trying to hide it. I tell people plainly when I'm out of the country and when I'm not, and I make sure they know I'm still available either way.

Most clients now know me well enough that a change of scenery doesn't raise an eyebrow. A few need a bit more structure around hours, and that's fine too, I'll give whatever level of certainty someone needs.

I work with small businesses across the UK, with roots in the North East. That's true whether I'm at my desk at home or working from a kitchen table three countries away. Business support was never really about being in the same building as your business, it was always about being properly on top of the parts you don't have time for.

If you've been holding off on getting support because you assumed it meant someone permanently in your office or on your doorstep, that's worth rethinking. Good support travels. It just needs to be reliable, wherever it's working from.