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www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com INTEL Rick de Blaby Executive Deputy Chairman, Get Living Smart tech is the real deal
What technology (from gadgets to software, including apps) makes your working life easier? My Dell XPS laptop has a great screen for reviewing documents (laptop of the year I am told!), which is always connected by my HUAWEI mobile dongle to stay online and connected when I’m away from my desk. I always carry my iPad; it’s light, got good battery life and perfect for travelling. Google Earth is an unbelievably useful tool in real estate too. All my files are backed up to cloud-enabled Office 365 for word and spreadsheet processing. Finally, an iPhone for mobile connectivity and all pictures are backed up to the cloud.
You’ve been expanding in Glasgow – is there any new technology that you are using to help productivity/ communication? We have submitted a planning application for more than 800 apartments on a site next to High Street Station, just to the east of Merchant City. We will be creating an incredible new neighbourhood of homes for rent with high-quality public realm, smart technology and space for co-working. In East Village and Elephant Central, we’re just migrating to a new management system where our existing residents can download an app that will allow them to pay their rent online, send a maintenance request or book a parking space or storage pod. We’re always looking to improve the customer experience and tech is a big part of that.
What websites/apps/magazines/newspapers do you turn to for business intelligence? I confess to being a news and current events addict, so I read the usual news websites, trade magazines and other shared articles avidly. When I do get time, I enjoy the more reflective columns written in the Sunday Times. We also subscribe to Capital Economics, which provides valuable insights.
Rick de Blaby, Executive Deputy Chairman, Get Living
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What book(s) should everyone in business be reading? I guess that depends on what business you are in. When I talk to young business people coming through I still think Stephen Covey’sThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People stands up well. No matter how much technology, and now prospectively AI, impacts our lives, the ability to listen, understand, empathise, interact, persuade and be interdependent upon each other is how we invent and create wealth to make the world a better place. After that, read the biographies of your industry’s business champions.
What do you do that helps you boost your productivity or save time? That’s easy, and it has nothing to do with technology. At Get Living we are lucky to have some really smart, passionate and committed people. By working collaboratively and with an infectious energy, they are doing some amazing things in pursuit of delivering great homes.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? I’ve been lucky to have a number of key mentors. An early one taught me to give one’s counterpart an honourable exit when closing them into a position of conceding. However, Oscar Wilde’s adage is a good one too: “Be yourself, everyone else is taken”.
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