Direct Line
This is vaguely related to the question but only vaguley. And it's actually not that interesting it's just something I felt like writing.

I've been a computer contractor almost all my working life. And, as I'm one the the good contractors, I often get called back to companies I've worked at before. My favourite was Direct Line. It used to be a fucking marvellous place to work. I did four stints there over the years.

DL was different to anywhere I'd worked before because of the company ethos. They had no dress code as we never had to see any actual customers so they didn't give a monkey's what you wore as long as you weren't too OTT. The management structure was so relaxed as to be almost non-existent - yeah, I had a boss, but he was just another one of the team. My boss was cake-boy or fat-boy. I was nick-named SwampRat as I was from the North and so must have lived in a swamp. You've heard of managers/directors who boast "my door is always open" and then you have to make an appointment ten years in advance if you actually try to see them? Well DL wasn't like that. The IT directors door really was always open and, if I needed to see him, I'd just nip up to his office and ask "Dicky? Have you got a minute?" and he always had.

One of the refreshing things about DL was that if I needed anything or had an idea that might make life faster or easier I could just pop into Dickies office. Tell him what I wanted and why. Tell him how much it would cost and what the benefits were and he'd make a decision on the spot. A yes or a no but normally it was a yes. If it was expensive (more than 50k) he might ask me to send him an email laying out what I just told him but I could still go ahead and order it the same day. He'd deal with the bean-counters.

Another thing I *loved* about DL was their recruitment policy. They employed legions of call-monkeys (actually, they invented the call-center) who were pretty low-paid but DL recruited people from the call center for almost any post in the company where possible. They realised that some people in the call centers were smart but perhaps didn't have any recognisable qualifications for whatever reason and the company was flexible enough to capitalise on this. Several senior managers had started in the call centers and several of the IT staff had got their break there. One of my PFY's was one of them.

Don (AKA pig-sticker but that's another story) was a young black kid who'd recently started in the Croydon call center. He didn't have any decent qualifications in IT but he did have enthusiasm. Every break, every lunch time and most nights he come to the IT floor and hang around making himself useful. He'd ask questions and just burn to be taught. After a month or so he'd stopped being a distraction and was actually doing useful work. Low-level useful work but still useful. So my boss at the time created a post for him. I think he was originally hired at not much more than call-monkey rates but that changed after a few months and he was on decent money. When I rejoined to head up a new project he was assigned to shadow me so he could take over running the system when I left.

Don wasn't the only one though. The guy who ran the fiendishly complicated callcenter systems had started as a call monkey as did the guy who ran the Lotus Notes systems.

DL had an active social scene and it was all encompassing. Drinks after work was the norm and it was normal for a director or so, several senior managers, some of the IT crew and call-center monkeys to drink together after work. It was at one of these pissups where the head of IT (not the director but the senior manager) told me why DL was so successful.

"We're not an insurance company" he explained "We're an IT company that just happens to sell insurance"

And he was right. DL was ridiculously top-heavy with IT bods.

Sadly, that company and those days are gone. DL was making so much money that the parent company, RBOS, decided that they needed much more hands-on management and reeled them back into the corporate fold. They stifled the madman who used to come up with the innovations and imposed their version of order on the company. Almost all of the old-hands left. Some of them had been there since the company started but this new banker-led organisation just wasn't fun any more.

Guess what? DL aren't making anywhere near the money they used to during the days of anarchy.

Sigh. I miss that company. It was so nice to actually look forward to getting into work and having fun while still getting paid.



Cheers

This self-indulgent rambling was sponsored by a rather cheeky bottle of Shiraz..
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 13:10, 2 replies)

Odd..
A few years ago I had an phone interview with SwiftCover and they guy on the other end who was interviewing my said the exact same with about the company "We're an IT company that just happens to sell insurance".
(TWith2Sugars, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 14:00, closed)

His name wasn't
Les was it?

If so, he's a great bloke to work for...

Cheers
( Legless Mister Stabby - shanks for the memory, Mon 28 Sep 2009, 14:17, closed)