As happens to all contractors, I have moved from one client to the next.
Obviously, as a member of a specialist consultancy, LDC Via has multiple clients, and we all help each other on them all, but each person tends to have one that occupies more of their attention than the others. and for the last three years, that client for me has been AXA XL.
It is very rare for me to write an end-of-client post, mainly because we tend to return to previous clients multiple times. I have worked with some clients on eight or nine deliverables.
However, I felt like an exception is due this time because it seems as though I have been there for decades, even though it has only been a couple of years, and the reason for that is the people.
AXA XL has a disproportionately large number of genuinely good people.
At the end of any given contract, I will usually have met two or three people I would like to remain friends with and keep as long-term contacts. These are people who have made a genuine difference to my life and with whom I sincerely want to stay in touch.
In the last three years at AXA XL, I have met dozens.
Normally, at the end of a contract, I could call out a few names and say that they were really good people who would remain, as it were, on the Christmas card list. But I could not possibly call out everyone this time. The number of people I have met at AXA XL whom I would like to keep in touch with is so large that thanking them all individually would seem excessive.
It feels particularly jarring because I chose to finish at AXA XL, rather than simply moving on naturally at the end of a project when contractors are removed by a higher decision. I genuinely hope I get the opportunity to work with you lot again.
I have learned so much from so many talented individuals. It has been quite breathtaking.
So, thank you all, and thank you for having perhaps the BEST canteen in London.
It has been a joy.
