So, as I sit here and drink my coffee – hot, milky with sugar, none of that flamboyant foreign stuff – the workforce around me is gaining an increasing international flavour. And I’m not just talking about the odd Scot who’s headed south of the border.
We already had Veronique, our French business manager, and in logistics Magda, all the way from sunny (or perhaps not, I’ve very little knowledge of Eastern European climates) Poland. And down in the factory there’s various languages spoken. A few months ago, when I needed some Arabic checking, within minutes someone was produced from the deepest, darkest corners of the Sirane empire, fluent in Egyptian Arabic.
And now, into that mix, comes Pablo – hellbent on breaking the Spanish market before Christmas.
But Sirane is suddenly becoming very global. This week Sirane Southern Africa threw open its doors, Sirane Turkey will follow suit soon, and Sirane Middle East is also very much coming soon. My offer to head up Sirane Barbados is still being considered, I’m sure.
Every day enquiries come in from once-exotic far-flung places, and it’s a sign how much Sirane has grown that a request for help from a potato producer in Phuket or a damson distributor in Djibouti barely warrants a mention any more.
But still, despite all the overseas influences, there’s still those who insist on Yorkshire Tea.
MARK LINGARD, MARKETING
