Josh Bolland founded digital consultancy and tech specialist J B Cole in 2010 alongside Ollie Bolland, his brother.
Manchester-based J B Cole creates digital products and solutions for high-profile brands, including the NHS, National Trust and TfL. Services it offers include digital strategy, software and web development, cloud maintenance, and more.
As well as leading J B Cole, Josh is also Chair of BIMA Manchester, supporting the tech sector’s expansion and mentoring graduates and students. Recently, he founded The Colectiv, a digital publication and community showcasing ideas and innovation in tech.
We saw what a recent week in his life looked like…
Monday
Hello again Monday! After a quick outline of my week on Sunday night, I’m prepped and ready to get started Monday morning.
Well, just about. I stumble out of bed for a hot shower and I’m already thinking about my first coffee! But not before a quick dash with the kids to get dressed, fed and out of the door to nursery and school. I run it like a military operation… or so I like to think.
I’m pressed for time again – as always. My son decides now is a good time to play hide-and-seek and my daughter decides to protest going to school. But we get through it.
Kids dropped off, it’s time for coffee – strong coffee. I head to the coworking space at the gym in Hale and get my day started. We’ve always championed hybrid working; but COVID guideline changes have meant we’ve been doing much more ‘out of office’ work than ever before. We did, however, keep the office open through the pandemic, so that the team could always have a safe alternative to work from.
Laptop open, AirPods in and I’m there for the first half of my day on back-to-back internal team calls, kicking off the morning with a delivery team planning session for the week ahead. It’s an all-hands followed by finance, resourcing and one-to-ones with our Technical Director and Project Director about key projects and resource allocation.
We discuss last week’s projects and approve the plan for the week ahead; this includes risks and any issues that need to be addressed with a clear action plan to take forward. Now we’re ready to roll.
Between calls, I squeeze in the gym and do an upper body weight session, clearing my head and getting my body working – not just buzzing off caffeine! Quick shower, out of the gym, and it’s back-to-back calls with department heads as well as scanning and responding to emails.
During the last couple of hours of the day, I check in on some of our key business action plan projects followed by a roundup call to my business partner – and brother – Ollie about the day just gone and the rest of the week ahead.
Today’s is a calm and productive call – but as brothers in business, that isn’t always the case! I finish up, pick up the kids on the way back, get home, get them in the bath, prepare dinner and get them ready for bed. Cue the bedtime battle. OK, it’s done! Both down by 8pm and it’s time for dinner, followed by an episode of Unforgotten to take my mind off of work, for a short time anyway.
Fire on, brew in hand and feet up – perfect. I get into bed, read my book ‘How To Get The Most Out Of People’, have a little calendar rejig for the next couple of days, and I hit the hay. I sleep well. That is, until the kids wake up in the night…
Tuesday
Morning routine complete, I drive to the office in Manchester to meet two new starters and give an induction presentation to our new Finance Manager and Project Manager.
This is followed by more internal planning discussions with a focus on sales and marketing. We discuss new business projects, prospective work and leads as well as next steps on proposals and pitches for upcoming integration and software build projects.
Mid-morning, I grab a coffee, of course, with a prospective client and I head to The Anthologist on St Peter’s Square to catch up with an agency partner in what feels like a post-apocalyptic Manchester as I walk through near-empty streets. COVID has hit the bustle of the city hard!
After another coffee, a great catch-up and a quick bite to eat, I head back to the office and check in with the team there – as well as Slack for those that are working from home. After a few more calls with clients, I wrap up for the day, head back home and help get the kids settled and down for bed. I listen to sleep music and try to relax and unwind after what felt like a long day. I almost get a full night of sleep!
Wednesday
Today I’m out of the office again. I head back to the coworking space at the gym to tune into a morning breakfast briefing online and get the day started.
I check in with the new team members on calls and make sure everything is going smoothly and if there are any issues. They’re in the office with their line managers, so I know they’re being well looked after.
I grab a quick catch-up coffee with our PR consultancy, Toast, about The Colectiv. This includes the audience and reader numbers as well as a press release we’re pushing out; together, we work through all the details. It’s a point of reflection on how far we’ve come in the last few years as we discuss the abundance of new team starters and clients for 2022.
After that, I have a BIMA catch-up call to fulfill my Chair duties. We plan for the next BIMA lunch and discuss some personnel changes at BIMA that will impact the next 12 months.
A couple more conference calls down, I catch up with our Office Manager – my sister, Amy – about key admin, office and team-related items, as well as a quick check-in with the project team to gauge progress so far.
Once complete, I head into the gym for a legs and shoulders weight session – with a few emails being pinged out too! I wrap up and get back to it. We have an internal board meeting tomorrow, so I put together final progress reports from the department heads for our board discussion and get a presentation prepared for the day ahead.
Wednesday seems to disappear. Train tickets booked, negative lateral flow done and I’m set for the meeting tomorrow.
Thursday
I get up, get sorted and travel down South for our board meeting on one of the members’ converted barges in Croxley, Watford. It’s a very cool and tranquil place to get some proper thinking done.
It’s an early train journey and it’s fuelled by coffee – a Blonde Roast Starbucks Latte at Stockport station. A quick changeover at Milton Keynes to Watford Junction and I’m there in a flash, ready to tackle key business plans and challenges.
I meet with the board and we have fresh coffee and a light brunch before the session starts. We carry out a workshop around personnel, organisational structure and the year ahead for our team.
We then take a quick break and walk with the dogs around the canal and past a private animal sanctuary where we’re greeted by a pack of wolves (yes, really) jumping up at the fence. Quite a unique sight to see in the heart of a leafy Croxley! After a long but hyper-productive workshop I head back up North exhausted but full of enthusiasm and clarity on the year ahead.
But, of course, not before catching up with a mountain of emails and phonecalls that need to be returned after being out of the office for just a few hours! I get back pretty late and hit the hay. I’m shattered, but it’s been a worthwhile trip. I sleep like a baby. Until, of course, my youngest wakes up at 3am asking for milk.
Friday
I get up early after a disturbed night’s sleep to tackle the final stages of a proposal and prepare for the pitch we have next week. I move to reviewing a few CVs and covering letters for two roles we’re recruiting for; I also speak with our Office Manager about who we should take forward to interview.
I grab lunch and a healthy juice with a friend of the business at The Garden Eatery, Hale. We discuss some past projects and an opportunity that’s coming up and we part ways with promises of a “beer next time!” – which always passes us by.
In the afternoon we host a virtual discovery workshop with a new global client around a large marketing comms integration project with several stakeholders involved. We get up the pre-prepared interactive Miro board, jump on Zoom, and plough through a super-productive interactive session. It gives all stakeholders clarity on the next steps of the project – and a clear plan for our team to write up and take forward.
And… I’m spent. I head back home to wrap up with the team via Slack and share my thanks to everyone for the week of work they’ve just put in for. It’s now the weekend and it’s time to switch off – mostly – and focus fully on the family.
A bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon opened, glass poured, fire on and Deliveroo ordered – it’s time to unwind. I’m in bed by 10pm because I’m so exhausted and looking forward to a lie in on Saturday morning. Until the kids wake up early. Again.
