Lockdown Thoughts

I have 4 children. Sam (19), Megan (17), Oscar (14) and Izzy (11). I treasure every moment I have spent with them from their birth (all four of which I was present for) to today when I am lucky enough to have them all here in one place, safe and sound during lockdown.

When each of their births happened I was a bundle of nerves and stress. The first was the worst as I just didn’t know how profound the change in our lives was going to be. All I could think about was the things Emma and I wouldn’t do anymore, but it turned out that I hadn’t factored in all the great new stuff we were going to be doing instead! My favourite age was between 2 and about 5 when they really developed character and said the silliest things (when asked at the age of 5 what he wanted to do when he grew up, Sam replied he would like to be two policemen! Go figure).

When I found out that HamiltonJet offered little in the way of support for new mothers or fathers it became a bit of a personal crusade for me to change things. I enjoyed a week of paid parental leave for each of my kids in the UK, and there is nothing more important than those first weeks at home as a family. I fortunately found unanimous support with the SMT and the Board so it wasn’t hard to get the new benefit in place. I hope the members of our team that get to take advantage of it enjoy their time. There have already been 6 births in 2021 the most recent being to Matt West and his wife Kirsty who gave birth to Isley-Maisie this week. But my congratulations go to everyone. The 2 weeks paid Parental Leave benefit came into effect on the 1st August 2021, but we have done something for the others too as a gesture.

Kids are a gift. You sometimes wonder if you could return them for a refund, but there is something special about being a part of a little life growing up. By the way, the picture of my four was taken about 10 years ago. Back when they all came to see me when I got home each night, and some even thought I was still cool. How things have changed!

Ben Reed
Managing Director - HamiltonJet