Sometimes the busiest weeks start quietly and then gather pace, fast…

Last weekend didn’t start out looking like much on paper.

But it turned into one of those “busier than expected” ones. 

On Sunday, I headed out into the Peaks with my brothers, our other halves, and my little brother’s dog for a long walk followed by a hearty Sunday roast. 

Nothing extreme, just fresh air, good conversation, and a reminder that switching off for a few hours is sometimes exactly what you need before the week kicks off again.

Work-wise, last week a lot of time went into shaping early thinking around 2026. Not in a crystal-ball way, but in a very practical “stop, start, continue” sense. What do we keep doing because it works? What needs to evolve? And where do we now have the tools and technology to do things better than we ever have before?

One session in particular focused on redeveloping a long-standing service offering within the business. It’s something that’s existed for years and has always done its job, but now we’re in a very different position. 

With assets like drones, smart locking, and many more advanced technologies within arm’s reach, we can fundamentally improve how that service operates. The goal is simple: to make things safer, easier, and generally create more value for everyone involved. 

Later in the week, curiosity got the better of me and I took a trip into London to see some ground robotics that had been quietly deployed in a shopping centre. It was fascinating to see. We’ve spent a lot of time focusing on what we can do in the air with drones, and rightly so… But the next phase is thinking about what happens inside buildings, and how ground-based technologies might complement what we’re already doing. 

It’s very much “phase two” thinking, but it’s coming faster than people might expect.

But it was Thursday that ended up being a standout day. 

A mix of strategic progress, some future-looking tech exploration, and a personal win too – I finally got planning my permission over the line after what has felt like an age. That, paired with a proper steak dinner and a Christmas date night with my partner at one of my favourite spots in Soho, made it a day that ticked a lot of boxes.

All in all, it wasn’t a week full of fireworks. But it was one that quietly moved a lot of pieces into the right places. Sometimes those are the weeks that matter most.