Moving & unsure about work/future/income

[CDC]

Wasn't sure exactly where to post this. Seemed that here may be the best bet.

I'm looking at leaving London in August as my partner secured a great new job opportunity near Bibury in the Cotswolds. We had been looking at ways to leave London for some time as, despite our combined earnings being what i consider to be substational, we can't afford the quality of life we want in London. Wiltshire/Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire are the sorts of areas we want to put down roots for various reasons. However I work in Banking and whilst I don't struggle to find well paid work in town (i am self employed) I am looking at having to do some sort of drive to Swindon/Reading/Bristol to maintain any sort of work in this industry. Obviously there's a lot less work in financial services there than London.

I am keen to find out whether others have been in this situation and how they made it work. Have you decided to move at the risk of having to change up your career a bit and drop your earnings, but for a better quality of life? Has anyone done a move like this and then actually gone into a completely different line of work or started their own business?

Any thoughts/comments appreciated.

For what it's worth, i'm a chartered accountant. My partner is a teacher. We rent a property in Twickenham currently and don't own.

CDC

[Vaud]

No opportunities in Cheltenham? GCHQ is a big employer, might be worth keeping an eye on their jobs list?

[tjl]

Aren't lots of banking jobs currently moving to Birmingham. Almost commutable from Cotswolds ?

[MrT8064]

St. James' Place is a/the big employer in Cirencester – might be worth giving them a try! If not there are a handful of PLCs dotted around the county.

I was in Bibury yesterday – there is a great classic car place a couple of miles away, which does plenty of weekend meet-ups over the Spring/Summer. I think you'll enjoy Gloucestershire life a lot!

[CDC]

Vaud said:

No opportunities in Cheltenham? GCHQ is a big employer, might be worth keeping an eye on their jobs list?

Thanks, wasn't aware of GCHQ but it does look like they have some sort of Finance department there. Useful to know. Will bear in mind. Cheers

[CDC]

tjl said:

Aren't lots of banking jobs currently moving to Birmingham. Almost commutable from Cotswolds ?

Commuting to Birmingham is quite a serious journey and as we're moving for space, quality of life etc a really long commute is something we are keen to avoid. However, it may become evident once we move that this is required. One of my big concerns.

[CDC]

MrT8064 said:

St. James' Place is a/the big employer in Cirencester – might be worth giving them a try! If not there are a handful of PLCs dotted around the county.

I was in Bibury yesterday – there is a great classic car place a couple of miles away, which does plenty of weekend meet-ups over the Spring/Summer. I think you'll enjoy Gloucestershire life a lot!

Yes i've been keeping an eye on St James' Place so would be amazing if something came up there. Right sort of industry. Zurich Insurance and Nationwide in Swindon are also key for me. Those would all be ideal. But who knows what comes up at the time.

Yes i'm aware of the Classic Motor Hub in Bibury. We love it all around there and have family there so we really want to make it work. I am normally very risk averse and would refuse to entertain a move like this as i make good money in london, but with no kids yet i feel we can risk it in the hope of a much better future. Currently very nervous however as i am the breadwinner.

[Vaud]

CDC said:

Vaud said:

No opportunities in Cheltenham? GCHQ is a big employer, might be worth keeping an eye on their jobs list?

Thanks, wasn't aware of GCHQ but it does look like they have some sort of Finance department there. Useful to know. Will bear in mind. Cheers

Don't worry, they will be in touch...

[GreatGranny]

Understandable to be nervous but with no dependents and your wife in employment the risk isn't a huge one.

Also with your background you can go into lots of varied industries.

The change in lifestyle and being in a beautiful part of the country will easily compensate.

[DonkeyApple]

CDC said:

Wasn't sure exactly where to post this. Seemed that here may be the best bet.

I'm looking at leaving London in August as my partner secured a great new job opportunity near Bibury in the Cotswolds. We had been looking at ways to leave London for some time as, despite our combined earnings being what i consider to be substational, we can't afford the quality of life we want in London. Wiltshire/Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire are the sorts of areas we want to put down roots for various reasons. However I work in Banking and whilst I don't struggle to find well paid work in town (i am self employed) I am looking at having to do some sort of drive to Swindon/Reading/Bristol to maintain any sort of work in this industry. Obviously there's a lot less work in financial services there than London.

I am keen to find out whether others have been in this situation and how they made it work. Have you decided to move at the risk of having to change up your career a bit and drop your earnings, but for a better quality of life? Has anyone done a move like this and then actually gone into a completely different line of work or started their own business?

Any thoughts/comments appreciated.

For what it's worth, i'm a chartered accountant. My partner is a teacher. We rent a property in Twickenham currently and don't own.

CDC

I moved out of Hampstead to near Moreton in Marsh this time last year. We’ve always had a weekend place out here and I just decided that while the children were growing up we’d relocate full time. Hampstead isn’t at all how it was when I was a child but round here still is!!! .

There are plenty of people who commute to London from here. The finance work in Cheltenham is mostly retail, personal finance rather than corporate so it depends of your area of expertise etc.

If you aimed for somewhere like Burford then it’s an easy drive to Bibury but more importantly you won’t have to be getting into a car every 5 minutes to buy a pint of milk, beer etc and it’s on the A40.

In terms of going to London, I know people who get the 6am from Moreton each morning and get home by about 8. That’s not for me but it is an option. I also know people who will work from home Mondays and Fridays and stay in London Tuesday and Wednesday night.

When I need to go in I tend to drive to Rickmansworth and then take the Metline in. It’s not the most efficient route by far but I quite like the drive and have friends who have moved out in that direction from London so can often grab a beer or some food in the evening.

I wouldn’t personally live in Bibury. My Cantonese is far too poor to get by and I’m not 90 years old.

[CzechItOut]

CDC said:

Yes i've been keeping an eye on St James' Place so would be amazing if something came up there. Right sort of industry. Zurich Insurance and Nationwide in Swindon are also key for me. Those would all be ideal. But who knows what comes up at the time.

Endsleigh Insurance have their head office on the outskirts of Gloucester and I think Zurich have a big office in Cheltenham as well.

[PositronicRay]

GreatGranny said:

Understandable to be nervous but with no dependents and your wife in employment the risk isn't a huge one.

Also with your background you can go into lots of varied industries.

The change in lifestyle and being in a beautiful part of the country will easily compensate.

This. ^^^^^^^

Don't think too hard, just do it, while you can. I'm sure plenty would love the opportunity.

[CDC]

GreatGranny said:

Understandable to be nervous but with no dependents and your wife in employment the risk isn't a huge one.

Also with your background you can go into lots of varied industries.

The change in lifestyle and being in a beautiful part of the country will easily compensate.

Sage advice and i do try and tell myself this. Cheers

[Vaud]

CDC said:

GreatGranny said:

Understandable to be nervous but with no dependents and your wife in employment the risk isn't a huge one.

Also with your background you can go into lots of varied industries.

The change in lifestyle and being in a beautiful part of the country will easily compensate.

Sage advice and i do try and tell myself this. Cheers

I understand that good, reliable small business accountants (that can provide a full service) can be hard to find in some areas. Worth doing some market research and see if there is a gap in the market to build your own business.

[Vaud]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Sounds like the worst of both worlds.

Now a part time accounting role requiring 3 days in the office in London and 4 day weekends...

[supercommuter]

Commute to Bristol by motorbike from cotswolds. Does not take long at all.

[CDC]

Vaud said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Sounds like the worst of both worlds.

Now a part time accounting role requiring 3 days in the office in London and 4 day weekends...

The week in London / weekend at home thing is not something i want to do. I tend to get home late from work in town now so we want to move towards spending more time together, not less. Works for some, and maybe down the line i would have to consider it. But not at this stage in our lives. Also i know she would hate being on her own all week in a completely new town/village.

[CountZero23]

A nice part of the world, have a friend in Ascott-under-Wychwood which is just around the corner from Bibury. Great driving roads and all very pretty.

Bristol and Reading are a fair old treck, Oxford is just down the road though and there should be plenty of work about there.

Commuting into Reading every day is a dreadful experience - trust me

[Robertj21a]

PositronicRay said:

GreatGranny said:

Understandable to be nervous but with no dependents and your wife in employment the risk isn't a huge one.

Also with your background you can go into lots of varied industries.

The change in lifestyle and being in a beautiful part of the country will easily compensate.

This. ^^^^^^^

Don't think too hard, just do it, while you can. I'm sure plenty would love the opportunity.

Very much agree. Be positive, go for it.

[CDC]

DonkeyApple said:

.....I wouldn’t personally live in Bibury. My Cantonese is far too poor to get by and I’m not 90 years old.

This gave me a good laugh! Completely agree regarding Bibury. Burford would be lovely but i'm concerned that, given we will move whilst i don't actually have contract for any work, i won't know where i need to be commuting to each day be that Bristol, Swindon, Gloucester etc. I want somewhere that's a happy medium, and given there's more chance of getting work in Bristol, living in Burford makes that an impossibly long commute.

Appreciate your thoughts on everything though, good to hear from someone who has done a similar thing. Like you say, the daily commute to London is a bleak one, especially on that crawler of a train from Moreton. 1hr from Swindon is great, but it is c£9k a year. I just hate going into unknowns like this as i generally take very careful, measured decisions. This feels a big jump into the unkown, but hopefully one that we can make work.

Cheers