Colin Wynn Good morning Ian, welcome to Moving Matters. Ian Studd Hi Colin, how are you? Colin Wynn I'm very well thank you. How are you today? Ian Studd Yeah, good. We made it through to Friday again. So always a good thing. Colin Wynn Absolutely. Colin Wynn Can you tell everybody a little about yourself and the length of time in this industry? Ian Studd Yeah. Well, Ian Studd I am a lifelong remover. I've been in the industry now for 49 years would you believe man and boy, getting in at a very young age of 13. And I've had a fantastic time in this industry. I love everything about it. I'm married to Elaine. I've got two beautiful daughters, Emily and Becky, both of whom of course, are grown and long since flown the nest and have their own lives with their own husbands. And we have a very lovely lifestyle up in Norfolk where my wife manages a boarding kennels would you believe so? After 35 years of marriage, I can honestly say I do live in the doghouse. Colin Wynn And talking to dogs, my dog's been put out well into the garden with a bloody great big bone so he can sit there and chew on his bone for the next hour or so. Ian Studd One of the reasons why I said to Colin it was probably better that I was in the office to do this is that not only have we currently got or I say we Elaine is currently got something like 15 dogs boarding, we have three of our own and so they do tend to be a bit vocal. Colin Wynn Wow. I've got one and he's he's enough. Colin Wynn So at the age of 13, you got started in the industry. That's a very, very young age. What were you doing at the age of 13? Ian Studd Well, like many of us in this industry, I come into the industry through my dad. So, we're from Stamford and Lincolnshire and my dad was working for and had done for quite some time for a company called Steele's, Steele's of Stamford. A well established and long standing member of the BAR who are now of course, part of the Ballard's stable. So my dad was a driver, Porter Packer for Steeles for many years. And in 1971, Ted Steele, who was the founder of that business, went off into retirement. And at that point in time, Dad said, You know what, I want to have a go at doing this for myself. I've done this for for many years, and I'd quite like to have a go myself. So in 1971, GTS Light Haulage and Removals was born. And of course, he couldn't afford to employ anybody so I became a porter, and literally at the age of 13, got thrown into anything and everything. And for quite a period of time, my headmaster at school must have thought I was the sickliest child in Lincolnshire because I had every ailment known and quite a few that weren't and you know, the seriousness of the illness was directly related to the amount of time that I needed to be away from school. So if it was a simple one day move, I might just have a tummy upset or a headache or something like that. But if it was a longer period of time I might have full blown man flu. So for example, you know, one of the one of the first contract pieces of work that, that Dad got was delivering white goods, white goods appliances for Hotpoint, so we'd have washing machines and tumble dryers and fridges and goodness knows what. And we always used to get the run that the Hotpoint drivers themselves didn't want to do. So you know, everything we had was sort of seventh or eighth floor flats in London. And so we quite literally go away for the week and sleeping in the back of the truck as we all did in those days. So yes, Mum had to get quite creative in her conversations with the headmaster to try and explain where I was. But that's how come I came to get into the industry at the age of 13. And I've been in it and around it ever since. Colin Wynn So you worked you work for your father's company, I take it when you left school you then went full time into the family business? Ian Studd So despite what I just said, I still did do some time at school. And I came away from school with some qualifications and went on to Bristol and did a degree in humanities at Bristol which is absolutely worthless when it comes to being a removals person but I had a great time in Bristol, I loved the student lifestyle and thoroughly enjoyed all of that stuff. Ian Studd But in 77, when I finished all of that, I came back into the family business. And again, you know, my day job was out doing the moving and then in the evening it was a get home quick wash and change, put something that resembled a suit on and go out doing the estimating and son on, and then at weekends my Brother and I would do most of the vehicle maintenance ourselves. I would also help my father with looking after the books and the accounting processes. So you know, it was a reasonable grounding in the running of a small business. So I was with Dad then through until the very early 80s, by which time as I've just referred to my Brother was in the business, my Uncle was in the business and there were really, perhaps too many of us around and as can happen with family businesses, something needed to give. And that something became me. Ian Studd I met a young lady on a blind date. That young lady happened to live in a little town called Watton, in Norfolk, and Watton was very well known and still is well known for being the home of Abels and Abels in the early 80s were really taking off in a big way. You know, they were a very, very well regarded company even in those days, and had started to expand very aggressively. And as I said, I've met this young lady on a blind date, we'd become quite serious about each other. And although the plan was originally that she was going to join me in Lincolnshire, we did a bit of a U turn. And let's see what we can do if I come to Norfolk. So I applied for a job with Abels and joined them in the early 80s as the driver. By the way, the blind date has been my wife the last 36 years. Colin Wynn So match.com works! Ian Studd So, yeah, we set up our home in Watton in Norfolk, and I began my career with Abels and that was an absolute, you know, it changed my life completely. There's absolutely no question about that. It broadened my horizons. enormously from a, you know, an opportunity point of view, from an educational point of view, just the sheer scope of everything, the capacity to do different things, go to different places, meet different people, and have opportunity to develop my career in a way that I could see I wasn't perhaps going to get if I'd have stayed with with my father's business. So I joined as a driver. And one thing I should say, Colin, to this day, those early years with Abels are amongst the most enjoyable that I've had, in all of my many years in the industry. They were, they were terrific people that I work with and still amongst my closest friends, and we still meet up now and like, like lots of, you know, lorry drivers who are getting slightly longer in the tooth should I say, you know, we reminisce about all of the great times we had together. We seem to forget totally about the bad days, you know, they never get mentioned. But we had a we had a whale of a time, really, really hard work, but great people to work with. And the company that that genuinely believed and invested in the development of its people. And that certainly took my career in a different direction. Ian Studd So an example of what I mean would be, I'd been with them, maybe a couple of years, not not too much longer, and was still driving. And every member of staff would undertake at least five days training every year that was just, you know, part of the ethos of the business. But, you know, as a driver or as a packer, did I necessarily need to do another course on how to load a vehicle or how to pack a china carton. And so after a couple of years, I found myself doing a course on presentation skills with people I've never met before from all walks of life. And so it really, as I said, it started to broaden my horizons. And I moved into doing some estimating, I then moved into sales management with them. I did some operational management with them. And in my later years with Abels, slightly by accident, I think but I'd become responsible for pretty much all of its output around office and commercial moving. My big account was Norwich Union as it was in the day. We would literally have teams and teams of people every weekend in Norwich moving hundreds of staff around. Ian Studd Here's a change in circumstances for you. The, you know, then compared to now, so Norwich Union in the day was by far the biggest employer in Norwich. It was it was taking people directly from school, college, university, so the average age of the employees was really reasonably low. And you won't believe this, but it's true. One of the strategies at the time to ensure that they were keeping their staff engaged and not not allowing time to get bored was to move them. So every weekend, we would literally be going and of course, in those days it was was every desk, every filing cabinet, every chair, we would literally go and move hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of staff around various buildings in the city. And the strategy or part of the strategy was was just around ensuring that they kept staff engagement. Ian Studd So those were challenging and interesting times but I became responsible for all of the output of office in commercial moving and actually I still have a bottle of bubbly at home and a glass which is engraved and was presented to me by Phil Pertoldi for record sales in one month and I did 100,000 pounds worth of sales on office and commercial moving in one month which was significant back in the day. So yeah, just Just great times with Abels. And it wasn't just about career opportunity. It was also, as I said, a moment ago, you know, I went to places that I could only have dreamed of going to, you know, we travelled all across Europe. I've got documents at home, from my first trip to Berlin when Berlin was still very much in, in the enclave of, you know, in East Germany as it was. And because we were moving military people, we were afforded the courtesy of being treated as military personnel. So that meant that we were dealing with the Russian customs rather than the East German customs and so on. It was just, it was an incredibly, you know, rewarding experience. And I just really value all of those, all of those days, met some great people moved some great people was was engaged in a number of very, very high profile moves, including members of the royal family. Ian Studd And again, I've got all kinds of mementos from those days at home, which I'm really, really proud of and mean, an awful lot to me and my family. You know, an example would be we moved, Sarah Ferguson or Andrew and Sarah the Yorks, as it were, we moved them as a couple. We moved them individually. And she gets quite a lot of bad press. But every time we ever did anything for her, there was always recognition at the end. And that recognition generally took the form of a garden party or something like that, you know, we take our wives along, and just stuff that you you couldn't you know, you just couldn't invent you couldn't replace. So, you know, Elaine, my wife has met Sarah Ferguson, and we've been to garden parties and so on. So you know, just fantastic experiences, which I'll always be very, very grateful for. Ian Studd So then, by the mid 90s, of course, Abel's had changed hands. It had become part of the Hays PLC and the opportunity for progression. And this was my perception and I might be completely wrong. But the opportunity for progression seemed to me to be not quite as accessible as it had been under family ownership. But you know, I was still enjoying life and doing well. But then out of the blue, I got a tap on the shoulder from a company called Harrow Green, based in London, of course. And as I said, I'd become responsible mainly for doing office and commercial work. And they become aware of me and said, you know, why don't you come down to London and join us? Colin Wynn Clearly losing too many jobs to you Ian. Ian Studd Yeah, well, actually when I went for my interview with Harrow Green which was an altogether strange experience, but you know, more on that later, I suppose. But Tony Sullivan, who was one of the owners and cofounders of the business said to me in the interview exactly that, we at Abels had secured a move for Essex County Council based in Chelmsford. And it was a big, it was a storage installation and then staff move and it was a seven or eight month project, which I secured and then project managed. And Tony referred to that in the interview that he said, he thought I'd done well to win it, and then even better to deliver it, because office and commercial with Abels wasn't the core business, so there was always a bit of a challenge around getting things done. Ian Studd But anyway, so I joined Harrow Green in January 97. And that was, I think, without any shadow of a doubt the biggest culture shock I've ever had in my entire life. So you go from, you know, what was a very, very very structured environment in Norfolk with Abels where, you know, the ethos of the business was really well defined. And, you know, it's presentation was just second to none. And the presentation was what you actually got as a consumer. You know, it was it would, it was very much built on on the quality output. And I'm not saying that Harrow Green wasn't, but it was my very first day I just could not get my head around what was happening. It was organised chaos, I was there in this office in the East End of London, with 70, 80, 100 men, literally out in the yard being allocated jobs and, and the office environment at Abels was was quiet, controlled. The office environment at Harrow Green was exactly the opposite. You know, it was people under pressure, needing to get things done, and it was, wow, this is just so different. It is unbelievably different. Colin Wynn Sorry for interrupting, wasn't Harrow Green, primarily just office and commercial, they don't do domestic do they? Ian Studd It was, well, they have a very small division that did domestic but it's core businesses very much office in commercial. And as I said I come to their attention because of the work I've been doing in that area with Abels. And so I had the opportunity to join a specialist, a specialist service provider. So yeah, part of that agreement, part of the contract of employment was that we needed to move our family home, down to be nearer to the office, because obviously we were living in Norfolk. And so I had six months or so, to find a new home, get the family down, get the girls into school and all that kind of stuff. And I was living four nights a week generally in a bed and breakfast in the East End of London and just kind of getting home to Norfolk when I could. I've probably been at Harrow Green only three or four weeks. And I'd been home one evening for the first time in a number of nights and spent some time at home with Elaine and the girls, drove back down to London the next morning really early, got to the yard at Bow where the offices were, and sitting in the car watching this chaos going on around me and it was organised chaos. But it was just absolutely manic and watching this stuff going on around me. And I just I don't know if I can do this. I really don't know if I can do this. I just I didn't feel as I was getting my head around it. And I rang Elaine, as I always did to say, you know, I've arrived I'm safe, everything's okay. And she said to me, You don't sound very happy what on earth is the matter and I sort of humming and harring a little bit and she said, Come on, what is it? And I said to her, I'm just not sure that I'm getting this. I'm not sure this is what we're cut out for, and bless her, she's the voice of reason in our house, she said to me, Well, you know, whatever you decide, she said, I'll support you quite happily and we'll do what you want to do. But make your mind up before we move. Ian Studd That evening, and for the next two or three nights, I was back into my bed and breakfast. And I still think to myself sometimes that had I have gone home that day, I'm not 100% sure I'd have gone back. Because it just, it just was so so different. But anyway, that all of that passed, and I went on to have an incredibly successful and rewarding career with Harrow Green. I joined them as a Sales Executive, I became Sales Manager, then in 2002, when they acquired a competator business in the East End, which was Exclusive Group, I went and headed that company up. And then in 2006, I had the opportunity to join the board of Harrow Green and join them. So I ended up having 18 really, really productive and happy years with Harrow Green, but it was it was just that initial, you know, that period of kind of trying to get used to life at 300 miles an hour as opposed to the hundred miles an hour that it had been in Norfolk. Ian Studd And again, it completely broaden my horizons because the, the specialist office and commercial moving market and I say this with the greatest respect, particularly in London, is just, you know, it's an industry in its own right. It has its own set of rules and it has its own parameters and you need to very quickly get to grips with what they are. And I built some fantastic relationships again there, you know, some bear in mind have moved on. I left Harrow Green five years ago, I'm still in direct contact with many of my clients from those days who had become friends over a number of years. And we still meet up and go and have a, you know, the obligatory curry now and again and chew the fat about the good old days. So yeah, it was all part of the education of this industry. Ian Studd Now, here's the thing, though, Colin, and again, I don't think I'm unusual. All of this, that's happened. You know, my entire experience in my career is entirely accidental. You know, none of it I don't ever remember sitting down and playing, I have a plan and this is what I want to do. All I can say is that I've always been open to recognising and exploring opportunities if I think they're going to benefit me and my family. And I've always been ambitious, and I still am, but I certainly didn't in 1971 say to myself, well, you a porter today and guess what, in 50 years time you can be the Director General of the BAR. You know, it's just, I think our industry is unlike no other in that we find ourselves sometimes reluctantly shoehorned into doing roles that we hadn't necessarily planned or thought were ours to do. But, you know, recognising that those opportunities arise, and and having, you know, the confidence in yourself, the gumption call it what you will to say when I'm going to have a go at doing it is what makes this industry work. And I say again, you know, I'm not alone in that, but it's been a real ride that I've enjoyed along the way and I'm just hugely hugely grateful, you know, for the support and input of those who I've worked for and with that have allowed me to, to achieve all the things that I think I've achieved. And you know, on a personal level Colin Wynn And long may continue. It's just the most fabulous industry to be in, you just make so many friends is unbelievable. Ian Studd And we are exactly that we're about people, and all of this stuff that I talked about, you know, it's all inextricably linked with the people that I've met along the way, who are very, very dear to me all of them. Colin Wynn So what challenges did you overcome in your removers life has such, pre BAR? Ian Studd So I think perhaps just following on from from what I said, Colin, you know, I'm a great believer in that with every challenge, there's an opportunity and the staff here at Watford will roll their eyes to the heaven when they hear this on Recording because it's just me rattling on again, as I do every day. If we simply accept that today is as good as it gets, or is the final outcome, then there is no room for progression. And I'm sorry, I don't accept that in any way, shape or form. There's always something that could be slightly different, slightly better. And there's always something that could help me to develop my skill set or others around me to develop theirs. So the challenges I've faced, I guess, are the same ones that everybody faces in, in their careers in this industry. And it's and it's trying to really work out what you want, and how you want to do it. But I'll go back to what I said a few minutes ago. You know, I've looked at those. I've seen those opportunities when they've arisen or recognise those opportunities. Generally. Not all of them have worked out. Absolutely not, you know, there have been a few blind alleys along the way. But I guess, the biggest challenge out of taking that approach is that I haven't always been qualified for the job or for the you know, the task that I've put my hand up to do. But I've always been prepared to learn very quickly and get on and do it. And and I think I've been reasonably successful at doing that. So I'm not afraid to apply myself to doing something. I'm more afraid about missing an opportunity. Though the challenges I suppose are really about having achieved something then it's a bit like the old sales adage isn't it? You know, the answer is always Yes. And then work out how you're going to do it. Colin Wynn Absolutely. Ian Studd And suppose outside of that the challenges have been around balancing the family life because as I said, you know, we had a very good home close to family in Norfolk, and then we up stakes and move everybody down to Essex, for 18 years. And, we had two young daughters at the time, so the changes to school environment and so on for them. It was all part of that consideration. But, you know, it's all worked out and it's worked out well. So I don't dismiss the challenges, but there's nothing there that can't be overcome, I would have been more fearful of missing the opportunity. Colin Wynn So if you could change anything from your moving past, is there something that you would change? And if so, would it be? Ian Studd No I wouldn't change any of it. I've been, absolutely, I've been hugely lucky to have the opportunities I've had. And again, I say I've worked very hard for them. You know, they've not just been handed on a plate to me, I've worked very hard for those opportunities. But equally, you know, I've been lucky in that you have to be in the right place at the right time and all that stuff. Ian Studd If there's something I would add to my experiences of the past, it would be I'm a little bit envious here. Is that if I look at the, the young movers group, for example, today, they have a terrific opportunity to grow a peer group and to learn and support each other as their careers develop. And I never had that, you know that just wasn't available to me I had a, I had a network within the company I worked for whether that was Abels or whether that was Harrow Green, and to a lesser extent working with the family business. But what I didn't have was that circle of influence outside of the business necessarily. And I envy the young movers of today that they have that and what I would say, as well Colin is that I think the young movers group that is now really active, and it's very proactive in terms of its outlook. They're a fantastically talented, gifted bunch of individuals and when I look at what they're doing and how they conduct themselves and what their plans are you know, it does give me a great deal of comfort that our industry is in very safe hands. And these are the, you know, these are the people that are going to take the association in the industry forward into, you know, 2020s and beyond. So I would have loved to have had that network. And I would have loved to have had the support mechanisms that are far more available now, I think, than they were then. I mean, you know, an example of the difference and it just I don't think it could happen now. But it wasn't unusual back in the day, on the day I joined Harrow Green, you know, my whole induction programme was arriving at the office of Bow at 7:30 being shown where the sales office was being shown where the tea machine was, and being handed, you know, a bundle of calls and said, See you later. Off you go there's your day's work and you know it was that new environment I was trying to get my head around and you think, really I need to be able to talk somebody and ask what this all means. And I think having that peer group today is a massive, massive plus. It's not a regret, it's not anything I would change is just something I wish I could add into it. I would have liked to add it into. Colin Wynn So you when you didn't have a peer group, as such, when you start off in this industry, I take it then it's technology that's allowed the peer group because now we can all stay in touch more on a regular basis because we have email and we can send text messages and maybe in the early 80s and stuff like that it was harder to stay in touch with people unless you picked up this thing called a telephone, something people don't seem to use these days? Ian Studd Again, again, when I joined Harrow Green in 1997. We, the company employed a young lady to do nothing but operate the telex machine. You're absolutely right. I mean, part of what makes that more manageable now more accessible now is having the technology to completely, you know, wholly interact with people at any given time of day or night, and not just with individuals but groups. But I don't just mean that. I mean, it's this, again, is about a group of people who've come together with a desire to help shape their career paths, and that the future of the industry as a collective and to use their experiences to help others along the way. And you know, very, very specifically so I think, I think that is just a fantastic, fantastic asset. And something I would have loved to have had access to. Colin Wynn What is your high points have been in the industry? Now I know you've mentioned at Abels you won a job from Harrow Green, and obviously at Harrow Green you became part of the board of directors, what would be your high point? Ian Studd There are so many and there really are so many, you know, in no particular order, you know, top of my CV still not the my CV is getting any airing these days. I have no intention that it does but on top of my CV still is HGV class one driver. I was so, so proud to get that licence. And you know, it remains there to this day. As I've said I travelled an awful lot and went to places and did things and met people that otherwise I would never have done. I got my international transport manager CPC licence, which is a proud boast, many moves for the royal family, I think I've already mentioned that. I mean, and then when I went to Harrow Green, again, it opened up a whole new marketplace of opportunity. And for the first time in my career, when I joined them in January 97 I had a sales target, and my target for the year I'll never forget it was 860,000 pounds worth of new business in year one. That was my target. And there were commission structures based around that. And I was going in pretty much from a standing start. Having been there for three months, maybe four months, certainly not longer, I was given a tender contract opportunity to move, a collection of books for the British Library it's rare book collection, and that was something I just never something of that scale and complexity I just never got involved in in the past. And it was a huge amount of work, but got through it submitted a quote, and yes, we won that particular piece of work at just under 750k! Ian Studd So having been there for less than half a year, I pretty much smashed my sales target. So that was a high point and actually, you know, just doing that job to give you some kind of context, the nation's historical literary archive and, you know, there was huge security around the move, there were huge insurance risks and implications, each vehicle load, for example, had to be insured to the tune of 20 million pounds. Ian Studd And often, very often, that was one crate, and that one crate might contain one book. You know, it was a hugely complex move that went on best been two years. So that was a massive high point. And if you like that sort of proved my worth in the London office and commercial moving market, so I look on, I look back on that very fondly, not least of which, because I had some good commission out of it. Ian Studd Joining the board of directors of Harrow Green, yes. And again, that, again, opened my eyes to a whole range of different things. And I then got involved in strategic decisions around the business, looking at acquisitions and that kind of stuff. So, you know, became far more involved in the running of the business rather than just the day to day operating of it. So that was, that was great. And then of course, a real high point has to be my involvement with a the BAR, which began in the very early 80s, with going to area meetings in East Anglia at the Flying Fortress in Bury St.Edmunds, which many old salt will remember with fondness. And it's quite interesting that some of the discussions that we would have in those days are absolutely mirrored in the discussions that we're having today. A slightly different context, maybe, but you know, not a million miles a drift. So, so yes, I've been involved with the Association for many years. I joined the Council of the CMG in 2000. And then an absolute high point would have been in 2007 when I was elected chair of that group, and then joined the board of BAR. Ian Studd And again, that opened up yet more opportunity for me to get more involved in our industry at the very highest level. You know, with the luminaries of the time, you know Jonathan Hood, Matt Purdie, David Bunting, Sylvia Lane, you know, Paul Fox, of course Rob Bartup. Yeah, just some terrific, terrifically talented, very clever individuals that have helped me shape my Outlook, in terms of what the industry is about what the association is about. And then in 2012, of course, I was elected President of the Association and served a two year term and that was an enormous honour, you know, the very, very pinnacle of our industry and in my opinion, and I was just it was just a massively massively proud moment when I, when I stood at conference in Windsor in 2012, and the outgoing president hung the bling around my neck and to have the chain of office was tremendous, absolutely tremendous. And, you know, I know the association has its critics. And I know that it's not to everybody's taste or everybody's cup of tea, but I genuinely think it is, you know, it's about doing the right things for our industry to the best of its ability, and representing the industry generally not just being our members. And I'm a firm believer in what he does so, so to have that honour of being ahead of the industry, you know, was was just absolutely amazing, you know, my family, having them there, seeing this, this, you know, the chain being bestowed around my neck as it were. And my friends from the industry was just wonderful. Ian Studd And then, of course, we shouldn't lose sight of where I am now. Because in 2015, the opportunity came along to actually become an employee of the association rather than an elected officer, to become its executive officer. And having gone through a robust recruitment process, you know, I was absolutely delighted to be offered the position and incredibly proud and honoured to take it on and to now lead this association through what has been some challenging times I have to say but it's been it's been a fantastic honour an absolute high point. So I'm rambling on a bit there Colin apologies for that. But there are so many high points, you know, and I look back on each and every one of them. With real pride and fondness. Colin Wynn You can ramble on as much as you like, I'm sure the listeners would love you to ramble on the BAR thing we'll come back to in a moment. So what advice would you give to a young Ian Studd just starting out in the industry? Ian Studd I would say just, you know, have the courage of your convictions and do stick your head over the parapet because you know, these opportunities are definitely out there. You know, we've said several times, a lot of it can happen by accident, rather than design. You have to be prepared to stick your head over the parapet. And you have to be prepared to say, Yes, I run the risk of failure, but I want to have a go at doing this. And, you know, the opportunities aren't by I'm by no means special in any way, shape, or form. You know, if I can take these opportunities on if I can make things work, then others can do equally the same. But it is just about having the courage of your convictions. Don't be afraid to fail to stick your head over the parapet and say, Let me have a go at doing that. Colin Wynn So you're currently the Director General of the British Association of Removers? Can you give a quick overview of what the BAR does? Ian Studd Yeah. So we we are I mean, there are a whole range of different associations and groups that exist across the removal sector now, but we are unquestionably and undeniably the oldest and the longest established and we do have an absolutely genuine desire to represent the industry, you know, certainly our members first and foremost, but but the industry at large, to better everybody's opportunity. I appreciate some of that might sound a little bit elitist. It's not meant to, but it is it is a genuine view. And we accept that we're not everybody's cup of tea and we accept that others will want to do things slightly different. But we do believe that the role that we take in the industry isn't replicated anywhere else. And we see ourselves as being a regulator, to a large extent, in an industry that is largely unregulated, and has opportunity to mislead and cheat consumer and employer alike. And our regulation takes two forms, really, we have our criteria of membership. And we have our code of practice. And both of those elements are mandated and both are inspected annually at every member location, and we manage compliance rigorously. So in the event that we visit a member site and we find something that isn't quite right according to either one of those measures, then we'll issue a non conformance notice and that non conformance then has a time window to have remedial actions put in place, and then we retest. So I think I think we are and the code of practice, of course, is underwritten by CTSI, and we ourselves are audited by them in terms of its application. So we are able to demonstrate to consumer to government bodies to media, to partners, and to commercial opportunities, that we are applying a regulation and a control mechanism that is auditable and beneficial to members, consumers and partners alike. Ian Studd So one of the other things we do is we're a key lobbyist and we spend, I certainly spend a good deal of my time, as I've said, representing the industry. When I get the opportunities to speak to government departments or, or other trade bodies and organisations and associations in the property moving market, for example, I'm introduced and I introduced myself of course, as the Director General of BAR but I'm there as a representative of the removals industry. Because we all share the same challenges, we all share the same problem, we might have a different badge on the side of our trucks, we might have a different outlook, in terms of where benefit is derived from membership organisations, but we all share those same issues. And so I very much see our role as being at the head of the industry. And I make no apologies for saying that. You know, our vision is to be the go to voice for the removals industry. And I genuinely think that's what we are. And we will represent the industry to the best of our ability. Ian Studd We've also introduced over the last couple of years, last four years, further consumer protection mechanisms through our independent dispute resolution service and our advanced payment guarantee scheme. And those aren't replicated jointly anywhere else in the industry. So they're providing significant consumer benefits. So, you know, I think that's a brief overview that I think the bottom line with the BAR is that sometimes there's a view that perhaps, you know, a company might join the BAR and we become their own personal marketing team or their own personal sales team. That really isn't how it works. And it isn't, is not how we can work. We can't, we can't sell the benefit or the USP of any one of our member businesses any better than they can and neither should we, you know, they live their business, they breathe it they have this ethos and so on. But what membership of the BAR does serve to do is to underpin the message that they're given to their consumer because we're almost the validation behind the claims that they're making, because it becomes auditable through the work that we do in regulation, and, and providing those consumer protections. So, you know, I think we have a key role to give that consumer confidence and to represent the industry at every opportunity that we can with the legislators to make sure that we get the best representation that we can. Colin Wynn So what prompted you to apply for such a role within the industry, the Director General of the BAR? Ian Studd So it was, it wasn't something I'd unnecessarily contemplated with the career plan move. You know, as I said a couple of times, I've had a long involvement with the BAR and served on many councils committees and, and been an active member of the board for 10/12 years. And when my predecessor decided to head off into retirement My term of office as president had come to an end, and Gary Wheadon had followed me into the chair. And at that, at that point in time, as an outgoing president, you don't completely fall off the radar, but you become an awful lot less involved in the day to day stuff of the association. And so, I'd said to Stephen Vickers, my predecessor that I'd be quite keen to stay involved and help in some capacity if I could and it was at that time that the, the Trailblazer initiative the apprenticeship scheme, was beginning to come together. And so I took on the role of representing the association in those combined logistics industry meetings to do with trailblazer. So I was I was doing that. But I had no formal role, no official role within the BAR. So Stephen decided to head off into retirement and Gary contacted me and said, I know you're not on the board anymore but would you help us out by joining a recruitment committee to find a replacement for Stephen. So when I got over the, the sort of shock of what Stephens leaving Blimey, okay. I said yes, of course I would and and together with board members at the time nominated board members, we formed a recruitment committee to go and source a new Director General. And we'd started to look at a number of CV's and put some time labels together for first interviews and so on. And through that first two or three weeks, I suppose I got, I just started to receive really random messages, texts and emails and you know, things like, have you thought about doing this or why don't you stick your head over the parapet and I hadn't really thought about it. And I guess the fact of being asked to serve on this recruitment committee sort of said to me, well, not that I necessarily thought about it, but it sort of said to me that perhaps they don't see you as being that person. But anyway, I started to get a few of these messages and sat down with Elaine to talk about stuff as I always do if there's anything out there and said to her, what do you think? Anyway, we, we thought about it long and hard. And I thought, Well, you know what, I really do love this association. And I love this industry. And you know, much as I enjoyed my time at Horrow Green, this was an opportunity that I just thought, maybe I can make a difference. And so I contacted Gary and said, I know I told you, I would serve on the recruitment committee, but actually, I don't think I should, because I'm going to apply for the job. And so at that point, I, I removed myself from that committee, I submitted an application and went through the same process as everybody else. And it was, it was actually quite bizarre because that is the only interview I've ever had or attended, where I knew the people who were interviewing me. And, you know, it was it was quite strange. But you know, hey, we got where we wanted to be and and I was offered the job and then took it on in July 2015. And it's been absolutely everything that I thought it would be. And it's been several things that I thought it I didn't think it would be. But I guess that's again, that's part of the learning curve, isn't it? But I just felt the BAR has done an awful lot for me over the years. And I genuinely thought this is an opportunity for me to give something back and I and I do think I can make a difference. Colin Wynn So what is the role of Director General and how has your time been as Director General, the last five years? Ian Studd Okay, so the role of Director General is is that of the chief executive of the association. So, I am responsible to the board and I really I would make that very clear because there can be, there can be the view out there perhaps that the Director General is something of a lone wolf and just does what he wants that nothing could be further from the truth, I can assure you, I'm entirely accountable to the board. But I'm tasked with the day to day running of the association, because you think, you know, when you look at the board and its construction, they're all, with the exception of me, they're all elected officers. So they're giving of their time freely, to help support the association. But I am tasked with being it's spokesperson with determining the ethos of the business with implementing the strategic direction of the board and working closely with them on all developments. And, you know, so I have everything from fiscal responsibility through to operational management through to, you know, the sales strategies for the association recruitment and all of those things. And I'm what I would say at this point is I'm very grateful in the five years now that I've been doing this, that again, there are some very talented individuals who have served on the board throughout that time and they're, they're an incredibly useful and very helpful bunch of people. And great sounding board. You know, we talk, we talk every day at some point to one or more of the board members, just generally chatting about what's happening around the industry in the association. Ian Studd And in terms of how it's been, right, it's been busy. It's been challenging. It's been frustrating. It's been massively rewarding. It's been emotional on occasion, but I wouldn't change a day of it. It's it's absolutely kept me busy. I remember Stephen Vickers did say to me, as part of as part of the handover when I took the role on you will never be short of things to do. And he's absolutely right. You know, there is always something happening around the association what I, what I did do from day one and continue to do, although that's been slightly more difficult over the last few months, is to set out with a very, very firm policy of making the association and myself far more visible and accessible to its members. You know, we don't we don't just live in an ivory tower here in Watford. You know, we're, we're wherever we need to be to support the activities of our members and to provide whatever help and assistance that we can. But, you know, there's been there's been a lot that's happened in a relatively short space of time, and an awful lot of change around the around the association and some of which was part of the strategic agenda when I joined and other bits of which we have created and delivered in the interim. So you know, in no particular order In the last five years, we've designed and implemented very successfully advanced payment guarantee scheme. At the specific request of members, we've we've rebuilt and implemented a regional network of approved training centres so we can deliver affordable and accessible quality training all around the UK. We've completely rebuilt the collateral in terms of the training material that we have course content and across administration and operational disciplines. We've added an apprenticeship successful apprenticeship module into our offerings. We've updated terms and conditions, you know, we've updated our marketing collateral. And I should also mention, you know, we've got, we've got a really good team of people here at Watford, and one of the things I was very keen to do was, you know, reflective of the, of the benefits I've had working for companies like Abels and Harrow Green who genuinely believe in investing in their people. We re-engaged with Investors in People. And we've rebuilt, you know, our own investment strategies in our team here at Watford. Because we're a very small team, so the opportunities for advancement are inevitably somewhat limited. But that doesn't mean that we can't explore how we can support our people in different ways. And so we've we've done that and done that very successfully and delighted at at our last assessment meeting last year, we were awarded the silver award by IP. So really, really excellent. We're not that far off Gold Award either. Ian Studd So a great bunch of people who work very hard together. And part of that process is also I've designed and implemented a performance management mechanism here that rewards good work, and and is inextricably linked to training needs and development needs aswell, and again, just for the benefit of listeners, because they won't believe it is true, I'm also party to that same process. And my performance is measured through formal appraisal with the President and the Vice President every year. So I don't get away with it either. We are expected to do what we are tasked with doing, and rightly so. rightly so. So, so it's been a it's been a fantastically interesting five years. And, of course, challenges along the way. Because for four of those five years we've had this thing called Brexit looming over us, and what does that mean for the industry and of course, that's not gone away. We've we've had all kinds of issues and changes within legislation with the introduction of clean air zones, vision standards, all of these impacts on our industry. And then, of course, this year, heaven forbid but we've we've we've had this pandemic which none of us saw coming. And that has completely changed how we've had to operate our business this year, as it will have done, everybody else, completely changed it. And as again, been a massive challenge. But I think probably the most rewarding four or five months that I've had in this role yet. Colin Wynn You did an awful lot regarding the pandemic, the BAR released a lot of information to the to the removers, not just as members, but the removers in general. So I can only imagine that took up an immense amount of your time. Ian Studd It did, but I think we also need to just remember that actually the day job almost went out of the window. So so all of the strategic objectives that we've set ourselves this year, in my discussions with the board, you know, in December in January, and then through our appraisal process, all of that sort of came to a crashing halt at the end of February and as we went into March and our focus was entirely reactive, in terms of, you know, how do we deal with this issue that's in front of us and what's happened today. And and I think one of the things we wanted to take on board and we recognised very, very early in this process was that there was so much information and a good deal of misinformation out there. So much stuff to sift through that we felt that it ought to be our role to try to qualify what was out there that was relevant to our industry in our sector. And so put those updates out that would actually mean something rather than just saturating them with, you know, endless amounts of emails and bombarding them with updates here and there. So we did work very hard at trying to reinforce to our members and to the industry generally, that these were the things that we felt were important, and that they needed to be aware of. And I do think that in this last five or six months, you know, our mission to be that go to voice in the industry has largely been recognised, you know, we do have very good contacts with with ministerial departments now, where we do have ongoing dialogue around what the challenges are for our industry. Our press contact database has grown significantly in that time, we've added new press contacts, which is always beneficial. Although most of the time they're not too interested in what's happening in the removals industry, unless there's a horror story, of course. So, you know, that's all been really useful. I've got great contacts within representatives of the other professional organisations and associations in the property market. So you know, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, National Association of Estate Agents, Law, Society and so on, you know, great contacts where we're able to now and we still do meet every virtually of course, every fortnight, and we're a voice at that table. So, you know, I think I think we've done a decent job record entering our industry, which is why I say, you know, for me, I think it's it's certainly been tough. It's been challenging, but it has been rewarding. And we've had some, some really good feedback from members and non members alike who have been quite grateful for, for the work we've done. You know, there's always more that we would like to have done, there's always more that we would like to achieve. But, you know, we have to apply a degree of reasonableness to that in terms of what we are capable of doing with the resources available to us. And also recognising that our sphere of influence isn't always as great as we want it to be. But we're working on to expand on that. Colin Wynn What one thing would you change within the moving industry? And I'll let you answer that as both a remover and as the Director General, so you can have two if you want? Ian Studd No the answer, it's one answer. It's I'm going to get on my soapbox here and apologies for that, but it's something that is it just baffles me and always has is that we, as an industry are our own worst enemy. You know, we are, in my mind, we're professional service providers in a professional industry. But we don't conduct ourselves always in that way and we have this irrational thought process that we've just got a race to the bottom line all of the time. And I just do not understand it, you know? And if we have that opinion of ourselves, how do we expect the consumer to have anything that's any different? And I if I could change one thing it would be and I'm not talking about cartels here, by the way, or price fixing heaven forbid, nothing like it. But it is about recognising that what we do is a value proposition. It's not a commodity sale. And so think about it work out what your cost base and you know what, heaven forbid, and why should we be embarrassed? We need to make some profit because otherwise why are we in business so I just think sometimes we have a really, I don't know, indescribably rational view of what we're about as an industry. And if I could change anything, it would be that we're a profession. Let's treat ourselves that way. Let's market ourselves that way. Let's compete in that way. If you can compete at any level, we don't have to compete at the cheapest level. We don't. Colin Wynn Competition should be on service and quality, not on price. Ian Studd Correct. As you know, again, if I go back to my days of sales management, when I when I would have my sales meetings, if there was one thing that was guaranteed, and I do mean guaranteed to get me up to boiling point, it's when we were doing you know, the follow ups and I'd say, well, why didn't we get that job then? Price, lost it on price. What!? You know, price is always an issue. It should never be the only issue. It should never be the only issue. And to my mind, if we're losing something on price and price alone, we haven't done our job properly. So sorry, like I said, I get on my soapbox about that one. But I do think as an industry, we are our own worst enemy. Colin Wynn I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. Colin Wynn So where do you see yourself and the industry in the next five years? Ian Studd Now that's a leading question Colin Wynn Selling service and not on price? Ian Studd Yes. Yeah. Love to. Ian Studd So in terms of the industry, I think one of the things that has certainly changed over the last six months or so is that we have, to an extent reluctantly, but we have embraced technology far more in the last six months or so than perhaps we had in the last four or five years. You know, technology has been creeping into our industry for for some time, and nobody knows that better than you of course, but there is still I don't know whether reluctance is the right word, there is still perhaps the thought process, that it's not necessarily right or necessary for our industry to this to the same extent as maybe it is in other industries. But I do think the last six months has changed some of that perception and we've embraced the technologies that are available to us. And I think we will continue to do that. And I hope we will continue to do that. And I hope we will look to make our administrational processes more efficient in the way that the consumer wants and demands in today's world, you know, we have to be more reactive. We can't be in the place of saying yes, I can get a salesman to you in 10 days time. It's too late. You know, we need to be able to deal with things properly and professionally in the in the context of the modern world. So I think we'll see more developments there. I think we'll see I hope we'll see more integrated solutions between sales operations and delivery, processes that automate some of that stuff. But the thing that won't change, in my humble opinion in the next five years, or perhaps even the next 50 years, or longer, is the fact that we're still going to send a truck, and we're still going to send a group of people to do a very professional job, and long may that continue. So I, I think, you know, there are evolutions and developments through the administration or management processes for our industry that we could and should embrace. And we need to carry on investing in our people to make the service offering more robust and more professional as far as we can, embrace new materials as they come into the market. You know, the, the environmental concerns are at the fore now, of course, and we should also market on those strategies. But the I don't think at the same time, sorry, I'm trying to think what I'm trying to say. But at the same time, I think we should also be proud of the heritage that is our industry and the fact we do carry on providing that service in much the same way that we have for the last hundred years. Ian Studd In terms of me, good question. So on Tuesday of this week, I turned 63, so in five years time, I suspect I will have headed off into semi retirement perhaps if not retirement altogether. I don't see that that means to me that I will stop doing things altogether. I genuinely don't, I will still want to do something. Whether that is around the association and or any part of it, any of its component parts is really a matter for the board at the time to discuss and decide whether they think I can still add value, but I would love to carry on delivering some kind of service to the industry if I could. The only thing we know with any degree of certainty is that we're currently buying a property in North Wales and that is where we will retire to at whatever point that comes along but it's a few years away yet I hope. Colin Wynn You'll never get out of this industry Ian, you know yourself once you're in this removal game you never get out, I'm not even a remover and I tried to get out years ago and I still couldn't get out. Ian Studd I genuinely don't want to get out but equally I do believe that there is a you know, an opportune moment for succession plans to kick in place and where you stop being perhaps the you know, the benefit and become more of a gatekeeper and I don't want to be a gatekeeper. So whatever time it is right to do so. Then, you know, I'll move off and do something else but I very much hope it will still be around this industry. Colin Wynn So what do you do outside of the industry to switch off? Ian Studd So as I've mentioned, at the start of this we now we now live in a boarding kennels, which is which is situated in the middle of Thetford Forest and my wife manages this business on behalf of the owners. And so I become an you know, a volunteer. That's right, I become a volunteer dog walker in my spare time. So, last weekend, for example, I spent all day Saturday strolling dogs through the forest, and then all day Sunday catching up on the chores that I needed to do so but I'm really happy to help Elaine and support with that stuff. As I've mentioned, we've got two wonderful daughters so we spend as much time with them and their respective husbands as we can. One lives in Shropshire and the other one in Norwich. So over the last six months, we haven't seen as much of them as we would have liked, but when we do get together, you know we share joys and we share what we do. We go to concerts, we go walking, we go on holidays together and so on. So I really love all of that stuff. I finally managed at the tail end of last year to convince the current Mrs. Studd that it was right that I bought myself a motorbike again. So I'm a born again biker for the third time I think now, so I spend some time out and about on my little toy, which I thoroughly enjoy. But, you know, inevitably and like many of us my mind is never too far from what we do here. It just isn't. You know, it's you're constantly thinking about you know, what has been done, what is to do or what might be done, constantly thinking you have been walking through the forest last Saturday for example, you know, and suddenly springs Oh, yes, I must ring sone so and talk to him about that. And you think well actually, while I'm walking the dog might as well do it. So away you go but you know, I I value my my family time above anything else. They are, they are my delight. Colin Wynn And finally, I like to end my podcasts with a funny moving story. Do you have one to tell? Ian Studd Right? Do I have one to tell? There are so many that can't really be repeated in polite company. Colin Wynn No they can they can honestly, you wait to hear Paul on Episode Five! Ian Studd Colin seriously they can't I would land myself and others into so much trouble. But you know, there have been so many laughs along the way I said earlier on, you know, my time at Abels It was really really hard work. And it was hard work. But the people just made it an absolute joy and it was just a laugh from start to finish all the way through. Ian Studd But but just just some things that springs to mind from various stages in my career. So when when I was portering for dad at the age of 13/14, whatever his first full time employee was a chap he recruited, he was a cockney fella, and he recruited him on the basis that this guy used to come around to our house with the sale with the catalogue, you know, the sale order catalogue and mom would be ordering stuff from him. So they got to know him that way. And it turned out that in some dim and distant point in the past, this guy had done a move or two, though, so Dad decided to employ him, and he came on board, so I, I became the sort of permanent Porter of this chap. And he was a broad Eastender who was quite fiery, to say the least. And as as tended to happen in those days whenever we stopped at a transport cafe he'd go off to have his egg and bacon and cups of tea and however many cigarettes and I'd play out in the truck and drive it around the lorry park because I you know, I was just absolutely mad on trucks even in those days. And Dad had bought an old Thames Trader from Read's of Peterborough, AFL333B, I can see it now I love that vehicle. We stopped somewhere, I think it was Hatfield way one day and Cliff had gone in for his breakfast or whatever, and I'm driving the truck around the yard and a great big thing with the steering wheel out here, my little arms and reach around it, and anyway, he came back having had his breakfast and gave me the customer a mouthful, gave me a clip around the ear and told me to get out of the seat. And so he said, right, it's time to go and he goes to start this thing up and it wouldn't start. So I got all kinds of abuse about what have you done to it. So of course, it wasn't just the key in those days there was a crank handle. So he said it's no good. I'm going to get out and I'm going to have to do this thing, do this thing by hand. So he said, You know, I'm going to turn it over so when it starts you make sure you you're down on that accelerator and get it going. Right okay. So he goes outside. It was quite a warm morning and he's swinging this crank handle round on this old Thames Trader and it wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't firing and his language is getting more and more choice. He was getting more and more angry when I was just laughing and What are you laughing at? Well, at the end of the day, because he gives me such a hard time, all that was happening was that I pulled the stop cable out and jammed it. Deliberately, I hasten to add. So when he found this out, he came after me with the crank handle. And I was running around this lorry park and everybody poured out from the cafe. And he was giving me everything. I got all kinds of abuse for that. Ian Studd Then, I mean, also, you know, you think I don't know whether it's funny stories, but it's just how it was in those days. You know, again, the Thames Trader you know, on a cold morning. You've got no hope of getting it started unless you actually lit a bonfire under the thing to warm it through. Because the diesel would wax up and you know, the water systems would freeze up. So many is the morning we've actually lit a bonfire under the things or stuffed or burning oil rag down into the air cleaner to actually get things going. Just different times. Ian Studd And another occasion, when I was still with Dad we took on a chap, he was our yoppi youth opportunities scheme. And this guy was 16 and he became my Porter strangely enough and he worked with me all the time. And he was he was good little lad you know, cheeky little thing. And in fact, it became a he to me was a bit like me to the Cockney chap, you know, anyway, one one Friday and it was always a Friday of course, he didn't turn up for work and I was I was not at all happy with him say the least because that meant I ended up working with, you know, with just a random casual chap, which I never really enjoyed. Anyway, on the next day on the Saturday, I was walking through the town in Stamford and I saw this guy and there was clearly nothing wrong with him, you know, so I ran up behind him and gave him a cuff around the ear and started really giving him verbals about why he'd let me down, not realising it was his identical twin. So beating up on the wrong guy. Yeah, good times. Ian Studd And then I also embarrassed myself somewhat on one occasion when I was with Abels, well, I didn't think I embarrassed myself, but it became that. We were doing a move for the royal household. And we were moving Prince Charles's office from Buckingham Palace to St. James's, and the Lord Chamberlain's office was going the other way. And so we were on site there for probably two weeks, all in all, and we were being accommodated in the barracks in the guards barracks. We were having our meals and so on in the staff quarters of the palaces and, you know, just terrific experience. But at the outset of this particular project, we've had a briefing because we weren't the only ones there, there were, you know, there were Ian Studd other tradesmen doing other things. Ian Studd And we'd all been gathered into this hall and we've been given a briefing, you know, if you see this person, you must talk to him, or you must address him as your majesty or Your Royal Highness or whatever it might be. And we've all been told that we should keep any conversation down to no more or no less than that and shouldn't attempt to engage beyond that. Well, on one particular day, one of the other chaps and I were taking a filing cabinet up the stairs in St. James's Palace, and this this vision of loveliness came down the staircase the other way, which is Princess Diana, just very casually dressed and she was an absolute delight. So the filing cabinet went down and we just stood there having a chat and there was none of this you know, your highness or whatever it was really, you know, how's it going boys are you Okay and all this kind of stuff. And to say the powers that be were beside themselves with envy because we'd had this chat and they hadn't was was was quite amusing. But I made the mistake of saying very publicly, I think I'm in love. She was gorgeous, she was absolutely gorgeous. And we had an in house magazine at Abels at the time, which I used to contribute to now and again, but, but in the next edition appeared this poem, an ode from a Studdy to a Princess, and this thing just gathered a momentum all of its own. So there was this, you know, this, this dialogue going on, or they supposed dialogue going on between me and Princess Diana. And then, of course, as things transpired, and things started to go wrong for her and the Prince of Wales, you know, I would be getting questioned hmmm have you got anything to do with this Studdy?? Unfortunately, not. Colin Wynn What a lovely story that is. Ian Studd And then I suppose maybe just finally, again, the people you meet along the way. We, we did a move from the Isle of Man many years ago, which was another fantastic experience for all kinds of reasons but the chap who or the family that we're moving off the Isle of Man, which we're moving over to Norfolk, and they had this enormous house on on the island. You know, it had its own swimming pool, it had its own ballroom and all that kind of stuff. It was it was a phenomenal property. And we we've been, we've been away over the weekend, we've done an office move from Great Yarmouth, up to Aberdeen to do with the oil industry. And then on the Sunday we've driven down to Fleetwood to get the boat across to the Isle of Man ready to start this job on the Monday morning. So we were all properly booted and suited you know with Abels the presentation was absolutely everything. We were properly booted and suited to go and do what was really very clearly a very prestigious job. So we arrived at this property on the Monday morning circa 8:30. I was the foreman in charge of the job. So I went to the door bang on the door to introduce myself. And this chap, this sort of elderly chap came to the door and the door open just a squeak. And so I just sort of said to him, oh, Good morning, Sir my name's Ian, I'm your removal foreman and I'm looking forward to working with you. And I will never forget his greeting his exact words was well, you can #### off. He said, Nobody comes into my house before 10 o'clock, and just shut the door in my face. So I thought, Okay, this is going to be a challenging few weeks. But you know what that chap was one the nicest people I ever met in my entire life. And he was a joy to work for. But just as a way of saying hello to each really wasn't the best. Colin Wynn No, that's that's that's some introduction, isn't it? Ian Studd Yeah, but we had a terrific time working for him. So, but you know, just so many great memories but but most of all my memories and my fondness is around the people that I've worked with and continue to work with. Colin Wynn Ian I can't thank you enough for giving up your time today to help me record with Moving Matters, I truly appreciate your time and a massive thank you from me. Ian Studd Thank you, Colin. It's been a joy. Colin Wynn Enjoy the rest of your day. Ian Studd Will do, thanks. Transcribed by https://otter.ai