Bdaily Festive Focus 2020: The Alternative Board owner Dave McCartney on camaraderie, canine companions & a different kind of Christmas

With Christmas only a week away, Bdaily spoke with The Alternative Board (TAB) owner Dave McCartney about keeping his coaching venture afloat during the pandemic and how he plans to support business leaders into 2021.

How has 2020 changed the way that you live, work, and think?

“The biggest change has been the way that The Alternative Board (TAB) members meet.

“Traditionally, the members that make up our TAB board meet monthly and take turns to host the meeting at their offices. We discuss business plans, ideas or challenges and share real world advice and support for each other.

“As soon as COVID hit, we moved to more frequent online board meetings as the pace of change and amount of information business owners had to digest and act on was huge. Doing this allowed us to offer more support to our community.”

What has been your single biggest challenge and how have you overcome it?

“TAB is a people business, and I am very much a people person. I’ve certainly missed seeing people face to face, and the buzz and camaraderie of in-person meetings.

“However thanks to the move to online meetings, and the hard work of everyone involved, our members have certainly stepped up and a large number of them have hit the targets they set at the start of the year. I think this is remarkable, given that those targets were set pre-pandemic.”

What has been the biggest unexpected positive to come out of this year?

“I have really enjoyed my family coming together and living and working under one roof.

“We’ve all got on really well, certainly helped by the arrival of a new Cavapoochon puppy called Duke and the Wi-Fi holding up.”

What does your ideal Christmas look like?

“My dream Christmas is having the family together for a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

“My brother lives in the States and he was planning to bring his family over to spend Christmas with us, but sadly that won’t happen this year. I am sure that next year’s festive celebrations will be extra special.”

How do you think people and businesses can support each other during 2020’s festive season?

“The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on small Leeds businesses. It’s important to shop local, more than ever.

“Research shows that £10 spent with a local independent shop means up to an additional £50 goes back into the local economy.”

What does 2021 look like for you and your business?

“TAB has an important role to help businesses and business leaders come out of the pandemic on the front foot, and I will continue to support all of my members to do this.

“We are already helping 30 local business leaders and our aim is to help more Leeds-based businesses and we plan to launch a couple more TAB advisory boards in 2021.

“Every October, for the last 10 years I have hosted a party at my house for all the board members and their partners. I’m a record enthusiast, so enjoy spinning the vinyl and hosting a music quiz. Sadly, we couldn’t do that this year and I cannot wait to get back to it in 2021.”