NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
“ Gooii and ISPB are local smalland medium-sized enterprises from Nottinghamshire and they became our partners . We knew that we had some really innovative academic institutions in the region , too , in Birmingham City University and Nottingham Trent University – they just understood the role they could play ,” Clulow says , creating a picture of the partner ecosystem underpinning the project . “ Parkwood Leisure , which manages Rufford Abbey Country Park , was involved from the very start , in early discussions . They ' re one of our largest businesses , managing the Abbey and grounds for Nottinghamshire County Council .”
Although she successfully managed to pull together a skilled team and identify key elements to focus on , the road ahead wasn ’ t a smooth one – but for reasons no-one could have anticipated .
“ Two weeks after this project launched , we went through a pandemic that impacted the world . Not everyone could stay on the project . All of the partners I mentioned , though , stayed on the project throughout , they delivered it . They continued working on the project plan because they really wanted to see that result ,” Clulow says .
Despite the setback and obvious difficulties wrought by the pandemic , the team carried on working together to make their shared vision a reality – and the fruits of their labour are more than evident today .
Story cont . on page 60
38 May 2022