Northants....

[punkass]

Went for an interview yesterday.. was actually with an old customer of mine.. sent them my CV out of the blue and they contacted me to say they had just the position and were v keen to speak with me... but it means moving to Northants...

The interview went fabulously and the Sales Director is eager to move things on quickly, wants me to go down to Wellingborough to meet the team.. although I've met most of them before. I said I didn't mind relocating in theory .. dependant on what they offer.

So my question is....... Is there anyone from Northants on here, that can give me an idea whether they love it or hate it! I'd be renting initially, I rent now as I sold my house last year.. certainly not looking to tie myself down with a house at present. Whats the nightlife like? Is it friendly? Would it be advisable to look at Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Buckinghamshire instead?

Sorry lots of questions... just want an insider view really, i've visited Northants lots of time on business.. but have always stayed in hotels in the countryside so not experienced the nightlife.

So if anyone can help i will be v grateful

 

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[FatFairNForty(ish)]

So my question is....... Is there anyone from Northants on here, that can give me an idea whether they love it or hate it! I'd be renting initially, I rent now as I sold my house last year.. certainly not looking to tie myself down with a house at present. Whats the nightlife like? Is it friendly? Would it be advisable to look at Bedfordshire, Warwickshire and Buckinghamshire instead?

Sorry lots of questions... just want an insider view really, i've visited Northants lots of time on business.. but have always stayed in hotels in the countryside so not experienced the nightlife.

So if anyone can help i will be v grateful

Well, I live about 15 minutes away from Wellingborough and I love it. BUT, there is no nightlife in my town at all apart from pubs and working mens /cons club. That said, Northampton has a thriving nightlife and is a 15-20 minute drive away. I'll ask my 19yr old to write something about it all for you - she's the one in the know (I'm too old! lol) Ailsa (my CDC) lives on the outskirts of Northants too in a lovely village. She might have a better idea (she's AKB on here) than me!

I moved to Northants from Beds and am glad I did. I used to live in Luton and now live in a quiet town and that suits me fine. If you need to look at accomodation and need somewhere to stay while you look then do let me know. You will be welcome to crash here in our spare room if you can cope with a cat, dog and lovestruck 18yr old! lol

Good luck on your decision-making! Will drop my Sarah a line and ask her for info... also my mate Lucy knows all the clubs, wine bars, good restaurants.. Northampton really is packed with stuff! I'll pm you about places to live/rent as I don't want to offend anyone with my opinions.

 

[Lottie-kins]

You'd only be 40 miles away from me, so you'd have to come to Cov for a night out!!

 

[punkass]

Thanx so much for the info FFNF.. look forward to hearing ur daughters opinion.. sounds promising though.... I do like the Northampton Saints rugby strip... but err I don't actually follow rugby hehe.. its kind of more a fashion based opinion! Hopefully will come down there tomorrow or early next week and have a nose round... have stayed in a place called Cranford St Andrew before - that was really nice and there was a great pub/restaurant called Samuel Pepys somewhere nearby.. but that is about the extent of my knowledge lol!

Lottie... we could have a pi55 up when our weeks of torture.. i mean diets are over!!!

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

Oh the Samuel Pepys is lush and has waiting lists for bookings! Lucky you!! There are lots of lovely villages in Northants as well as the towns. It depends what you like most about where you live - I like it peaceful so live where I do. If I want action and noise I can drive to find it.. lol Will chat to Sarah (my daughter) this evening probably as my plans have changed today. If it's ok with you I'll give her your email address (you can compare tattoos too!) lol

 

[punkass]

Thats great FFNF

When i went to Samuel Pepys I went two nights in a row.. it was v busy, but I ate in the bar.. the food was lovely and it was v nice and friendly. I was on my own so they fit me in both nights... if i move down there i'll def go there again.. this is a bonus of my job that I have never thought of... I pretty much know somewhere good to eat all over the country!!!

I like villages.. I will travel to towns and cities for nightlife.. but I am restricted to what I can afford.... I am happy renting at the moment... but renting becomes less of an attraction if its over £400 a month.. this may prove a problem down there because of the cost of living being higher than up here... I currently have a stone cottage - 3 storey's and its only £325 a month rent!!!! Its on the outskirts of huddersfield town centre.. so i guess i could be happy with outskirts of wellingborough or kettering.. not sure i want to live too close to Northampton... but after a nose round I could change my mind!

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

OMG! you'll be lucky to get a one-bed flat for that kind of rent down here! (well, in this town anyway...) That said, I bought the local Evening Telegraph tonight (Wednesdays is property supplement, Thursday is Jobs) and that has the housing supplement so if you want I can whack it in the post for you... the Letting pages only if you prefer. The best thing is to do what we did when we were looking to live here, get a street map of local towns, drive around and cross off in red any you simply don't like the look of then target the roads left!! I'm really glad we did that. I'll pm you in a minute about areas to avoid etc... as far as I know that is!

 

[punkass]

lol that answered the question i put to you on the PM.. yes if u could send me the supplement that would be wonderful - gives me an idea of price guidelines

I can afford more for rent...especially as I'm expecting wages to increase.. but of course renting isn't attractive if it costs loads!

Thanks v much for all ur help, will PM my address

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

You should get the paper tomorrow - sent it 1st class today Hope the meeting went well!

 

[punkass]

Hey Jennie

Thanx so much for that.. sorry to take so long getting back to u! Left the house at 6.30 this morning and didn't get in till teatime.. thought i better spend some quality time with my dog.. hes not used to me actually leaving the house these days..since i got so lazy and complacent in my current job!!!!


Meeting went really well.... too soon to say.. but i rang the sales director when I left and let him know it went well (i was in there 2 hours.. my longest ever interview i think!).. he started asking what notice i needed to give on my job and on my house and how soon i could move down there... taking this as a positive point.. He also said maybe I could go down again and meet the whole team and discuss areas to live and have a look round etc.... so *fingers crossed* they offer me the right money.. coz i'm kind of excited! I have a horrible feeling they're not going to offer me enough though (read my diary thread).. depends how bad they want me! The sales director def does... i reckon he would just offer me anything to go there.. but i get the impression the finance guy is watching his pennies and thinking of ways round offering the amount i earn now.. i reckon they'll try to offer a bit less with a bonus scheme... but that isn't good enough! I would accept the same as i earn now plus a bonus scheme... providing the targets are achievable.. will keep u posted

Look forward to getting the paper tomorrow.. thanx again.... if i move to northants.... I owe u a pint!!!! (when the diet is over obviously.. coz a pint of sparkling water is kind of lame!)

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

Look forward to getting the paper tomorrow.. thanx again.... if i move to northants.... I owe u a pint!!!! (when the diet is over obviously.. coz a pint of sparkling water is kind of lame!)

LOL... know what you mean! No worries! Glad it seems so positive - hope they make it worthwhile enough! let's face it, you're going to drag in way more business for them than they will be paying you so it's a win win situation! I'lll check in on your diary for more updates!

 

[CheekyMare]

OK, forgive me for throwing a spanner in the works! I live about 3 miles outside Northampton town centre. I came from Nottingham and, tbh, I was shocked at the lack of a nightlife! I guess it depends what you are looking for. There are plenty of pubs, a few nightclubs, hundreds of teenagers throwing up their guts on Friday and Saturday night! There's a big drinking culture here and to me (OK I know I'm a bit long in the tooth now) its not something I like to see. We have the usual violence that comes with the drinking, but I know you get that almost everywhere. I suppose it depends on what you are looking for. The shopping centre is severely lacking when you consider the population here, it should be much better. But then its only 30 minutes drive to Milton Keynes which is where I usually go, if I don't head off back to Nottingham. Also the bus service is dreadful, so you definitely need a car. I agree with FFNF that the villages and countryside is enviable, but you pay the price! Its not cheap to live here. We have a couple of theatres, but no Jongleurs or anything like that. I have three children, two daughters and a son. My son, although he's had many a night out in Northampton, now, at the grand old age of 23, dislikes it intensely, one of my daughters believes there is a thriving night life and my other daughter refuses to go into the town centre at the weekend.

Sorry to be so negative, but the best thing you could do is come down here for the weekend and see for yourself. That way you will know if it suits or not. I am sure others will disagree and I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but I'm just being honest with my opinion.

 

[punkass]

Thanx Anji... greatly appreciated.

Maybe i should have said what type of nightlife i go for... ideally i like nothing more than a live rock music bar/club.. but very rare that I get my mates to go to these sort of places.. they hate my music choice.

So in general I like classy places, so nice wine bars, small laid back, chilled bars.. that sort of thing. I hate chain pubs! I also hate clubs.. of the dance music, R&B variety that sort of thing. So I never go to a lloyds or a yates or anything like that.. not unless my mates drag me in kicking and screaming!!

Huddersfield is only a large town too.. but it is a university town, so they cater for students.. which means i do like a lot of the smaller studenty-ish bars... the ones where the intelligent studious students go to .. rather than the ones that just want to get wasted!!!! Huddersfield has recently undergone a transformation and is now approaching a kind of mini leeds status.. there are lots of tiny little relaxed places to drink and cool places to eat... of course there are a lot of dives too... but i don't go near them!

I used to go to nottingham occasionally when i lived at Burton, quite like it, there are some v nice areas.. when i did the nightlife thing though it was probably to places i'd hate now... but when i was there on business a little while ago i saw many nice little drinking places and restaurants.

I was thinking about the job last night.. and i'm not sure they can afford me! I earn a decent wage now.. and the type of position it is wouldn't really command that wage.. so not sure how they can manage to offer enough to incentivise (is that even a word!) for me to move down there and have to buy a car and start paying petrol again (that in itself will be a shock to the system!)... will see what they say.. if the offer is good i will still move though

Thanks for ur input

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

I think your post is ace Anji.. I dunno if my daughter has been in touch with Kirstin or not as yet, but she is into the live music scene and I know there used to be a couple of good venues in Northampton.. Roadmender and um.. there was another one.. oh yes, Soundhaus. For me Northampton has everything I would need shopping wise, but then I hate going to Milton Keynes (comes maybe from years of working there) but the shops are fantastic... I agree about the drinking culture but as I don't venture into Northampton at night I'm glad you gave the true picture. I hadn't a clue! The villages are, as you say, lovely but at a price. My girls probably have different opinions of the nightlife there too (they are 18 & 19 but totally different tastes.. lol). Hopefully others in Northants will give their opinions too

 

[CheekyMare]

Yes, Roadmender had some good rock bands (I like rock too) but then it closed down for a while. Its open again I believe but I'm not sure what music they have. Soundhaus is a good place too and there are certainly lots of little bars around. Don't they have live bands at Chicagos? Not sure whether its rock though. I guess we all have different tastes and the only way to find out if you like it or not is to spend some time here. The other thing that really bugs me about Northampton is the high price of parking. Milton Keynes has some free parking spaces but Northampton has nothing like that.

 

[punkass]

I've only bloomin well been and got the job!!!!!!

Just got off phone from my potential new boss.. they've offered it me.. and they have gone for the external sales option.. so i still get a car - big relief.. was really worried about adjusting to actually having to run my own car!!!

Slight issue on the wage front..they offered £1k more than i get now.. plus commission.. which is obviously an improvement as I only get a basic wage now..but i said i was thinking £2K more than i get now.. or £1.5K at the least.. so they're coming back to me

Plus as its external i have a better scope for where to live.. i will be covering an area now.. midlands he thinks.. so i could live a little further away as i would prob only be in the office 1-2 days per week.. but i do have a dog of course.. and my ex will no longer be down the road to do dog letting out/feeding/sitting duties.. so i guess closer is more sensible.. but i can keep my options open


AAARGH its scary.. it just hit me.. i may cry.. I will have to say bye to beautiful yorkshire *sniff*

PS Jennie i owe u a pint.. when i get my ass down there next year

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

Ooooh Congratulations!!! Stick to your guns for the 2k as the additional cost of living will soon swallow that up!

Congrats again - well done you!

It will have to be a pint of water unless it's around November! lol

 

[punkass]

lol jennie.. ok a pint of water then!!!

I got the extra 2K I've not accepted yet though.. they are sending the offer by email plus copy of conditions of employment blah blah blah and they'd like an answer by early next week.. so i have a few days to get used to the idea of leaving my beloved north! I'm pretty sure i'll go for it though unless my other job option comes through.. going to ring my old MD who saw me a week ago with regards to a job at the company he just moved to, i'll let him know i've had another offer.. and see if it prompts him to do anything about it!

 

[FatFairNForty(ish)]

yer a canny lass! Good luck!