Drip by drip

In my current role, I am for the first time responsible for maintaining a fairly sizeable building and surrounding land that isn't my home. Looking after 'bogs and drains', fixing dripping taps and redecorating is time-consuming, fiddly and, not to put too fine a point on it, dull. Even worse, occasionally I have to deal with the Scarlet Pimpernel of English tradesmen - builders ("They seek him here ... "). It is ever so easy to do something more interesting, more intellectually challenging and involves finding or making money rather than spending it. Maintenance can so easily be deferred, ("if it ain't broke. don't fix it") especially when the same work will cost double the price that would be charged for"domestic" customers. But I buckle down and do it, reminding myself that the building is a huge financial asset and the cost of repairs will eventually come to those who wait.

Then there is the question of the appearance of the place. It may not need painting to maintain structural integrity, but high-use buildings soon start to look shoddy and tired. Aesthetic priorities are almost certain to be ignored when the finance director comes a'prowling to balance his books. These matters always come down to "balance".

What does frustate me greatly though, is the lavish expenditure on capital projects. When a new building is constructed, there is plenty of money for landscaping and stocking the gardens. There is no minimalist cost approach to fixtures and fittings so it seems fair to assume that these things are of merit. After all, there is plenty of second-hand furniture and office equipment around from whatever was closed to make way for the new build. Yet it seems that only new stuff will do. Clearly, "balance" doesn't quite extend this far. There is no money for flat screen displays for the waiting rooms in most of the estate; yet all the new build gets them.

"Ah, but that's Capital" say the wise people. "Ah" say I. In a commercial world, a company's freehold is a significant part of its capital and an important one to keep in good nick.

Look around next time you're visiting your local health facility. The state of deterioration is a straight-line function of the years that have passed since it was built. It needn't be so but bogs and drains just aren't the sort of thing that gets the local MP to cut ribbons or Chief Executive's their OBEs.