Chris Maclean: Holiday preparations

In a couple of hours we will be leaving for our holiday. We're having a week in New York for our wedding anniversary. This will be only the second week we've had off in over a year. I know some licensees probably don't even get that much time off. But I reckon by now we've earned it.

The problem with being self-employed, when the business continues to run in your absence, is that it requires so much preparation and planning. As much as I look forward to the delights of Times Square, the Empire Sate Building and Madison Gardens I am constantly hampered by having to look backwards to make sure I have prepared the staff to handle what they face in the coming week.

I have put a staff rota in place and I have over-compensated for my absence. Obviously my workload is three times that of my staff and therefore requires plenty of coverage. I've written out change lists, brewery orders, plans for which lights are switched on and when, cash and carry lists and so on. I've delegated one person to handle the cellar, another the banking and another trivial maintenance. I've checked all the bulbs, cleaned the lines, polished the brass, checked the stock and tidied the desk. Even while writing of this I have leapt up twice to attend to details which might not get done.

But the reality is that we must let go. There is a critical point at which nothing more can, or will, be done. I shall take my mobile phone and for the next 12 hours I will be contactable but after that I am on holiday.

At the heart of the dilemma is the realisation that this indispensability ~ this need to be necessary ~ is largely an illusion. This pub will be here when we get back. (I have just checked the sum Insured on our insurance policy.) Business will continue. Our goods and services will be sold. And if, heaven forbid, there are crises and disasters, the stories will pass down into folklore and we can laugh about it later.

I'm hoping to relax in New York. But I'm not sure it will happen. And judging by the guide book my waistline isn't going to get smaller.

As always, I'll need a holiday when I get back.