Border Collie, Sam, belongs to Di McHugh, Property Manager, at Bridging Finance Solutions. He has been making the daily journey into the BFS offices for the past four years.
Sam first started visiting the office when Di was having her home decorated and he kept on brushing into the paint and soaking his coat. Di asked if he could come in and keep out of the decorator’s way. Everybody enjoyed having him around so much, they asked if this could be made permanent.
Sam’s home is in a basket behind Di’s desk. Everybody enjoys having Sam around and spoil him with treats and titbits!
Di said: “Sam is an incredibly chilled and relaxed dog and regular visitors are always pleased to see him and check in on him. The postman even stops to give him a stroke!
“When new staff members arrive, having a dog in the workplace lets them immediately recognise that’s ours is a relaxed working environment with an understanding boss. Having Sam here helps nurture a certain culture and that is one of a really happy working environment.”
“I haven’t experienced any drawbacks – he is a very clean dog, calm, relaxed, doesn’t really bark and isn’t a massive hair shedder. I always ensure that the office is hair and paw print free and of course take full ownership of any cleaning etc. I’ve never heard any negative comments whatsoever in the past four years but have certainly had a lot of positive ones.”
Steve Barber, Managing Director at BFS added: “Before we agreed to Sam coming in, we made sure to check there were no objections, nobody was scared of dogs or had any allergies. Everyone was very keen to see him as a permanent fixture. He’s great to have around, he doesn’t present any distractions, but when people need some time away from their desk, they often pay Sam a visit. We have a close team here that is almost like an extended family and Sam is undoubtedly one of us!”
