Who is Isabel McNicoll?

14 August, 2023

By Isabel McNicoll

Since becoming your co-president in September I've been trying to come up with a subject for my first blog. I thought - Why don't I tell you about my business? Here goes: On 31st December 2011 I was made redundant from a well known high street bank after 26years service. Was I upset? No. I knew I was going to miss my colleagues but the bank? No. I've been through so many changes over my time with them that when someone says you'll have a job but we can't tell you what it is, I thought for all of 20seconds about that proposal and then asked the question Where do I sign for VR? 12 months later of being a lady who lunched and golfed I was bored! I started to think what could I do to fill my time and pay the bills. That's when, after several weeks of deliberating, The Business Timesaver emerged. The idea was to help businesses save time by doing the stuff that the owners didn't want to do. So almost 9 years later we're still going strong. Thankfully during covid one of my clients kept going as they were in the construction industry which really didn't close down. My retained hours with them though were reduced but thankfully it's all beginning to pick up again. Other clients had to cut my time down or cancel completely because of their funding streams drying up. Hopefully that will all begin to come back once funders are confident that life can get back to "˜normal'
So what did I do with my time?
In September 2020 I moved house. With a view to retirement (don't know when that will happen!) we downsized to a flat by the sea. Absolutely loving it!
I've always been involved in Girlguiding and the organisation was quick to move to a virtual model and as county treasurer I was involved in supporting our units financially to keep going and to ensure that our residential properties could remain viable once they could operate again.
In 2008 I joined the board of a social enterprise called Dress for Success Scotland. A charitable organisation supporting women to become financially independent. Like other close contact services we had to stop delivering our suiting service. When it became apparent that we wouldn't be operational again anytime soon we set up a virtual suiting service. We also finalised a move into Glasgow city centre, ironically into a building that used to be part of the high street bank I worked for!
On top of this I then agreed to become co-president of ASB following the end of Lyndsey's extended term. A huge thank you to her for hanging in there because of covid. We all wish her the best in her new ventures.
Ann (Johnston) and I are finding our way just now and building a robust team to take ASB forward into that new 'normal'. The next few months are crucial for all of us in business and ASB will be there. Please feel free to get in touch with Ann and I. We'd love to hear from you and if you would like to find out more about joining our committee then all you have to do is ask - president@asb-scorland.org
Here's to a happy, healthy and safe 2022 !