Ever been stranded on an island?

I haven’t – but I nearly was last week when I found myself legging it off Mersea Island before the sea swallowed the road whole.

As you know, last week I made the long journey from Birmingham down to Felixstowe to meet some fellow freight workers and check out the docks. On the way home, I decided to swing by Colchester and visit an old mate and ours (and in fact our Out Of Gauge/Projects specialist for Millennium Cargo) Keith. He lives out that way in a quirky little place called Mersea Island. 

Now, I’d never heard of this place before, but it’s a little Island in Essex with about 3000 people living there. Keith suggested we go for a pint.  “Don’t hang about though,” he warned, “you’ll need to be off the island by half four or you’ll be stuck here.” I thought he was joking. Turns out, he wasn’t. Once a day, the tide comes in and completely covers the only road on and off the island. We’re talking 5 metres high. No bridges. No ferries. Just sea. So, there we were, sitting in this lovely little pub, watching the clock and the water creeping closer. 

Now, I love Birmingham, but I could see the appeal of living somewhere like this too. The houses along the seafront were stunning. Proper coastal dream homes. Apparently Denise Van Outen had one, and Peter Shilton too – the ex-England goalkeeper. But here’s the thing… They had one fire engine. One doctor. No police station. And if there’s a real emergency? The paramedics get flown in by helicopter. No road. No plan B.

And it got me thinking. Most businesses are exactly the same. They’ve got one person who knows how to do something important – maybe it’s pricing jobs, managing accounts, or handling key clients – and if that person’s off sick or suddenly leaves? It’s like Mersea Island at high tide. Totally cut off. That’s why it’s so important to build in a back-up plan. Have systems in place. Train your team. Share knowledge. Don’t leave critical parts of your business resting on one pair of shoulders. And work with partners you can trust to also have robust teams and no single points of failure! 

Anyway, we made it off the island with minutes to spare. But I won’t forget the experience in a hurry. If you ever fancy a visit to an island with a built-in adrenaline rush, Mersea’s well worth a look. Just make sure you’re off by 4:30.

So how about you? What’s your ‘single point of failure’? And have you got a plan B? I’d love to hear about it…