Fellows stories: Gayna Hart
Under Gayna Hart’s leadership, IT systems integration business Quicksilva delivered prestigious public and private sector projects in health and social care, and became a key provider of NHS Spine connectivity.
Following her exit from the company, Gayna has focused less on the spreadsheets, and more on her huge range of interests, including antique restoration: these days, her home is a real-life Repair Shop. Amongst her volunteer work, she is a board member of a public sector pension fund. “Perhaps I felt like I was having too much fun!” she tells us…
My alarm still goes off at 7:00am every morning, as it did when I was working. Now I take great pleasure in turning it off and ignoring it.
When I first sold the business, I did work for a little while afterwards. When I left for good, people would say to me, “How do you feel?”, and I had to say I hadn’t really had time to catch up with myself. I didn’t feel any different at all.
I still didn’t really understand the possibilities of what I could do. I still felt like I was in the harness of working every day, driving down the motorway…. It took me 18 months to actually get this feeling where I wake up in the morning, pinch myself, and think. ‘Oh, I can just go out for a coffee with my husband!’ Simple things. Even driving down the M4 I think to myself, ‘Gosh, I used to do this every day’. I can’t believe I did it!
“I threw myself into renovation and conservation. I’ve learnt how to refinish wood, reupholster, re-cane…”
Now I have time for exercise – Pilates, yoga, and Tai Chi – and my hobbies. I’ve been fascinated by vintage and antiques since I was a teenager. I used to spend my pocket money on interesting things. We moved house during lockdown, and I suppose it’s my dream house. It’s an old Vicarage from the 1850s, which I don’t think had been remodelled since the 1970s. In some rooms, the original features are still there.
So, I absolutely threw myself into renovation and conservation. I’ve learnt how to refinish wood, re-upholster furniture, re-cane, and to repair stained glass. One of the rooms has Victorian wallpaper, which I’ve managed to restore by re-painting using watercolours.
I’m very interested in clocks and timepieces, and I’ve done a few sessions with an expert in the field, who works in museum conservation. I’ve restored four of my own clocks now. I strip them down, replace springs, bushes, etc, if need be, and refinish the wood, in a conservation style. I even have my own dedicated ‘Repair Room’, and I’ve got everything in there from tools to my workbench to my cutting table – you name it!
“I volunteer for an amazing hospice charity using my antiques knowledge, assessing high-value donations”
I’ve taken my interest in antiques even further. I now volunteer for an amazing hospice charity. I’m in a team that looks at high-value donations. We examine them, assess the value and research the piece before deciding whether it goes to an online auction or to an auction house…and of course, I’m in my element. I love it. Some of this beautifully made stuff is wonderful to handle, I sort of purr over it. I really enjoy being able to appreciate these well-loved items.
Gayna has been working at home restoring this fabulous antique clock – one of her many projects!
Perhaps I felt like I was having too much fun, so I’ve also joined the board of a local authority pension fund. It’s an assurance role, so I have to assess how the fund is run and administered, making sure that everything’s operating correctly and within the bounds of the law. I’ve had to learn about government legislation, guidelines and regulations. It’s been very enjoyable from a personal development and educational perspective, and that feels like real work, as opposed to all the other stuff I do.
Knocking out reports and spreadsheets is bread and butter to me. So, I’ve also started helping out a local social club as treasurer. A bit of a contrast to my own business… I found myself looking at balances of £1,000 and thinking ‘This is quite a difference.’ But the same principles apply. You need a cashflow, you need to see where you are likely to be in the financial year.
“It’s nice to be able to just go anywhere, anytime, just be able to do what you want to do”
Family is important to us. We’ve got three grandkids, two who are about an hour away from us, and one in Canada, who is just a baby. When I was working, I flew all over the world, and I did say I don’t really want to do long haul again. But now that he’s been born, I’m going to have to rethink…
We do like travelling. My husband loves sailing, but I’m terrified of the sea. I’ll do canals and rivers, but I don’t like the thought of great drafts of water beneath me. We’re doing the Canal du Midi in France this year, and I’m looking forward to that. It’s nice to be able to just go anywhere, anytime, just be able to do what you want to do.
I have never regretted once selling the business. About halfway through my career, I met a guy who’d sold three businesses, one after another… built and sold, built and sold. And the advice he gave me was don’t leave it too long to sell, and don’t be greedy. I tried to stick with that. But I think until I met you, I didn’t fully understand what was required to sell the business. I thought I did, and of course I had umpteen acquaintances who’d sold businesses. They were all giving me advice left, right and centre.
Some of that advice wasn’t right. Your advice was. As I said at the time of the sale, I won’t get another chance to sell a business, but if I did, I would want you on my side. Yours is a wonderful company… and the sort of business I would like to work for.