RSA talk and Nottingham

We had class this morning before our departure for Nottingham. The first half of the class focused on Experian, the company we were visiting later in the morning. The second half of class was a lecture by Dr. Jim Lewis on the history of RSA (Royal Small Arms). The class will be visiting the site of the RSA at Enfield in Lea Valley next Thursday. A brief history is that RSA started in 1804 as a UK government-owned rifle factory. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816 until it closed in 1988. These weapons supplied the Crimean war, both sides of the US Civil War, the Great War, and World War II. The last weapon produced was an assault rifle. After closure, the area was redeveloped into a large housing project and a combination retail and commercial spaces.
Experian is a global information services group with operations in 40 countries and employs over 17,000 people. One of their main data centers is outside of Nottingham and we were able to tour the facility with one of their executives, Barry Westbury. Experian's principle lines of business are credit services, marketing services, decision analytics and consumer services. They are one of the three largest American credit agencies along with Equifax and TransUnion. The company collects information on people, businesses, motor vehicles and insurance. 

Here we are in one of the three computer centers. The facility has some amazing security features to guarantee the safety of the data stored there. This included building a 11 foot trench on the front of the building because the county planning commission did not want a fence out front. The other three sides of the building have fences with both vibration detects and lasers. They have back-up diesel generators to power their system in case of an electrical outage. Annually, their data center uses 9 megawatts of power costing $1.5 million.

We had lunch on benches at the Rushcliffe County Park.

Catching up on a few minutes of sleep in the warm sunshine.


















We were treated to a pair of swans and their cygnets swimming by.

After lunch we headed to Nottingham Forest Football Club. It was founded in 1865 and have played at their current location since 1898. Here is a photograph of that time period. The two building in the front right corner are boat clubs on the river Trent and are still standing as boat clubs.

We had a tour by a guide that had been with Nottingham Forest for over 50 years. He showed us all around the stadium.

 Each student received a signed photograph from a player and I took their picture next to the last cup the Nottingham Forest won. Afterwards, we headed over to the team shop and purchased some t-shirts and jerseys. They are shifting which company is operating the store and needed to clear out merchandise. Everything was 75% off the original prices.

The day ended with a short drive back to Harlaxton, dinner and then a class on cultural dimension models developed by Geert Hofstede, a Dutch social psychologist. This model uses various dimensions including power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long term orientation and indulgence. It was an interesting mix of psychology and business discussion.
After class everyone either went to the Bistro, watched a DVD or started laundry. The Bistro is a pub run by Harlaxton that serves beer and food from 8:30-11pm Wed. - Sat. The prices are good and the location can't be beat.