An interview by Steve Jordan with Tad Zurlinden and Dominic Tidey as Europe’s largest relocation association emerges from the COVID years and plans for a prosperous future.
It was during the height of the COVID pandemic that I last interviewed Tad Zurlinden and Dominic Tidey of EuRA (European Relocation Association). That was a time of uncertainty for the whole mobility industry and I was interested to find out, not only how well they had negotiated those difficult months, but also what they feel the future holds in a world that has continued to change, sometimes it seems, at an accelerated pace.
During COVID Tad and Dom had to take action. They provided free certification for training to help members upgrade skills during lockdown and made sure that no member had to leave because of financial difficulties. They also closed the EuRA office and required everyone to work from home, reduced their own salaries, and maintained contact with the membership through regular online meetings and interviews. The annual conference, planned for May 2020, was postponed, first for one year and again until 2022. It was a tricky time.
So it was in their home in a quiet Suffolk village that I sat, to enjoy lunch prepared by Dom, and talk about recent times. They said that the COVID years had worked out well for them in the end. The members remained very loyal. “But it was those virtual conferences that broke me,” said Dom. “They were awful, but they did fulfil a purpose.”
Throughout the pandemic, people had remained stoic with companies doing what they could to make things happen. Within the relocation business community everyone had been keeping busy and focussed. But it was during the conference in Seville, that finally happened in 2022, that the tension broke ...
Photo: Tad Zurlinden (left) and Dominic Tidey.