This week you get two for the price of one, with Paul and Gaynor Butler from Lichfield, Staffordshire who moved to LA 15 years ago to start their own business.
Was there a particular reason you chose LA?
(Paul) I used to work for Hilton International Hotels in the United Kingdom as a Regional Finance Director and they asked me to come over to LA just after 9/11 as the Director of Finance for Hilton Honors when Hilton’s worldwide headquarters was in Beverly Hills. We loved it here so much, when we returned to England we decided to sell everything and move back to LA to start our own business in early 2006.
What do you miss most from home? A nice cozy pub with a pint of draft Guinness and a bag of pork scratchings. We both obviously miss family and longtime friends.
What was your first impression of LA and has it changed since? We remember when we first arrived here and driving up the freeway in a rental car in the middle of the daytime, we were scared to look at anybody in their car in case they shot at us! We think we watched too many bad movies about LA gangs and crime growing up! We just could not believe the traffic when we first moved here. On Paul’s first day of work driving from Santa Clarita to Beverly Hills in the rush-hour (that runs 6 AM to 9 AM), Paul thought there’d been a nuclear bomb when he saw the traffic on the freeway. It only changed for a little while at the peak of C-19!
What do you find the biggest difference is living here versus Lichfield, Staffordshire? Obviously the weather, but we also see much more diversity here than in rural Central England. We love the way this permeates through the variety of cultures restaurants, music, entertainment and just a wide array of fun activities.
Do you have a hidden gem in LA that you want to share with us? We highly recommend the Cicada Club for New Year’s Eve Eve – yes that’s right, New Year’s Eve Eve. They have the most amazing live concert with The Dean Mora Orchestra playing classics from the Twenties to the Fifties. The place is hopping! See you there?
What would you suggest to others who are thinking about making the move here? Go for it! We’ve found that if you have a good work ethic you can be successful here. Do everything right—immigration wise. We can recommend BreakthroughUSA.com as a trustworthy immigration law firm with offices in Santa Monica and Carlsbad.
Lots of our members join our group Brits in LA seeking out words of wisdom – what is the best piece of advice you’ve been given? We’ve found that Angelenos embrace Brits much better when you embrace LA culture—Brits that just keep yakking on about how everything is better “back home” can soon become quite tiring to Angelenos. This is a wonderful melting pot of cultures and so be careful not to come across as an arrogant Brit. We’re grateful and proud of where we’re from but just prefer living here.
Lastly, how can we find out more about you? Are you working on anything at the moment?
Our website is newleaftd.com and I’m also on Twitter at @PaulButlerNL
