CV March 2017

March 2017

A Great Place to Work g In a welcome return, we caught up with Sintetica SA’s Corporate CEO, Augusto Mitidieri who has been with the company since 2000. In 2003, Mitidieri became General Manager and then finally Corporate CEO. More recently, he achieved the impressive accolade of European CEO of the Year 2016 award.

Capital Gains Andurand Capital Management Leading the Way in Rail Solutions Total Rail Solutions The Dawn of Digitalisation - Mvine Limited Putting the Talent into Talent Acquisition - SGA Talent Insuring Success - HL Assurance Feeling Energised - Contax Partners Guiding Lights - Murano Lighting The Fastest and Most Cost-Effective Solution - CAW Consultancy Business Solutions Ltd The Power of Social Extends Beyond Social Media Engagement Labs Inc.

Also in this issue: Scott A. Gray - Clincierge / Giovanna Manzi - Best Western Italia Scpa / James Eiloart - Tableau Software / Colin Aurelius - TDB Fusion / Wayne Johnson - Encompass Corp / Drexel Bradshaw Bradshaw and Associates / Simon Albert - Charity Challenge / Philip Bartey - Autism Plus

Editor’s Note

, Welcome to the March edition of Corporate Vision Magazine, which features a stunning array of expert opinion, analysis, corporate case studies, emerging trends and the challenges facing our country’s foremost business leaders.

New research out this month reveals that four out of five (78%) of small business owners believe that physical and emotional wellbeing is directly linked to business performance, prioritising it to aid productivity.

In other research, the value of employee loyalty has been valued at almost a quarter of the average UK worker’s annual salary, according to new research.

In a welcome return, we caught up with Sintetica SA’s Corporate CEO, Augusto Mitidieri who has been with the company since 2000. In 2003, Mitidieri became General Manager and then finally Corporate CEO. More recently, he achieved the impressive accolade of European CEO of the Year 2016 award.

I hope you enjoy reading this edition.

Jonathan Miles, Editor Phone: +44 (0) 203 725 6842 Email: jonathan.miles@ai-globalmedia.com Website: www.corp-vis.com

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Contents

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Augusto Mitidieri, Corporate CEO @Sintetica SA 4. News 8. A Great Place to Work* 10. Capital Gains 12. Leading the Way in Rail Solutions 14. From Humble Beginnings 16. The Long Arm of the Law 18. A Comprehensive, Inclusive and Harmonious Environment 20. The Dawn of Digitalisation 22. The Fastest and Most Cost-Effective Solution 24. Putting the Talent into Talent Acquisition 26. All in a Good Cause 28. Seeing Is Believing 29. Partnered for Success 30. Flying High 32. Insuring Success 34. All Encompassing 36. Successful Software Solutions 38. Feeling Energised 40. Guiding Lights 41. Cloud Innovation 42. Fire in the Belly 44. Building a Better Lifestyle for the Over 60s 46. The Invisible Man 50. Power to the People 51. Transforming the Business Landscape Through Technology 52. People Power 54. Leading the Way in Technological Optimisation 56. Achieving Outstanding Results 58. Caring for the Future 60. The Power of Social Extends Beyond Social Media 62. Making Mealtimes Magical 64. Investing in the Future 66. In Close Contact 67. Designated Driving Force 68. A People-Focused Approach 70. London Calling 71. The Future is Bright 72. Delivering at Pace 74. A Helping Hand 75. Innovation for Women’s Health 76. Cut from the Same Cloth 77. Investing in the Future 78. Passion for the Hotel Industry 80. Making Playtime Magical 81. Creating a Legacy of Excellence in Law 82. Driving Employee Engagement Through Excellence 83. Keep it in the Family 84. Onwards and Upwards 86. An Attorney You Can Bank On 87. An Intelligent Woman 88. Social Butterfly 90. Innovative Finance in the Renewable Infrastructure Sector 92. Hurrah for HR 93. If the Shoe Fits 94. Leading the Way in Family Law 95. Minty Fresh Thinking 96. Safety First 97. All that Glitters is Gold 98. Stand Up and Be Counted 100. The Best Talent in the Market 102. The Research Centre for the Future of Places 104. Microgrids: Coming of Age or Niche Opportunity?

105. Speed Is of the Essence 106. Global Reach 107. Power to the People 108. Rise to the Top 109. Kashing In! 110. A Culture of Wellbeing 111. Winner’s Directory

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NEWS

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Health of the Workforce Linked to Health of Business Bottom Line Say SMBs

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New research out on 2nd March reveals that four out of five (78%) of small business owners believe that physical and emotional wellbeing is directly linked to business performance, prioritising it to aid productivity.

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NEWS

, Xero, the beautiful cloud accounting software company, asked small business owners about what it will take for a business to survive and thrive in 2017 in its Make or Break report, and ‘encouraging a healthy work-life balance’ was ranked second in a list of productivity boosts.

Almost half (49%) of business owners say that emotional wellbeing is vital for business success.

Physical wellbeing is also key, with 63% saying it is important to get enough sleep, a balanced diet (57%) and exercising regularly (49%).

Business owners recognise that regularly recharging their physical and mental batteries can have a major effect on both the body and the bottom line with 85% saying it is important to take a break, and more than half (52%) planning to take more time off in 2017 than they did in 2016.

Marking the beginning of a new era of business management, the research also found that small business owners are rejecting the concept of work taking place within a 9-5 office structure, with 42% hailing remote working and flexible hours as the biggest driver of productivity for themselves and their employees. Female respondents were particularly positive about the benefits of flexible working, with 48% stating that it powered productivity in their business compared to 37% of men, and the research found that almost half (47%) felt that cloud technology allowed them to escape from traditional office routines, also citing paperless systems and simplified software management as a benefit.

Josephine Fairley, Green & Black’s co-founder and serial entrepreneur commented: “Your own health and wellbeing is of paramount importance as a small business owner and it’s great to see that small business owners are seeing the connection between personal health and their bottom line. It’s no surprise that small businesses said remote and flexible working was their

biggest productivity driver either; I know how much my team gets done at home when they can fit their roles into their daily lives.”

Gary Turner, UK co-founder and managing director commented: “Our report reveals that small business owners are actively encouraging a healthier worklife balance for themselves and their staff, being rewarded with increased productivity as a result – particularly vital considering Britain is second last of the G8 nations in the productivity table.

Running a small business can be all-consuming but it’s great to see that small business owners are taking a holistic approach to their mental wellbeing and are ensuring that the health of their business doesn’t come at the cost of their own.”

To help small businesses, Jo Fairley shares her top tips for a healthier workplace: 1. Encourage time off – some companies discourage their employees from taking their full holiday allowance in fear of having fewer hands on the job. This is poor management, as you will always get more out of your staff when they are well rested and have re-charged their batteries.

That goes for the business owner, too.

2. Aim for 10,000 steps a day – research shows that we spend too much time sitting down at our desk jobs, but this can be difficult to address. Investing in devices like Fitbits help you and your employees keep track of your steps, and taking the stairs, going for a stroll at lunchtimes and walking the long way home can get you to your 10,000 steps while clearing your head at the same time.

3. Focus on your mental health as much as your physical health – Stress is a huge issue in today’s society, and it’s easy to forget that your brain needs to relax in the same way your body does. I find daily meditation and yoga classes once a week help to keep my stress levels under control and I encourage my employees to do the same. www.xero.com/uk

Keeping up with the Joneses Miton’s Anthony Rayner recently commented on the record highs mask tug of war in markets, how the perceptions of slowing economic momentum are changing market dynamics and why we remain broadly constructive on markets, with a bias to economically sensitive businesses.

Anthony Rayner, manager of Miton’s multi-asset fund range comments said that headlines were ablaze in late February / early March with the glory of the Dow Jones achieving record highs for 12 consecutive days. “This is the first time in 30 years this has happened, but then 1987 did see some serious volatility in markets, with the Dow Jones falling 34% in October, despite managing to finish up over the calendar year” he went on to Say. “There has been some serious momentum to equity markets. No doubt a combination of the following should take some of the credit: decent corporate earnings growth, strong global economic growth and still low interest rates. The ‘Trump trade’ is also in the mix with expectations of tax reform, a reduction in regulation and an increase in infrastructure spend all buoying markets, but this also comes with a lot of noise around policy formulation and implementation risk.

“Looking beyond the headlines, the story is more nuanced. The behaviour of equity markets had indeed been consistent with riskon positioning for some months.

For example, cyclical sectors had been outperforming defensive, and emerging markets had been outperforming developed. Meanwhile, high yield credit had been outperforming investment grade credit.

“However, this reversed in February this year and was accompanied by a rally in safe haven markets. Cyclicals have been outperforming defensives since the middle of 2016.

The trend became less clear cut around year end and, in February this year reversed, although it’s too early to call it a new trend.

“The outperformance of cyclicals has been closely linked with bond yields moving higher. Going back further, this relationship holds pret-

ty well, with bond markets and defensives (aka equity bond proxies) tending to move in tandem.

“Since the beginning of February, core government bonds have rallied, especially German bunds and UK gilts, reflecting regional differences such as heightened political risk in France (benefiting German bunds) and, in the UK, reduced expectations of a rate rise, with some signs of economic momentum slowing.

US Treasuries have rallied less so, perhaps countered by stronger economic fundamentals and growing expectations of US interest rate hikes.

“So, asset classes are behaving in a broadly consistent way (with the exception of gold, which has rallied from the end of December, but gold does tend to do its own thing). The question is, why has there been a switch in market dynamics? It might simply be that markets are digesting the sharp rise in risk assets, with a healthy bit of mean reversion. Or that economic momentum is perceived to be slowing. Or that Trump needs to deliver more than a Twitter promise now and then.

“We can’t know the answers yet. So far, the economic data remains consistent with reflation, but that doesn’t mean that economically sensitive equities aren’t stretched short term.

If bond yields move materially lower, or stay close to these levels, then it will likely mean that cyclicals will struggle to lead markets higher, as they have done for most of the period since the middle of 2016.

“For our part, we retain our reflation base case, and are broadly constructive on markets, with a bias to economically sensitive businesses and a preference for short duration, good quality corporate bonds. We also continue to add to our themes, such as technology healthcare, which helps to diversify our funds.” www.mitongroup.com

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NEWS

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Bankers Believe SMR Has Been Good for the Industry

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Increased personal liability has been good for the UK financial services industry, research from Duff & Phelps shows.

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NEWS

, The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR) has already had a positive impact on the financial services sector, according to a survey of nearly 200 senior financial services executives polled by Duff & Phelps. 55% believe the SMCR has positively affected the banking and alternative investment communities, whilst just 15% say it has had a negative impact.

With the first anniversary of the regime on March 7, firms have seen a real change in culture over the last year in what might now be considered a watershed regulation for the UK financial services sector.

Monique Melis, Managing Director and Service Line Head, Regulatory Consulting comments on the findings: “The threat of personal sanctions is ensuring compliance functions put their duties before other considerations.

Where managers fail to support them, they themselves may face penalties. We have seen SMR start to change the way compliance departments budget.

“They are not just counting compliance costs, but the costs of hiring a replacement compliance officer or interim staff, for regulatory penalties and remediation in cases of failure, and for their own personal liability if things go wrong. In short, this regime may have been a game-changer after all. Almost a decade after the financial crisis, cultural change in financial services is finally starting to happen.”

Duff & Phelps surveyed 183 senior financial services executives, compliance professionals and investment managers operating in the US, Europe and Asia. This was conducted in conjuncture with Duff & Phelps’ Global Regulatory Outlook report and respondents were contacted in Q1 2017.

market has clearly had a positive effect. In truth, financial crime professionals have always been highly accountable – but by making other senior individuals just as accountable, the SMR has improved communication, collaboration and ownership across different business functions. As a result, issues raised by Money Laundering Reporting Officers (MLROs) that impact compliance fall on more receptive ears. Increased personal liability has therefore not only fundamentally shifted corporate mentalities, but also improved day-to-day processes in many banks.

The Value of Employee Loyalty Revealed

“However, there is still pressure to resource experienced financial crime professionals. Following the introduction of the SMR fewer professionals are considering leaving their jobs than first feared, but it is becoming a barrier to hiring for such positions – particularly quality talent for retail and investment banks.”

Research published in the Loyalty Premium Report 2017, published by rewards and incentives provider, One4all Rewards, investigated a number of costs involved in staff departures, and revealed the value of loyalty, based on the average UK salary of £27,645, stands at £6,335.31 per employee - or 23% of the average annual wage.

take employee morale seriously, and actively take steps to ensure staff feel happy, motivated and appreciated. Even something as simple as an annual token of appreciation - such as a bonus - can go a long way. “

Sums included were the average notice period, recruitment fees for hiring replacements and the amount of productivity that is lost once notice has been handed in.

A nice working environment, regular pay rises and long term benefits such as pensions and health insurance were the top three things likely to have the most significant impact on workers’ sense of loyalty.

Jennyfer Stanley, Senior Director at Synechron Business Consulting says: “At the senior level there may be increased scrutiny of appropriateness during the interview process, but we have not seen or heard major impact on hiring. What is more evident is that as part of mandatory training, the message is stronger regarding personal accountability. It is everyone’s responsibility regardless of level of seniority in the firm and everyone is directly or indirectly accountable for the safeguarding of the firm’s reputation.

We also see such training and recertification of adherence to controls, policy and procedures happening at a more frequent level as a reminder of this responsibility.

“Banks will also need to have a process of continuous review of their controls, policies and procedures to keep up with the changing banking landscape and determine ongoing appropriateness.

This is critical.” www.duffandphelps.com

Dean Curtis, Managing Director at LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, comments: “Broadening the scope of personal accountability across the financial services

The value of employee loyalty has been valued at almost a quarter of the average UK worker’s annual salary, according to new research.

The premium of loyalty remains at a steady 23-25% of a workers’ annual wage, as salary bands increase.

And with the survey of 1,002 UK full or part time workers revealing that more than 1 in 5 (21%) have been led to consider getting a new job, too, as a result of a colleague resigning, this will make for worrying reading for many UK business owners.

Declan Byrne, managing director at One4all Rewards commented: “Most employers know that having staff resign is not only inconvenient but also costly. But the combined total of the recruitment costs, productivity losses and more that are associated with this may come as a bit of a shock, and it is no meagre sum.

The research also revealed the aspects that play the most significant parts in workers’ decisions to stay at a company for the long term (e.g. five years or more).

Monetary rewards such as gift cards and cash bonuses were also key for 1 in 3 workers.

One4all Rewards are industry experts in benefits and rewards.

Working with over 6,000 businesses of all sizes nationwide, One4all Rewards helps to transform customer and employee relationships through successful rewards and incentive schemes.

For more information and to read The Loyalty Premium visit www. one4allrewards.co.uk

“To avoid such costs mounting up, it is important that businesses

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A Great Place to Work Established 1921 in Switzerland, Sintetica is a pharmaceutical company delivering injectable anaesthetics and analgesics to patients worldwide, through innovative science and excellence in development, production and marketing. In a welcome return, we caught up with Sintetica SA’s Corporate CEO, Augusto Mitidieri who has been with the company since 2000. In 2003, Mitidieri became General Manager and then finally Corporate CEO. More recently, he achieved the impressive accolade of European CEO of the Year 2016 award.

We employ 230 people in Europe with an average of 41 year coming from 25 different countries in the world. Our sites are located in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy and United Kingdom. The headquarters is in Mendrisio, Switzerland, where among others, innovation department employees 15% of total work force. The Swiss manufacturing sites of Mendrisio and Couvet have production capacity of 25 million ampoules (ongoing expansion to 60 million), 5 million infusion bags and over 5 million vials.

Role and key responsibilities As the Corporate CEO, I have the full responsibility over all sites of the company. Vision creation, Strategy definition and execution are my top tasks. I’m also in charge of the definition of the organisational structure coherent with the business model. When innovation is one of your core values, the management style and organisation has to change continuously to anticipate the novel issues to come.

My current efforts are focused on the design and implementation of a dynamic open organisation based on meritocracy and responsibility more than Hierarchy based upon rigid closed internal structures. I believe in a culture that promotes creativity, informed risk taking and safe and good feeling in

everyday work. Making Sintetica a great place to work is my belief and is in the company DNA. I consider our people our core resource. That’s the reason why I trust my organisation able to change and to innovate its management way to be excellent in driving the innovation process long run.

Challenges in being a successful CEO Driving the change is what I love to do and at the same time is the hardest challenge to overcome to be a successful CEO. It was till today, it will be till the next stage of the corporate development.

My organisation has to be proactive and not reactive, therefore the change is a continuous amelioration process to be driven in the best way to be successful long run. We cannot manage the innovation without innovating the management style and processes.

The impact of technological development The integration of the technology into the processes is one of the operation challenge we faced and we are even more facing in these last times of rapid growth.

The technological development speed is impressive and as pharmaceutical industry first we struggle to follow, due to the stringent regulations we have abided by, which delays innovation adoption. The increasing complexity of the processes requires a massive implementation of the technology.

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I mean not only in the manufacturing where we made and still are making important efforts of automation, but also in the management of the organisation, the operations and sales force. The corporate ERP system is running and is continuously adapted to follow the pattern and the model of the growth while a corporate CRM system is used by the national sales forces. A modern IT infrastructure is under development to support, among the others, different ways of work like the smart working.

Company’s overall mission We are fully committed to innovate therapies and drugs in local anaesthesia, pain management and neuromodulation. We move forward with passion and competence in the full respect of people and environment. All our efforts and resources are focused to become leader in these fields by developing novel medicine and better treatment’s options for physicians and patients worldwide.

To achieve this leadership by innovation in the context of global growth, we consider strategic partnering and business development the key factors.

We have built an agile and multicultural high-performing organisation to support both the robust national growth and the rapid global expansion and we have adopted two different business models accordingly.

In Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland our specialised sales teams directly promote and market our products. Worldwide the Global Division delivers out top medicines throughout strategic international partners.

Wider industry issues Sintetica HQ are located in Ticino which is a very small region of Switzerland, with a population of about 350 000 people. Yet, there are 27 small to medium sized pharmaceutical companies in the canton. This density is enough to have a strong cluster effect and ensure that all of the companies here are able to attract talent.

Being close to the Italian border and only an hour’s drive from Milan also means we have access to the fantastic pool of talent in northern Italy. Indeed, Ticino attracts many more people from Italy in the south than from the rest of Switzerland to the north. As northern Italy has a robust pharma industry itself, as well as some of the best universities and research institutes in Europe, this has many benefits.

That said, I see a significant risk to Ticino’s prosperity – foremost that posed by the implementation of the ‘referendum on mass immigration. Regardless of how it is implemented and the extent to which it interferes with our ability to recruit from Italy and other countries, such a vote signals problematic social attitudes.

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A Great Place to Work

Whatever the regulations, people will not want to relocate to work in a country where they feel unwelcome; I do not say that Switzerland has reached this point yet, but I do see a risk that Ticino and all of Switzerland might suffer economically from these political attitudes.

Sintetica SA’s internal culture The corporate culture of Sintetica and all the basic strategic choices are firmly based on respect. Respect is, therefore, the core value of the company and it permeates across each and every employee. The concept of respect is divided into three well-defined directions.

It is expressed in relation to its employees, enhancing the different characteristics of each one, whether for work or as an individual, through activities which create a pleasant environment in which to work and express themselves (Great Place to Work).

This same concept is also expressed towards the patients using Sintetica drugs worldwide, providing them with the highest quality products and investing in innovation to imagine the best care solutions for the future.

Consequently, it materialises towards its local and global partners, showing them loyalty, absolute ethics and both operational and development support of advanced go to market strategies.

The latter, shared by its network of global business partners, gives the company from Ticino unique characteristics in their approach to markets and profound value in the in-depth strategic positioning of the Company/Product.

Company: Sintetica SA Name: Augusto Mitidieri, Corporate CEO Email: amitidieri@sintetica.com Web Address: sintetica.com Address: Via Penate 5, 6850 Mendrisio, Switzerland Telephone: +41 91 640 42 50

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The convergence of these three well-defined areas make up the Sintetica Value Proposition. It goes beyond corporate boundaries and is a distinctive and strategic element of its own identity in the wide world panorama of the pharmaceutical industry.

Therefore, Sintetica does not only export drugs of the highest quality throughout the world, but also the complex of their own values.

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Capital Gains Hakon Haugnes speaks to Corporate Vision about Andurand Capital Management, winner of the Executive of the Year 2017 awards for the UK, and its philosophy for delivering customer excellence and how internal culture creates success.

Andurand Capital Management LLP is a private fund management company in fundamental commodity strategies with a specialisation in the oil and energy complex. The LLP is led

by Pierre Andurand, one of the world’s most renowned oil and energy traders. The investment strategy targets absolute returns with an asymmetric upside, via detailed supply and demand forecasting, fundamental, macroeconomic and physical market information combined with various technical market indicators to generate fair values, forecasts and trading signals for energy and commodities.

Hakon Haugnes is a Partner and CFO/COO of Andurand Capital Management LLP and responsible for all operational and financial (non-investment) aspects of the company. Hakon was previously Risk Manager for BlueGold Capital (2010-2012), reporting to the CFO and CIO on all risk management aspects of the hedge fund which at its peak managed over $2 billion USD. Mr Haugnes also developed BlueGold’s information systems and headed up the in-house development team.

He served with the Norwegian Armed Forces as Strategist and holds a master’s degree (honours) in mathematical modelling from the Institute of Cybernetics at the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology (NTNU) and studied engineering at Institut National des Sciences Appliquees (INSA) in Toulouse, France.

Hakon tells us more about Andurand and the firm’s overall mission.

“Andurand Capital is a commodities hedge fund, managing $1.6bn on behalf of its clients, which include pension funds, insurance companies, family offices, funds of hedge funds and private clients.

“We have currently one fund, the Andurand Commodities Fund, which trades the global commodity universe with a primary focus on. Together with Managing Partner and CIO, Pierre Andurand, I lead an experienced team of eight investment and 14 noninvestment professionals, across two offices in London and Malta, and opening a new office soon in New York.

“Everything we do at Andurand Capital is in line with our mission of achieving superior uncorrelated returns for our investors. We are detail oriented and data driven in everything we do. We value data analysis tremendously high.”

The commodities space in the hedge fund industry is under pressure and there have been a number of high profile closures.

There is less direct competition in the market now as hedge funds survive depending on their performance.

“We are very humbled by our success in a struggling market,” says Hakon, and he embellishes on what it is that sets Andurand apart from competitors in the industry.

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“Our Managing Partner and CIO, Pierre Andurand, is one of the most experienced traders in the market with a proven track record over the past decade.

The reality of the hedge fund industry is that firms live and die on their performance. Marketing regulations prevent us from stating what this is, but we believe we remain the leading choice based on our long-term track-record.

“In order for us to continue to focus on delivering returns it’s exceptionally important that we continue to invest and maintain our infrastructure and systems. We believe that this also distinguishes us from our peers, there is a strong operation behind the scenes at Andurand Capital which enables our investment professionals to focus on returns. We are highly specialized to manage commodities investments and we believe our systems and procedures are second to none in our asset class and size – managing risk and investments to superior results. We outsource small specialized parts and keep as much as possible in-house where we can control everything in detail.”

Staying up to date with the regulatory environment is a priority for Andurand. The team prepares and works rigorously to ensure it is always ahead of emerging developments. Hakon takes us through the process the firm follows when undertaking a new project in order to ensure that clients always receive the best possible outcome.

“Our entire operation is custom built for best-in-class management of commodity investments. We strive to internally control each single element in the value chain from investment research to investment execution.

This ensures that our fund management processes are best-in-class for our investors, whether considering investment processes, regulatory compliance, independent oversight by Directors, systems and procedures, management and staffing qualification, fundamental and statistical analysis. The whole value chain process is highly developed specifically for commodities and risk controls.”

Recently, Andurand Capital Management, and in particular Hakon, was awarded the title of Executive of the Year 2017 – UK COO & Partner by Corporate Vision. He tells us exactly what this prestigious accolade means to him, and how the internal culture and dedicated team effort have led to the firm’s overall success.

“The team and I appreciate the award, which demonstrates our focus on, and strong results in business execution. Our culture is co-operative and we have a very close-knit and open team.

There is a flat structure at the firm and whilst everyone has a specialised role, there is a good degree of overlap so that all company functions are well supported at all times, ensuring that our clients receive the best possible service.

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Capital Gains

“We have a very talented team at Andurand Capital. By virtue of our reputation and Pierre’s industry leading performance track-record, we tend to be approached by very high calibre investment and operations professionals.”

Over the past year, Andurand’s AUM has grown from $695m to $1.6bn. The focus going forward continues to be on delivering superior returns for investors.

“There will continue to be pressure on returns as markets continue to be volatile due to changes in regulation, capital flows driven by central banks, and the cyclical nature of the markets we are in. Transparent and well-managed funds will have the best chance of maintaining the trust and investment of investors, and only the best will survive and thrive. In our markets, OPEC will continue to be a very important driver, as well as the physical reality of oil field decline rates around the world, new production coming in the short term almost exclusively from US shale and the balance supply and demand will continue to be distorted for years, leading to strong opportunities in the oil market, as always.”

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Company: Andurand Capital Management Name: Hakon Haugnes Web Address: www.andurandcapital.com

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Leading the Way in Rail Solutions Total Rail Solutions (TRS) is the UK’s leading provider of fully managed safety critical rail plant services. We explore the secrets behind the firm’s success.

Formed in 2006 TRS started life as a consultancy business but by mid-2008 its senior team set about developing the Company into other markets within the rail industry. Paying particular attention to the operated plant market and with the core of its management team being drawn from people with a strong and successful track record in this field were central to the firm’s early approach.

Upon the award of its own Rail Plant Operating Company Licence (POL) the firm has embarked on a major investment programme which has seen it

invest in excess of £7M in a new fleet of next generation rail plant and attachments, and at present they operate 65 RRVs with a further 10 due by June 2018.

Since then Total Rail Solutions has supported and supplied some fifty-five construction and civil engineering companies on most of the major projects on the UK rail infrastructure.

This spread of service has seen the business grow steadily from a £200k turnover in 2007-2008 to a current turnover of more than £25 million pounds per annum.

Offering the full range of plant solutions from concept to delivery

TRS are able to supply all the resources its clients need in one location. These services include rail plant solutions and services; on track plant planning, delivery and site management; permanent way maintenance services, rail infrastructure civil’s services; rail labour solutions as well as collaboration/ partnership.

Being POS accredited and certified to ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 standards the firm’s goal is to meet all of its clients’ rail safety needs with its one stop shop approach. With early engagement clients can access all the benefits and cost savings that today’s customers demand as well as the safety

guarantees that are necessary to run successful rail projects, be it Overground or Underground.

In order to fully support them, TRS share its client’s objectives, responsibilities and ultimately their successes. The firm believe that full customer satisfaction can only be attained by providing well trained staff who have the skills and knowledge to carry out their jobs to the highest standard possible. As such, TRS encourage its staff to develop their skills, and provide financial backing to enable them to attend courses in order to learn and further improve.

This supportive, collaborative approach is shared between staff and clients, and as such TRS believe in building long term relationships with clients, based on honesty and integrity, and being prepared to go that ‘extra mile’ to ensure that they are successful. It is no coincidence, that most of the firm’s work is repeat business with long term clients, and the number of returning clients serves as testimony to the level of excellence TRS achieves.

Overall, TRS are qualified to manage any project from start to finish, supplying all the plant, labour and support services needed to achieve a successful outcome. Looking ahead, it is TRS’s aim is to continue its growth year on year, whilst maintaining its values.

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Company: Total Rail Solutions Address: Crossway, Stephenson Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, RG21 6XR Map Phone: 01962 711642 Fax: 01962 717330 Website: www.totalrailsolutions.co.uk

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From Humble Beginnings Scott A. Gray of Clincierge was recently awarded the title of CEO of the Year – Pennsylvania.

He talks to Corporate Vision about the firm and its strategy.

Founded in 1994, Gray Consulting, Inc. was established as a corporate meeting planning services provider to pharmaceutical companies. Scott A. Gray tells us more about the firm.

“For over 22 years we organised management meetings for executives, sales training, product launches and incentive travel programs for sales teams, and educational meetings for physicians,” he explains.

“In 2015 we launched a new division, Clincierge®, which builds on our global expertise as a provider of top-notch hospitality and people logistics services. Clincierge supports domestic and international studies for pharmaceutical companies and contract research organizations with great success and overwhelmingly positive feedback from patients, research site personnel and sponsors.

Clinical trial sites are often widely dispersed, making multi-national trials and the necessity of patient travel a significant challenge for sponsors and CROs that can lead to slow recruitment and frequent patient drop-outs. By providing patients with high-touch personalized support, regular one-on-one communication, upfront payments/rapid reimbursement, and expert logistical assistance for travel and accommodations, our services have had a dramatically positive effect on recruitment and retention for these complex trials.”

Scott embellishes and goes on to delve into the company’s ongoing strategy.

“Clincierge services are customised to the patients’ needs for each clinical trial. In the months since Clincierge was recognised as an innovator by the 2016 Clinical Informatics News

“Best Practices” awards, we have experienced over 700% business growth and now support more than 45 global clinical studies representing 1,080 trial sites and more than 2,500 patients and their caregivers.

“Clincierge is providing support to patients in clinical trials across a broad spectrum of conditions ranging from rare diseases such as epidermolysis bullosa and Friedreich’s ataxia, to those affecting many more people, such as Alzheimer’s disease. In recognizing the beneficial services we provide to their patients many of our clients use Clincierge’s services to support multiple studies around the world. “ “Keeping patient recruitment and retention in clinical trials on schedule is a challenging problem that can lead to substantial delays in trial completion, cost over-runs, and negative impacts on the overall amount of evaluable data that can be submitted for regulatory reviews.

We are clearly meeting a major need with our services and technology, which improve trial performance, transparency, and communications between stakeholders, patients, clinical trial site personnel, trial sponsors and clinical research organisations.”

Scott believes that the firm’s Mission Statement goes a long way in demonstrating its commitment: To lead the global clinical trial performance improvement market through highly-personalized patientcentric services, unrivalled technology, and our team of professional experts. We streamline communication and coordination among clinical trial patients, sites and stakeholders.

We develop mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with clients and vendors who share our dedication to humanizing

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the patient experience while providing a reasonable return on investment.

We work in a collaborative and supportive environment which recognizes individual accomplishments and provides opportunity for continuous personal and professional growth. Our gracious and attentive people are empathetic advocates who bring the best of genuine hospitality and trust to the clinical trial community.

There are key processes and approaches followed within Clincierge in order to develop the company effectively.

“Seek professional help!” states Scott. “That’s the best advice I can give. As a text-book small business that wanted to grow, we kept hitting a ceiling. But, in 2008 we integrated the services of a highly-experienced Organisation Development consultant into our operation. She asked us tough questions and guided us through the myriad of steps to develop better processes, better hiring practices, better sales performance, and better performance from the leaders of the company… including me.”

The industry has changed vastly over the years and Scott exclaims that it has become commoditised and saturated with competition.

“The advent of Clincierge is filling a vast, unmet need in the clinical trial industry. So, by stepping away from meetings, we’re giving our undivided focus to the growth of Clincierge. In 2016, we saw nearly a 2% increase in spending in North America over the increase of 0.3% in 2015 for the meetings industry.

But since 2006, there has been an increased number of clinical trials registered worldwide and

it’s estimated to increase even further. From 2010 to 2017, the number of registered clinical trials went from 83,420 to over 220,000 and that’s including locations in 192 countries as well as in all 50 states in the United States.”

“The clinical trials business works well, but is stuck with 38% of patients dropping out and some trials never attain the enrolment levels they need to gather the relevant data for submission to the FDA or the approval body in their geography. By focusing on the performance improvement of the trial, we’re seeing much greater patient retention rates as well as innovating some services that previously didn’t exist and were preventing trials from even getting started.”

Technology is very important with regards to the industry and Scott explains how it is used effectively to ensure Clincierge’s ongoing success.

“We’re in the pivotal seat where we’re orchestrating the services of multiple external providers for each patient’s site visit. This is as simple as flight itineraries, hotel confirmations and ground transportation – but it can be more complex – such as customized health insurance policies, translators to accompany a patient on a medical visit, and the ability to collect miscellaneous expenses and provide reimbursement…. so an integrated method of accurately and securely collecting and processing all the data is essential. To ensure our technology is being used effectively, we use KPIs for both measuring the quality and value of output and the user experience.”

Being a successful CEO is not without its challenges and Scott tells us about two major challenges he has encountered and how he has worked to

g From Humble Beginnings

“The first has been to learn to ask more questions instead of offering my opinion. This has enabled me to become even more confident of other leaders in the company as well as follow different paths of innovation that I may not have suspected were possible. Secondly, I’m naturally empathetic, so I continue to hone the skill of holding others accountable for their poor performance, without being tyrannical. Praise and gratitude are much easier to deliver, but quality businesses only survive when poor performance is recognized and the underlying cause is corrected whether it is the tools, the training, the processes or a poor job fit for that person.”

“With regards to my strengths, perhaps I should get “humble” out of the way first. Actually, I am humble, yet still quite aware of my strengths. I learn fast, and have learned to be disciplined in planning out my days so that I can accomplish what I want and what’s needed. My interests are very broad and I read every morning – not always “work” topics either; I have interests in the sciences, politics, both national and international news.

I love to cook. I collect art and try to make time to get into galleries as often as I can. Specific to Clincierge…I was the care-giver for my grandmother who had Alzheimer’s. I have travelled much of the world and I’ve gotten to meet some amazing people who can do so much with so little.

For my 50th birthday, my partner and I went with a group on safari in South Africa – there we visited an orphanage – I don’t know how the staff was able to keep 20 children fed, clothed, clean with such minimal resources.

We were so impressed with what they were doing that we purchased food, supplies and toys, of course, for them before we left Africa. I think I’m able to bring that life experience to the way Clincierge can help others around the globe.”

Scott keeps himself motivated and positive by staying focused on leading the mission of Clincierge.

“Having worked for more than 34 years with developers of

medicines and the medical professionals delivering care, Clincierge closes the healthcarefocused circle in that we provide support directly to thousands of patients; for some, it’s their final hope for continued life.”

Scott has great energy and aspirations for the future of Clincierge.

“Though we’ve been in business for over 22 years, Clincierge has re-energized all of us.

We’ve just finished our 2021 strategic plan, with a key driver of ‘growth’ and we’re rolling it out to all employees through their department and individual goals.”

Company: Clincierge® Name: Scott A. Gray Email: scott.gray@clincierge.com Web Address: www.clincierge.com Address: 190 N. Independence Mall W., Suite 201, Philadelphia, PA 19106 Telephone: 215-413-7880

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overcome these, plus the key attributes he believes he possesses.

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The Long Arm of the Law Drexel Bradshaw is Managing Partner at Bradshaw and Associates. He shares with us his secrets to success, what motivates him, and several of his ‘Drexelisms’!

Bradshaw and Associates P.C. is a boutique litigation firm that focuses primarily on business and real estate law. Over the years the company has grown with the Bay Area, which is both the technology centre of the world, and has some of the most sought after real estate in the country.

As the Managing Partner, Drexel oversees four associates. Robert Crownover Esq. focuses on intellectual property and patent law and Drexel also tries patent cases with Robert, a practice area which they have grown over the last seven years as patents has now become a fertile area for litigation.

Drexel’s associate Thomas O’Brien Esq. focuses on real estate, business and employment law. He and Drexel work together on some of our biggest cases, and Drexel states that he often relies on Thomas for his insights and litigation strategy execution.

Elsa Berry was educated in Paris and brings an international perspective to the firm, as well as core expertise in tax law. She is also well-versed in IP litigation, business and real estate law, trusts and estates, employment law, and has served as General Counsel for technology start-ups.

“My associates are great legal talents, and through our collective creativity and acumen, 100% of our trials were victorious in 2016,” enthuses Drexel. “In addition to damages (when we are plaintiff or getting a dismissal when we represent the defendant) our clients received an additional award of attorney’s fees with the 2016 average of $429,500 to our clients!”

Drexel provides his clients with aggressive representation in all of

the firm’s litigation practice areas.

He has extensive trial experience, having successfully tried a large number of cases to both the bench and juries. In addition, Drexel has proven himself a skilful negotiator, helping clients to avoid trial and further litigation when appropriate.

A graduate of St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Drexel led the Trial Advocacy team to several victories. He volunteered to be a Guardian ad Litem, an advocate protecting the best interests of abused and neglected children in court proceedings.

Prior to law school, Drexel gained valuable business experience in the areas of corporate transactions, real estate, and securities, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Florida with a B.A in Political Science.

“I came to the law with experience in business,” he states. “Before going to law school, I worked in securities, sales, and even broadcasting.

To pay my way through law school, I did voiceovers for a defence contractor. In fact, if you want to know anything about the hydraulic system of the F- 14, a US military jet, I’m your man!”

“In building a practice, I have basically followed what I love to do which stems from my pre-law school experiences, and when I’ve identified growth areas here in San Francisco. I’ve been fortunate to recruit attorneys and staff with stellar skills.

“We don’t shy away from challenging litigation, which has been my style since I passed the bar. Fresh out of law school I brought my first case against the San Francisco Unified School District, so in effect I was suing

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an entire building of lawyers who worked for the city and county of San Francisco.

“Fearlessness is our mark and trade.”

One of the toughest aspects of the law sector is maintaining neutrality, confidentiality and, above all, fairness in cases. Drexel’s strong ethics play a huge part as he tells us how he maintains these three key attributes.

“We represent both plaintiffs and defendants, but are very selective about who we represent, taking only 3.4% of the cases that were brought to us last year. I listen for the truth of a case, and if the client does not have a meritorious position, I will pass. I adhere closely to the Canons of Ethics, which asks lawyers to advance cases on their merits.

“As far as confidentiality goes, I am a professional secret keeper. I never talk about my work. I have several friends who are clients, and when we get together with our spouses, they will frequently ask, “Did Drexel tell you what happened last week in our case?” They are often incredulous when she responds “He never talks about his cases with me.” This has always been my mode of operation.

“As for fairness, I don’t make a habit of asking for things I don’t deserve, or which my clients don’t deserve. Credibility matters. This goes back to my unwillingness to take cases that fail my merits test. However, if I sign on to be your advocate, and the facts are supported by the case documents, I will ask for the moon and the stars, and do my best to get them.

This seems to be working.”

Client satisfaction is key in ensuring success of a firm and Drexel’s attention to detail ensures

his business is second-to-none when it comes to his customers.

“One of the privileges of running my own firm is that I have my hands in everything. I read everything that comes in and goes out the door, and I make sure it’s consistent with our plan.

If a client calls without notice, I will know the latest on their case, and that’s true for every case we handle. My name is on the door, so my neck is on the block.

“If one of my associates is trying a case, I don’t charge for my time spent in a supervisory role. Last year we calculated that our ratio of billing to actual hours of work went as low as 42% for some clients, and up to 58% for others.

That is quite unusual for a law practice, where most attorneys bill their clients for every minute spent on their case. As I tell our clients, when you hire an attorney at Bradshaw and Associates P.C. you get two attorneys for the price of one - they like that. It boosts our client satisfaction, as does our high rates of favourable verdicts and large awards.

“That being said, if I am given the opportunity to recover attorney fees on a case I am merciless. After a recent trial victory, I submitted a demand for reimbursed fees and my client got nearly every dollar they had spent. Let’s not forget: my client did not sue anyone; she was sued. Bringing a weak, ill-advised case against my clients has consequences.”

The firm’s huge success is due, in part, to Drexel’s approach to ensuring innovation in its products and services.

“Bradshaw and Associates is a tightly run ship. A benefit of running a small firm is that we have a coherent mission, and I make sure that everything we

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“Another Drexelism is: ‘I don’t care if it’s King, Country, or newlyminted billion-dollar tech company, if you’re infringing my clients’ rights, I’m your worst nightmare.’

“But while lamenting a disintegration of civility among lawyers, I foster warm relationships with attorneys who share my values. I remember one case that had stalled in discovery because opposing counsel simply would not hand over a set of key documents. I was certain there was critical evidence contained within those pages, and refused to give up. When the adversarial attorney was replaced, I got a call from the new one. He was blunt. He said ‘The docs say what you think they do.’ We stopped wasting peoples’ time and money post haste and wrapped up the case. And we have stayed in touch since.”

“When we get to court, I take off the gloves and all of the hard work shows. We specialise in no-holds-barred litigation.”

Drexel’s parting words reflect exactly what sets the firm apart from the competition in its region and sector.

“As I mentioned above, we have great discernment when it comes to selecting cases, but sometimes our machinery fails and we end up with unrealistic clients. I try to mitigate large swings of client emotions by managing expectations from the start, and I blunt tendencies to fictionalize outcomes.

“We are passionate about what we do, in part because as a small firm we aren’t hogtied by politics over billable hours. We are the masters of our own fate.

If you walk around our office on a typical busy day you will hear conversations that are fuelled by an ineluctable passion for the law, and for winning large judgments. We have creativity, drive and an abundantly competitive spirit.”

“The secret sauce to our firm’s success is unrelenting effort.

We have mottos around here known as “Drexelisms.”, quotes which help remind all of us of the principles we live by. Perhaps the best known is: ‘There may be lawyers with better facts, there may be lawyers who are smarter, but there must never be a lawyer who outworks you.’

“I’ve also discovered that no matter how hard you work, and how successful you are at delivering positive results, there is a bell curve of client satisfaction. Some clients shift from wild enthusiasm during the heat of the trial, to abject rudeness when the bill arrives.

My wife likens this phenomenon to the patron who dined enthusiastically on a fine meal, even compliments the chef profusely, but does not want to pay the bill. I have learned to anticipate these clients, and I let them go early when it’s clear they can never be pleased.”

It’s fair to say that over the 17 years Drexel has served as a trial attorney he has seen many changes within the industry.

“I have noticed a decrease in collegiality among lawyers,” he comments. “I was raised to believe that lawyers are learned professionals. It’s clients who have disputes, not the lawyers. I am an optimist, so I expect basic civility between attorneys and abhor shouting matches, ad hominem attacks, or loss of personal control.

After all, it is just business.

Company: Bradshaw and Associates, P.C. Name: Drexel Bradshaw, Esq. Email: drexel@bradshawassociates.com Web Address: www.bradshawassociates.com Address: One Sansome Street, 34th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104 Telephone: (415) 433-4800

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produce, as a firm, is consistent with our goals.

The Long Arm of the Law

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A Comprehensive, Inclusive and Harmonious Environment Following their success in achieving the Female CEO of the Year 2016 – Italy award, Best Western Italia’s CEO Giovanna Manzi gives a fascinating glimpse into the remarkable success story of this very well-known hotel company, as well as her own story of how she got to where she is today.

Best Western Italia has been active in our country for 35 years. Today, there are 160 affiliated hotels in 120 destinations. At the Italian headquarters based in Milan, over 80 professionals support the hotels in various aspects of the work: financial management, marketing, sales, IT, web quality design, purchasing and training. Best Western is the foremost hotel group in Italy for the quantity and the quality of its hotels. The global presence of the brand with its 4000 hotels demonstrates its solid visibility and capability of building a network that is unquestionably unified.

Role and responsibility I have been CEO of Best Western Italia since 2004. After my economics degree, I realised that I wanted to focus my professional career on the hospitality industry.

I started in the United States and after my return to Italy I was selected by Best Western to join the marketing department. Two years later, I accepted the offer of marketing manager for Amadeus Global Travel Distribution, an international travel tech company, leader in the tourism distribution channels.

During the years of the first ‘Internet Era’, I launched Travelonline, the first Italian travel portal for customers. I then

returned to Amadeus until the President of Best Western asked me to come back to the company as CEO. The project ahead was ambitious and challenging: to transform a network of hoteliers into a solid company with clear, measurable objectives and business development plans in a fast-changing market.

myself’. I therefore always aim for excellence in performance, but that can only be achieved if everyone focuses on what they are good at.

I believe that insistence to improve a skill, that a staff member finds difficult or lacks completely, can be a source of frustration as any improvement will be minor and by no means excellent.

from an early age as a scout leader and this has positively shaped my mindset. I draw from my scouting experience, its proactive nature, organisational skills and ability to adapt, on a daily basis with my team members, also often requesting organisational and planning changes from them.

I built up a new team and today I lead a company that has a turnover of over €87 million in 2016. I coordinate numerous key activities and I personally oversee various projects, such as business development and tech innovation to which I dedicate energy and investments both now and for the future. Last but not least, the design aspect is an important one for me, because this can make a huge difference during a stay in a hotel.

Yet, by focusing on skills that we already possess and improving on them, I believe that excellence is achievable. This can be reached through a process of profound self-awareness and a knowledge of our own weaknesses and strengths.

My son was born in 2007. It was a revelation for me to be able to bring new emotional intelligence into the company, by regarding maternity leave as a corporate opportunity for everyone to grow and not only as a ‘problem to solve’.

Recently, the company started to combine welfare and company objectives with a view to cutting avoidable waste where we are all involved in reaching company goals and investing the efficiency savings into a welfare perspective, which contributes to maintaining a comprehensive, inclusive and harmonious environment.

Relationship with technology I regard technology, and more specifically innovation, as fundamental to the success of a company. By nature, I am curious and like to experiment.

Technology and its innate ability to simplify things enthuse me and I always support changes that facilitate procedures and the achievement of goals.

Values and principles in staff management I believe that productivity is proportional to enthusiasm. I like to think that by setting a good example both the working environment and results will improve. In my opinion by transmitting my own commitment and by having a creative and empathetic approach, you can indeed achieve good teamwork and thus enable greater empowerment.

My motto is ‘never ask for something that I would not do

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Career challenges Being a woman in a predominately male environment, I placed myself in a position to earn respect for my leadership skills and my vision of the future, not by emulating my male peers but by making my insight and emotional intelligence a winning feature. I have always shown commitment and responsibility

Under my leadership Best Western has developed partnerships with important technology companies. Our company is currently developing a chat bot based on artificial intelligence which, I believe is destined to become a killer application in the hospitality industry in Italy.

g A Comprehensive, Inclusive and Harmonious Environment

Furthermore, being a global company we have the enormous opportunity of accessing innovations from all over the world, from the USA, headquarters of BW International to the emerging market countries.

Another area of constant pivotal innovation for our business is e-commerce: I felt it necessary to dedicate an entire department of the company to this activity to define channels and tools that make the experience of purchasing and the customer journey a client friendly one.

Concluding thoughts I would like Best Western to grow in numbers and to conclude the re-qualification process of the hospitality product, intervening on those hotels that still need renovation. I would like the company to remain at the forefront of innovation, putting technology at the service of customers and hoteliers.

Company: Best Western Italia Scpa Name: Giovanna Manzi Email: marketing@bestwestern.it Web Address: bestwestern.it Address: Via Livraghi 1/b, 20126 Milano Italy Telephone: +39 02 831 081

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Personally, I see myself in five years’ time in a role of public interest in the tourism sector, always in the front line in promotion and planning on a national scale. I hold Matteo Renzi in high esteem and I hope to put my experience, national and international, to the service of the community.

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The Dawn of Digitalisation Frank Joshi, MD of Mvine, talks to us about the challenges businesses face in this new age of digitalisation and just what it is that makes the company stand out from the crowd following his success in winning the Managing Director of the Month – UK award.

Mvine offers a full range of cyber secure collaboration and communication platforms, for all kinds and sizes of business customers. From websites to mobile apps, Mvine provide customised solutions with seamless integration to both cloud and legacy applications.

An Mvine solution can transform the way your people share, communicate, engage and collaborate with your customers, suppliers and partners, in weeks not months. It’s much more than an intranet, it’s an intuitive digital work space.

Managing Director, Frank Joshi, tells us more about the firm and about Mvine’s approach to business.

“Our company has a reputation for taking on very complex projects typically turned down by other providers and delivering them successfully to time and budget,” Frank begins. “This can only be done with both a proven and adaptable platform and an experienced and passionate team.

“We engage with each customer in the spirit of partnership – not supplier /client.”

Mvine has been working in partnership with small and large clients, across a wide range of industries, for more than 10 years.

Whether it be a small business working with partners, or a large corporation like British Telecom working with thousands of customers and partners globally.

“We are in the business of delivering what are being called systems of engagement, extranets, or Omni channel portals. But these are just words. Ultimately what we are about is creating unique, cyber

secure, digital experiences for people to work with you as an organisation.”

It might be giving a client access to their invoices through a mobile app, or access to the service desk. “It’s all the same,” continues Frank. “It’s about thinking what the customer wants and how you can better deliver services to them. How you can better communicate with them.

How you can better collaborate.

How you can better work with them. Create a journey together.

Ultimately business should be about journeys, not about simple destinations. The world going forward is all about creating an experience and conversation with the customer, and unless you start to think about what that means you will lose to competitors.”

As the successful firm it is today, it is hard to envision what challenges the team at Mvine have faced, however Frank tells us that every day poses fresh and new challenges, especially for SMEs. “Every day, my role changes from Sales Director to HR from being an internal accountant to office manager, to managing the team to training a new recruit.

That said – I am also able to interact with everyone one in the business motivating them and empowering them to achieve whilst at the same time listening to them for ideas.

And equally, with regard to our products and customers, it’s not always easy to sell next generation cyber secure digital solutions especially as the world is at another technological inflexion point. We are at the start of the next round of digitalisation and a phase that will probably have the most profound impact on businesses and

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society. It will revolutionise the way we interact with customers and partners and have a huge impact on company structures and jobs.

“We are in a similar situation as we were over 20 years ago, at the beginning of the Internet. In 1995/96, people were scared.

They didn’t know what a webpage was; they didn’t know what an email address was.

And we are kind of there again.

People don’t understand what many new technologies mean for their business, this whole new digitalisation – intelligent mobile apps, new intelligent portals. How they can use big data, how the sentiment analysis works, how artificial intelligence will impact the workplace … there are a lot of new concepts that people need to get their heads around.”

“One of the things we realised early on was that we had to work with our customers as partners, not as suppliers. Again, a whole new way of working – think of your customer and how are they going to adopt this new technology. They have to do that in small steps, so we have a philosophy of developing a long-term strategy but delivering small bitesize components to an organisation.”

It is this simplified strategy, and softly approach, which helps Mvine differentiate itself from the competition and marks the firm out as the best option for clients.

“Until you start to look at the problem from outside in you will never start to work out what needs to be done going forward in time, and that is part of the Mvine advantage. We work with our clients as partners, in an agile way starting off with a very simple, secure portal to engage with customers and partners, and then work with the customer

and partner to find out what they need next.

“We are now in a world where our customers and partners are prosumers, they are part of the engagement process. They are very happy to work with you, if you work with them, to give them what they ultimately want.

That’s what this new digital world offers – a phenomenal ability to constantly keep in touch with your customer and client and partner.”

Frank was recently awarded the prestigious accolade of Managing Director of the Year – UK in the Advertising and Marketing category of the Corporate Vision 2017 Awards. Despite his huge success in his career, Frank is ever-humble and quick to sing the praises of his dedicated team of hardworking employees.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to receive the award for me personally but more importantly it is for my staff, partners and customers without whose support and business we would not be where we are today,” he enthuses.

“My staff are key, without them we would not have a business, we would not be as entrepreneurial and agile.

We have a very low staff turnover and every employee has benefitted from learning new skills, increased their responsibilities in their role and status, and likewise their salary.”

Frank has been an entrepreneur for more than 30 years now, having started his first internet business in 1994, and selling the same business in 2000. Despite his modesty, Frank divulges a few of the key attributes he believes he possesses which make him an award-winning leader and continue to ensure his

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The Dawn of Digitalisation

success in the industry.

“There are many qualities that make up a great business leader, and it must be noted that every leader has his/hers place in the context of where the business is, meaning that no-one can be great at all times for all situations.

“A start-up needs an entrepreneurial spirit, willing to challenge the status quo, who believes in what they are developing. But when times are tough, you need an accountant’s view of the world which is about pragmatism and numbers etc.

“But that said, I believe that the greatest qualities are about being able to adapt and learn, adapt to the situation and learn from your staff. Admit when you are wrong, but be steadfast with every decision made. Give 100% to something, until it’s time to drop to 0%.

“I am extremely passionate about the business, the product and our people and sometimes we can be too innovative creating solutions for the future rather than for today.”

With regards to the future, Frank tells us that 2017 is looking to be a very successful year for Mvine as the firm has two major projects under its belt. But he also states that the major challenge for all firms going forward is simply to survive.

“Cash is king, making sure that you live to fight another day is

Company: Mvine Limited Name: Frank Joshi, Managing Director Email: frank@mvine.com Web Address: www.mvine.com Address: Mvine Limited, Fleet House, 8-12 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6AL Telephone: +44 (0)208 392 4820

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“As an entrepreneurial business leader, I tell everyone that joins that whatever they do within the business, they have to fail – in its broadest context - it’s essential that they fail. But when they do, they tell me or their manager so that whatever has gone wrong can be remedied. If you are not failing, you are not trying hard enough or you are not exploring new ways to improve.”

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The Fastest and Most Cost-Effective Solution Craig Willets of CAW Consultancy speaks to Corporate Vision magazine about the firm and the rationale behind its inception, following his Management Consultant of the Month award.

My Name is Craig Willetts (age 36), I am the founder and owner of CAW Consultancy Business Solutions Ltd and I am honored to win this award for Management Consultant of the Month.

I established CAW Consultancy around six years ago, and the company vision was and still is, to provide affordable consultancy to any sector for any standard.

We provide a range of services that can be found at www. cawconsultancy.co.uk including various ISO Standards, systems and other accreditations, change management, internal audits, training services and paperless systems. The CAW team is dedicated to helping each client reach their potential.

Part of the role as a consultant is to improve efficiency, however it seemed no one had reviewed the process of consultancy itself.

This was my initial task before I established CAW Consultancy and thus I created CAW’s express accreditation system. I have reduced the time it takes make companies compliant by up to 60% and have reduced the cost for the client by around 65%.

This means our clients get the fastest and most cost-effective solution. I think the consultancy sector and business in general is changing massively and it’s the responsibility of consultants to not just meet standards, but to lead companies in anticipating

the market and industry changes to ensure they can proactively plan and take advantage of developments before they happen.

We now offer a paperless ISO management system (optional integrated training platform available) to make compliance issues and admin problems a thing of the past. We are the only company in the UK to provide a support system of this kind and it’s made such a huge difference to our clients and standards overall that we have now launched our paperless ISO management systems in 27 other countries through my new Global company www.fusionconsultancy-worldwide.com.

This means that we can identify and share good practices, this ensures that CAW Consultancy and our clients can stay one step ahead of any developments and opportunities on a global scale.

Our paperless systems allow our clients to complete all paperwork via any phone, laptop, or tablet, and best of all there are no running cost and no kit costs. All data is encrypted and securely stored. This allows accreditations to be achieved with ease. It will also improve their performance and reduce general admin time by around 60% whilst providing sound business continuity support that is increasingly expected within business.

Another reason for the launch of the paperless system is

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that I identified that labor heavy industries rely more on accreditations to secure business yet they predominantly have the worst administration. So I came up with an easy to use system to make completing admin simple and easy, plus as we can publish the system as a mobile app this makes it easier to train new generations of work forces.

When people ask why they should choose CAW Consultancy I give these five great reasons: • We have a 100% pass rate - All accreditations for all sectors • We are the fastest in the UK – System built within 24 hours – compliant within 14 Days • We are the most cost effective in UK – 30% the cost of anyone in the UK • Paperless ISO systems – Only we supply a system of this kind in the UK • We work as part of your team; a lot of consultants inform you of the standards – we help you achieve them Some people say hiring a consultant is a short cut to gaining accreditations, I disagree.

I believe it is seeking the advice/ assistance of a professional/ expert who has the underpinning knowledge, experience and competency to assist you as part of your team to reach your goal within a reasonable timeframe for a reasonable cost, and with minimal stress. This is how me and my team work.

I have a great team who has been with me for several years and we have all become great friends. I have always believed that your clients will only be as happy as you make your staff, happy staff are the key to a great company and this has always served me well in business. My staff have a range of qualifications to allow them to fulfill their roles, but when they joined me they had no relevant experience, what they did have is drive, ambition and a will to provide excellence. We have a good range of personalities and we all have the same goal; to provide the best possible service to our clients.

CAW Consultancy will, I have no doubt, grow from strength to strength. I was also asked on numerous occasions for other business services, for example training etc. In 2017, I have also launched more organisations to provide cost effective business services for example: • Excelsior Training Solutions Funded training • Dress Your Staff – Low Cost Uniforms supplies • Paladin Plus – Staff monitoring services • Creed Services – Work share platform for Approved CAW Clients • Business Machine – Business Start Up Services • New Era Consultancy – Small Business Mobile App, Websites & SEO

g The Fastest and Most Cost-Effective Solution

In 2017 & 2018 CAW have pledged to donate 50 x ÂŁ2000 packages (each year) to charities nominated by members of the public, either to be used by the charity or to be used as prizes to raise funds, our way of giving back, see website for more details.

##

Company: CAW Consultancy Business Solutions Ltd Name: Craig Willetts Email: craig@cawconsultancy.co.uk Web Address: www.cawconsultancy.co.uk Address: Suite 1 Unit 5, East Terrace Business Park, Euxton PR7 6TB Telephone: +44 (0)7427 535 662

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Putting the Talent into Talent Acquisition With over 25 years of experience SGA Talent is the go to source for clients needing mission critical talent quickly. We profile the firm to find out more about the secrets behind its success.

Established in Amsterdam, New York in 1989, since inception SGA Talent have taken great pride in being a leader in recruitment research and recruiting solutions. The firm’s customized solutions are tailored to meet the exact needs of clients, and it is this bespoke process and its dedication to saving clients’ time and money that form the basis of the firm’s success.

For the past 28 years the firm have developed a culture that is team oriented, positive, entrepreneurial, and a place that allows each SGA Talent team member to play on their strengths. Creating, nurturing and maintaining relationships are the main focus of our culture and part of our core values.

This approach extends beyond SGA Talent, stretching out in our communities, as the team volunteer their time, talent, and resources to positively impact the area in which it resides.

President and CEO Shelia Greco, alongside her executive team, believe that SGA Talent’s employees are their greatest assets, and as such they work hard to keep them engaged, encourage them to grow, while supporting them in their interests so the firm can continue to successfully expand. As the firm recruits, its goal is surround ourselves smart, high energy,

passionate, diverse, exceptional people that do exceptional things with us and with others.

Realising the importance of providing quality services while being sensitive to cost, SGA Talent provides a broad range of superior recruiting services while introducing enhanced solutions which address the varying market.

As a leader in the recruitment and resourcing industry it is SGA Talent’s role to stay ahead of the curve to support its clients ever changing needs. Therefore, the firm is committed to always being at the forefront of emerging developments and showcasing the latest initiatives and innovations to its clients.

In order to meet the varied needs of its vast client base, SGA Talent works across a vast array of industries including consumer products, financial services, healthcare, industrial, insurance professional services, retail, technology, cybersecurity, digital, diversity, finance, human resources, information technology, legal, marketing, non-profit, risk, sales, supply chain and sustainability.

These clients range from Fortune 1000 corporations to privately held and even start-up organizations looking for ideal candidates to fill critical roles, to keep them competitive in the industries in which they compete.

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By uncovering the entire potential talent pool it allows SGA Talent’s clients to do their own recruiting or do the recruiting for them.

Fundamentally, the firm allows its clients to have access to the exact talent they deserve.

Not only does the firm deliver candidates that result in hires, it also provides all the data gathered during the recruiting process. This proven team approach to recruiting is second to none. The firm’s methodical approach starts by creating the potential talent pool, followed by quality recruiting efforts, thorough vetting processes and the creation of a ready to be interviewed, qualified pipeline of candidates.

This research driven approach ensures the very best candidates are selected for each client.

Organization chart mapping provides insight, intelligence and information far beyond just recruiting. By having access to these charts, it allows hiring managers the ability to compare and contrast candidates to each other as well as the potential talent pool.

Organization chart mapping is becoming part of many successful recruiting teams best practice processes thanks to SGA and its championing of this innovative approach.

The recruitment research deliverable is customized to meet each client’s need. Whether

it is delivered in an Excel spreadsheet, organization chart format or a Word document, the information is the same. It includes the contact name, company, telephone number, email, profile (LinkedIn or public profile) as well as notes of interest to ensure clients receive the information they need.

Another key aspect of SGA Talent’s strategy is Competitive Intelligence: the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers making strategic decisions for an organization.

Overall, although many things have changed since 1989, what remains the same is SGA Talent’s commitment to both its clients and candidates. It is never about the size of a project or the amount of time it takes: it is about being the value added, results driven, cost effective partner SGA Talent’s clients deserve, and moving forward the firm is excited to be supporting even more clients and candidates.

g Putting the Talent into Talent Acquisition

##

Company: SGA Talent Phone: (518) 843-4611 Website: www.sgatalent.com

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All in a Good Cause Managing Director of Charity Challenge, Director of 2017 – UK, Simon Albert tells us more about the organisation and the impact it has made to date.

Simon Albert, managing director of Charity Challenge, the world’s leading fundraising challenge company, knows all about adventure. He has summited some of the globe’s highest mountains and volcanoes, trekked on the Great Wall of China and conquered the Andes and Himalayas. He has scubadived with sharks in Fiji, tackled grade five rivers while white water rafting and motor biked through Vietnam before Ewan McGregor made it cool!

Simon set up Charity Challenge in 1999 aged just 27. Since then he has inspired tens of thousands of people to step outside of their comfort zones and push themselves to their limits to achieve incredible goals and raise vital funds for charities they are passionate about.

In 2015, Simon was awarded a British Citizen Award at Westminster Palace for “his exceptional contribution to the community” with Charity Challenge, now a multi-award winning and highly respected business.

The challenge portfolio features treks, bike rides, mountain climbs, rafting, kayaking, running and even dog sledding.

Expeditions take place from the North Pole to the South Poles and every environment in between, including deserts, rivers, oceans, jungles, mountains and rainforests.

The company also stages challenges for corporate employees to build schools, health centres and houses in developing countries.

To date, Simon has helped raise over £50,000,000 for more than

1,700 UK, Irish and Canadian charities including Macmillan Cancer Relief, Cancer Research UK, Barnardos, the NSPCC, Comic Relief, MIND, the British Heart Foundation, Save the Children, and UNICEF. These funds have helped to provide protection for vulnerable children, shelter for the homeless and research into finding a cure to cancer.

As part of its responsible business ethos Charity Challenge has also ploughed almost £500,000 back into local community developments projects in the UK and countries in which it operates. This funding has helped advance education, sanitation and environmental protection.

Simon tells us exactly what it is that makes Charity Challenge an award-winning company.

“Most companies say they go that bit further or try that much harder than their competitors, but I genuinely believe that we work the hardest in our industry to exceed the expectations of our clients.

“I believe that years of focussing on trying to improve each individual component means that when you put the whole experience together, we outperform others. This means that Charity Challenge is with you every step of the way: from the first point of contact, through the booking process and prechallenge support, to the rigorous expedition in a distant country.

“We have an incredible team of people who are full of passion, inspiration and focussed on guaranteeing that our clients enjoy unparalleled adventures - which is why they return again and again.”

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The organisation works with charities who recruit supporters to take part and raise funds for their cause, as well as corporates who recruit their employees and other stakeholders for team-building, learning and development, boosting morale, demonstrating CSR credentials and more. Yet the majority of Charity Challenge participants are individuals and groups of people who choose to do something for a cause they feel connected to.

“The reasons people embark on a Charity Challenge journey are many and varied, but all equally inspiring and require great courage,” says Simon. “This could be the loss of a relative or friend, overcoming an illness, the desire to give something back or just the ambition to push beyond your daily limits. Everyone comes wanting a challenge - and we promise that in extremes. Heat. Cold. Exhaustion.

Elation. Fear. Euphoria. Loss.

Gain. Early starts. Late finishes.

Tough times. Good times.

“We know that without a challenge — a genuine challenge — our participants won’t really appreciate their achievement at the end the journey. This is something we have seen time and again, having worked with tens of thousands of participants over the last 17 years.

“The physical trip is only one part of their success. What might have been initiated by a desire to do something different - lose weight, get fit, remember a loved one, build team spirit - ends so differently for nearly all involved. The journey with Charity Challenge takes our participants to new destinations which they could never have imagined when they started: deep long lasting friendships, indescribable memories, huge gains in self-esteem, close up

encounters with hidden cultures, new jobs, new futures, a sense of joy, respect, humility, passion and achievement.”

Charity Challenge focuses heavily on providing an incredible experience to participants which leads to high levels of repeat business and positive referrals.

“Our aim, in working closely with charity and corporate clients, is to become a trusted partner, rather than simply a supplier. It has certainly proved successful, as many of the organisations we deal with have stuck with us for almost two decades.”

Charity Challenge has many achievements under its belt. It was selected by Comic Relief to organise the Red Nose Day Kilimanjaro Climb in 2009 for a host of celebrities including Cheryl Cole, Gary Barlow and Alesha Dixon. It was a hugely successful venture which raised £3.35m for the charity. Five years later they organised Comic Relief’s Hell and High Water challenge on the Zambezi River, which featured Dara O Briain, Jack Dee, and Mel C. In response to the Asian tsunami of 2004, Simon set up Community Challenge to take corporate employees to Sri Lanka and India where they built houses for communities affected by the disaster. In the first year, he inspired hundreds of individuals and companies to get involved and helped raise over £1.3m. The programme won a Responsible Travel Award and was highly commended by the Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development. It subsequently expanded to China, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Mali, Nepal and Cambodia with projects to build classrooms and schools, as well as health and community centres.

g

“Within months we were sending out volunteers and I joined the very first group. It was one of the most incredible and meaningful experiences of my life and one I will never forget.

We help people to have incredible life-changing experiences and raise millions of pounds for good causes globally, making a real positive difference in the world. It’s impossible not to be proud of that!”

Simon was also named in The Independent on Sunday’s Happy List as one of the people who make Britain a better place, and in 2011 he was invited to Buckingham Palace to celebrate the world of exploration and adventure with the Queen and Prince Philip.

Simon tells us more about his role and the most important thing he has learnt as a successful leader.

“The realities of working in a small team mean that while I set the vision and try and lead the business, I am all too often involved in everything from legal to admin, operations to finance.

I have tried hard to take a step back and have engaged a really strong Senior Management Team to deal with the day-today running of the business, which allows me to focus on the bigger picture. Having built up the business for almost two decades, I love seeking out new opportunities to develop.

“The advice I got just before having the courage to set up Charity Challenge was: “If you want to be successful in business, do something you are passionate about.” At the time, I was fundraising for charity in my spare time, travelling wherever and whenever I could, so I combined the two and came up with Charity Challenge.

“The other advice I try and remember when my blood pressure starts to rise, is to only focus my efforts on the stuff I can influence. I can’t change the impact of Brexit on foreign currencies or stop volcanic ash from grounding international flights. Such external factors inevitably influence our business and clients, but I have become quite good at focussing on the things I can influence. Keeping clients informed of a situation, building confidence and trust, and offering options that we can control like transferring to another challenge destination, postponing and so on.”

With regards to 2017, Simon is currently developing a new challenge programme which aims to raise an additional £40,000,000 for good causes over the next three years alone. “It will engage hundreds of millions of people around the world with some of the world’s most pressing issues: poverty, access to water, sanitation, shelter, education, and environmental conservation. It’s very exciting and I hope it will be remembered for many years to come. Watch this space!”

Being a successful CEO is not, however, without its challenges.

Simon tells us how he ensures that the firm is always one step ahead and prepared for any eventuality.

“During the last 17 years we have had to deal with a multitude of unforeseen situations that have affected our business and our clients’ travel plans including bird flu, SARS, terrorist attacks, cancelled flights, strikes, tsunami, hurricanes, the Arab Spring and the eruption of an Icelandic volcano. Pretty much every significant world incident impacts on our business and requires us to respond. Part of my daily routine is checking what is going on in the world and thinking about the implications for us and our clients. It can be something obvious like a baggage handlers strike, or may be something which runs deeper, like the impact of Brexit on the foreign currency exchange.”

Company: Charity Challenge Name: Simon Albert, Director Email: simon@charitychallenge.com Web Address: www.charitychallenge.com Address: 22-23 Arcadia Ave, London N3 2JU UK Telephone: +44 (0)208 346 0500

##

“I remember sitting in a hotel on Boxing Day 2004 watching unravelling coverage of the Asian tsunami. I couldn’t look away because I knew that I wanted to do something to help and I had the tools to do so. We had never worked in Sri Lanka and had no ground handler or charity partner there. Driven by this desire to help, we set up and launched a programme with Habitat for Humanity GB that took us to tsunami-affected communities in Sri Lanka and India, in order to rebuild hundreds of homes.

All in a Good Cause

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Seeing Is Believing Tableau Software helps people see and understand their data. Tableau’s intuitive platform fuels exploration and enables people to answer questions with data and share discoveries across their organization. More than 54,000 customer accounts around the world– from global enterprises, early start-ups and non-profits to academic institutions – use Tableau to turn data into actionable insights.

People are at the core of our mission and we want to build software that people love. We give customers a voice into our development process by having an open, transparent forum where they can share ideas, suggestions and ways that we can make the software better.

When we plan every release, we review these ideas and prioritize the ones that will have the most impact on our customer success.

As a result, when we release updates – like our most recent version 10.2 – customers are more engaged and provide us

with more feedback because they know that this is software built for them.

Embedding data literacy in our classrooms and universities will help to spark interest and increase awareness of this vital skill. As it stands, universities’ approach to teaching STEM subjects does not always correlate with employers’ needs.

Understanding the skills required in the workplace and ensuring the curricula better reflects this is key to future success.

At Tableau, we are working with a number of universities around the world, and here in Europe, to develop much needed data analytics skills by offering our software for free to students and professors. Learn more about the program by visiting: www.tableau.com/academic Industry developments We live in a time powered by technology, fuelled by information, and driven by knowledge. In light of this, businesses must adapt by getting smarter with technology and hiring the best talent. Much is discussed today about the lack of technology skills, particularly the lack of data analytics skills given the massive data boom we are experiencing with AI, machine to machine learning and IoT coming fast on the scene.

Some key trends we’re seeing for 2017 in the data analytics space are: Data analytics for

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one and all: Like most things, many heads are better than one when it comes to data analytics.

IT departments have been quick to adopt new technologies, and long gone are the days where IT pros are spending time on sharing data via static PDFs or PowerPoint decks to relevant teams. Instead, all employees are now able to share live, interactive workbooks and data sources to help drive business decisions quickly and easily, thanks to the availability of visual analytics and the power of selfservice.

IT becomes the data hero: For decades, IT departments remained mired in the endless churn of building reports to support data requests from the business. This wastes not only time, but is not scalable with the growing data needs of businesses today. Now, IT is at the helm of the transformation to self-service analytics at scale.

With IT working more closely with the business to ensure a better understanding of data analytics,

while also providing governance and security of the data, this will be something that all employees will benefit from.

Data analytics becomes the new skill in town: In 2016, LinkedIn listed statistical analysis and data mining as one of the hottest skills for candidates to get hired.

With the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) revealing that growth in big data analytics and the Internet of Things will add an estimated £322 billion to the UK economy by 2020, not to mention create 182,000 jobs, investing in skills such as BI is vital to the country’s future.

Ultimately, data and selfservice technology like visual analytics are driving change in business, and it’s happening fast. Conversations about data have shifted from ‘why it matters’ to ‘what to do with it’, and this will continue in 2017 as more businesses make a cultural shift to self-service data analytics across departments.

K

Tableau’s mission has always been to help people see and understand data. Our platform makes visual analytics intuitive, allowing people to quickly answer questions with data and share insights across their organization.

Company: Tableau Software Name: James Eiloart, SVP EMEA, Tableau Email: kgenton@Tableau.com Web Address: www.tableau.com

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Partnered for Success Chavalit Uttasart, recent winner of the Partner of the Year – Thailand award, talks to Corporate Vision about SCL Law Group, its internal culture and vision for the future.

Chavalit & Partners Limited (C&P) is based in Hua Hin, Thailand. It specialises in providing services to expatriate individuals and companies living, and operating in the south of Thailand. The office focuses upon work for land and property buyers and developers, as well as providing corporate and tax advice. Outside of Thailand, the firm has offices in Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR. Its clients are both domestic companies and multinational corporations. We have worked with law firms in many jurisdictions for cross-border transactions.

world-class legal services,” explains Chavalit Uttasart.“We constantly try to better ourselves and our lawyers to ensure they are well informed of the legal development in our surrounding region as well and the political changes to ensure we better serve our client.”

Chavalit continues to explain the firm’s approach when undertaking a new project to ensure that clients always receive the best outcome possible.

“One of the paramount aspects when dealing with clients is understanding what the client really wants – we design our service to be in sync with the client’s needs, not just immediate needs but also what is best for the client in the long run. A detailed research of the client’s background and trade philosophy gives us an understanding of the client which in turn helps us to render the best legal service for the client.

“Partners in charge of the projects will normally form a team of lawyers with different expertise do the work, such as corporate, tax, labour and real estate, etc. We emphasise good communication amongst the team.”

SCL is also a member of Asean Plus Group, a network of independent law firms with a strong presence in the ASEAN countries.

The firm differentiates itself from the competition due to the fact it has an excellent understanding of the region, with its partners have more than 40 years of experience in the location.

“Our vision is to be the fullservice commercial law firm of choice for local, regional, national and international clients, continuously striving to deliver

“Several of our partners have been instrumental in the development of various frameworks within Thailand,” states Chavalit.

“The Group comprises of 12 partners. Our corporation system promotes/allows partners to work with partners which means we can make use the expertise of each partners to support services/projects that we do for clients.

“Our philosophy has always been in continuous education and keeping abreast with new developments within the region, be it new legal development or changes in political climate or new policy implementations. By the group as a whole being upto-date with these changes, we keep our clients well informed.

This builds confidence and an excellent working relationship between us and the client.”

The firm has a strong team culture and staff are constantly encouraged to enhance their skills, not only within the legal field, but also within management and the business development of the group as a whole.

“Being involved creates a sense of responsibility and a motivation to group with the group as well as their own careers,” says Chavalit.

“When hiring new staff, besides academic achievement, we also look at how a candidate can evolve within the Group as a whole. We believe there are many opportunities within the group that candidates can be involved and engaged, which will not only benefit the candidate but mutually benefit the group in moving forward and expanding.”

The Asian region is developing quite rapidly in various areas, including the implementation of Asean Economic Community (AEC), the ever-evolving digital technology and the legal pathway to protection for individual and commerce and many other issues that will most certainly keep the group very busy.

“The key thing is to always keep the group well informed, to take the challenge and get involved with the developing tides,” finishes Chavalit. “We are confident that staying up to date with changes and move along with the changes is the best way to keep our clients and further develop our every growing group.”

K

SCL Law Group (formerly known as Chavalit Law Group) provides a full range of legal services to serve the needs of clients. It has structured its group of law firms in such a way that general legal work, such as corporate, securities, banking and finance, corporate recovery services, expatriate services, labour, mergers and acquisitions, property, litigation and arbitration, are handled by Siam City Law Offices (SCL); and intellectual property, information technology and telecommunications work is handled by Chavalit & Associates (CA).

Company: SCL Law Group Name: Chavalit Uttasart Email: chavalit@siamcitylaw.com Web Address: www.siamcitylaw.com Address: Rajanakarn Building, 20th Floor, 3 South Sathorn Road, Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120, Thailand Telephone: +66 (0) 2 6766667-8

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Flying High Will Nagle, of Falcon Group, talks about the global economic climate and how the firm has helped shape the future of finance.

Falcon Group is a global specialist financier focused on trade and corporate funding.

The firm provides tailored and flexible financing options that enable companies to enhance operations, grow quickly and efficiently, and reach their business ambitions.

Founded over 20 years ago, Falcon predominantly provides financing to mid-cap or large corporates, operating across the global trade industry.

Will Nagle tells us more about the firm’s overall mission and the steps it takes to achieve its objectives.

“Trade finance is complex, and not all providers have the flexibility or inclination to provide for every unique need. We do,” states Will.

“Today, that effort is even more important: the trade finance gap is currently estimated by the Asian Development Bank to stand at $1.6 trillion. That is a lot of trade that lacks the necessary funding, harming not only individual companies and supply chains, but the economy as a whole. While such a gap cannot be filled by one party alone, we are determined to do our part and make a valuable contribution to real trade world.”

The trade and corporate finance environment thrives on collaboration, not competition, and Will goes into depth about what it is that sets Falcon apart from the competition and marks it out as the best option for clients.

“We collaborate with global banks, insurers, export credit agencies, and other financiers to ensure that we can collectively create solutions that comprehensively address the needs of each client. There is plenty of room in the trade and corporate funding arena, and diversification makes an industry more secure. Recently, Falcon has collaborated with institutions such as UK Export Finance and Aon – which in turn, provides both with a resource they can tap should their clients require specialist solutions.

“What we bring to the party is a combination of flexibility and expertise. We’re smaller than global banks, which allows us to work closely and quickly with clients. We are less restricted by regulatory accords such as Basel III, purely because we don’t accept deposits, which allows us to sculpt solutions around our clients’ needs. Furthermore, we have the trade and corporate expertise to understand the challenges and opportunities facing each client, in each market we serve. Finally, we have the global reach to help clients expand to new markets, and the on-the-ground support to make them a success.”

Will provides a brief overview of the industry in the region, explaining that there has recently been a transformation in terms of the composition of the banking ecosystem.

“Pre-crisis, global banks were undoubtedly the dominant player – providing most corporates with all of their financing needs,” says Will. “Now, the implementation

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of Basel III (and its future iterations), as well as stringent compliance measures, means that global banks are withdrawing their services worldwide. This is particularly severe in emerging markets, across the trade finance industry, and when it comes to providing for mid-cap corporates or SMEs – the backbone to the global economy.

“Add to this the rise of protectionism and political risk globally, and cross-border trade faces a host of challenges.

As banks retrench, Falcon’s mission is to ensure that funding continues to be made available for trade.”

Staying ahead of the curve with regards to emerging trends and new developments is of high importance to Falcon in order to keep informed and to consistently support its clients, preparing them for any foreseeable challenges that may arise.

“We believe one way to stay ahead of emerging developments is to have a hand, however small, in shaping them. We work closely with organisations such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) so that we can provide feedback to governments and policy-makers and ensure the interests of our clients are represented.

“Finally, when we are able to anticipate a change, we prepare for it well in advance.

For instance, while specialist financiers are not regulated in the same way as global banks, we expect this to change in the future. Rather than exposing

our clients to the upheaval of a sudden change in regulation, we have prepared by seeking regulation where available – our Dubai entity is regulated by the DFSA – and implemented the internal structures and measures so that we act as if we were regulated even before we are.

We are also rated by the three leading ratings agencies: S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch – a clear sign of our strong reputation, as well as our eagerness to be transparent and open.”

Will and the team at Falcon are looking forward to a bright future, and are fully focussed on the next step in terms of evolution.

“While our success so far is thanks to our ability to identify gaps and fill them – and thus we will continue to steadily grow – we want to make sure we grow in the right way,” comments Will.

“We want to build our internal ecosystem, and ensure we have the back-end support to face the risks and challenges that exist across the global economy. Furthermore, while we certainly want to expand our global footprint, we also want to strengthen networks in the regions we are already based. This year, for instance, we have opened a second office in Australia to expand our reach in the region, and we are in the process of extending our coverage across the whole of the UK to ensure no corner is forgotten.

“Companies, regardless of the political or economic situation, will always require funding.

Our role is to be a reliable and sophisticated partner, regardless of the volatile backdrop. “

g Flying High

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Company: Falcon Group Name: Will Nagle Email: london@falcongrp.com Web Address: www.falcongrp.com Address: 30 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8BF UK Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7337 6200

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Insuring Success HL Assurance is a member of Hong Leong Group, a leading conglomerate in Asia with diversified businesses in banking and financial services, manufacturing and distribution, property development and investments, hospitality and leisure, and principal investment with presence in Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania. We profile the firm to find out more and explore how CEO Kelvin Lim has worked to make it a leading insurer in this dynamic market.

HL Assurance Singapore are a licensed General Insurer and also a member of General Insurance Association (GIA) in Singapore. The firm’s vision is to provide superior insurance solutions for customers to protect their lifestyle and businesses in Singapore. Their innovative suite of personal lines products, designed to protect lifestyle, include Travel, Car, Home & Fire, Personal Accident, Mobile Phone and Maid Insurance. HL Assurance is the leading insurer in Singapore that differentiates through the signature service benefits that are included in their products. In the corporate segment, HL Assurance offers a comprehensive suite of risk management solutions to meet its client’s varied needs in the areas of Property, Casualty, Engineering, Public Liability, Business Interruption and has also designed a very competitive

package for SMEs. The SME insurance package was designed to support the vibrant SME environment in Singapore and is a very useful kick-start pack for small and medium businesses.

HL Assurance is also the leading digital insurer in Singapore that maximizes the convenience for customers through multiple technology and digital platforms.

Customers can enroll for an insurance coverage 24 hours daily or make enquiries through its online communication tools. As a digital insurer, HL Assurance leverages on all online distribution platforms to engage with its customers.

Customers can easily find their product or promotions via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Yahoo or through one of their multiple online affiliates.

They have also deployed a chat robot that guides travelers through the travel insurance application process, completely

changing the experience of buying insurance online.

Parent company Hong Leong Financial Group is a leading provider of financial services through the subsidiaries and associate companies of Hong Leong Financial Group. The Group’s Financial Services companies provide a broad spectrum of financial services - banking, treasury, insurance, fund management, investment banking, capital markets and stock-broking throughout Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. The group’s products and services are distributed via a diverse range of distribution channels.

CEO Kelvin Lim, who was appointed to the position in 2015, draws on over 15 years’ experience in the industry to help guide the firm to excellence.

Looking ahead, Kelvin and his team will continue to offer the very highest standard of service and support to clients and build upon the firm’s current success.

Kelvin elaborated that HL Assurance differentiates itself

through the signature service that they provide to their customers.

They are the insurer in Singapore that combines niche concierge service into their insurance product. Kelvin said “if you are insured with HL Assurance and accidentally cracked your iPhone screen, our repair network will be at your doorstep to repair your phone on-the-spot. We also have a home concierge that services our home insurance policyholders round the clock, providing a qualified network of locksmiths, electricians, plumbers, aircon and pest control professionals.”

In their latest Maid Insurance product, HL Assurance is the only insurer that considers the needs of employers by providing them with a network of doctors and dentist across the country and at a discounted consultation rate for their domestic helpers.

Kelvin added: “Our objective is to provide lifestyle and business solutions that are accompanied by a distinct service element and we believe this is the key that will differentiate ourselves in the market”

K Company: HL Assurance Singapore Address: 11 Keppel Road, #11-01 ABI Plaza, Singapore 089057 Phone: +65 6702 0202 Website: www.hlas.com.sg

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All Encompassing Wayne Johnson of Encompass Corporation talks to Corporate Vision about the cutting-edge KYC technology it employs.

Encompass Corporation is a leading RegTech company which utilises technology to automate Know Your Customer (KYC) policies, enabling companies to adhere to AntiMoney Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF) regulations in financial, legal and accounting businesses. Founded in Australia in 2012 the company launched in the UK in 2015 with offices in Glasgow and London.

Johnson tells us more about the software behind the firm. “With a recent report showing that KYC and customer due diligence are costing financial firms an average of £47 million, the demand for more comprehensive and easierto-use solutions is growing, and that’s where we come in. One analyst group specialising in RegTech, JWG Group, estimate that between £10 billion and £20 billion a year is being spent in the UK on meeting regulatory obligations. This is equivalent to 0.7% of UK GDP - more than the UK agricultural sector – so it’s a significant issue.

“Our software enables KYC checks and initial client screening of corporate customers to be completed up to 10 times faster and with significantly lower costs.

Through our use of web-based technology we also provide an audit trail that is not only regulator ready, but drastically reduces the risk of human oversight that is too often part of a traditional manual process.

“Using real time data from more than 12 different information

provider partners including World-Check, Experian, C6i, BvD and Companies House, we currently serve over 200 firms globally.”

Encompass’ vision is a world where business people can truly know their customer at the click of a button. “We’re constantly evolving to meet new regulatory demands and the ever-increasing complexity of understanding company structures and beneficial ownership across borders,” states Johnson.

“We continually add new domestic and international data providers so that our customers have confidence that when they are building a client profile on our platform that they will receive all the pertinent information in an easy-to-understand format, enabling them to make informed and timely business decisions.”

Given the digital transformation taking place in financial and professional services it is important for Encompass to stay one step ahead of the curve in order to differentiate itself from the competition. They do this by automating the KYC process, which saves customers both time and money, and through their unique unified data model, which combines AML data from a range of different information providers, so that it can be used to build a picture of a client’s risk profile.

“Being data agnostic means we don’t favour or promote any one information provider partner over another,” Johnson explains. “Our customers can run reports using a number of different providers

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simultaneously depending on their needs and instantly overlay credit, AML, identity, PEPs and sanctions information within the one client profile. They can also refresh KYC policy checks in bulk, again saving time as they no longer have to manually input their search criteria or manually analyse the results – this is particularly useful when there is a ‘book’ of clients to be remediated. In 2014 KPMG estimated that global spending on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance alone amounted to $10 billion, so there is much to be gained through streamlining these processes.

“The audit trail that results from our automated process assists customers to stay compliant, and critically – prove due diligence has occurred.”

With compliance and regulation being constantly updated and becoming increasingly stringent, a key challenge for risk and compliance professionals is to stay ahead of legislation passed at a governmental and intergovernmental level.

According to the 2016 Future Financial Crime Risks report from LexisNexis & BBA, AML Compliance costs have increased by 50% in the past two years and are rising.

“We deal with this by ensuring our products are agile enough to continually adapt to policy changes. Having an agile product also means it can be updated according to our customer’s policy requirements, which in turn makes operationalising a policy change at scale much more achievable.”

Of course, it’s not all about the products and Johnson tells us that the company was initially founded with his business partner Roger Carson, following the pair being defrauded in a property investment.

Reflecting on the fact that had they had access to the full picture, they never would have proceeded with that property deal; “Roger and I are acutely aware of what can happen should customers not have access to timely and relevant information. With this at the heart of our culture, our Customer Success team works closely with all our customers, ensuring they get maximum value from Encompass’ products, accessing information that not only enables them to be compliant, but fully informed with regard to their customers.”

Last year Emcompass secured £3.6million in investment funding which helped it transition from a company offering support to accountancy professionals, to supporting those in the legal and finance and banking sector.

Johnson foresees 2017 being an equally exciting year.

“During the next 12 months we plan to consolidate and grow this market both in the UK and globally. Having been selected for the UK government’s RegTech mission to New York in April 2017, we are moving along a trajectory toward expanding into the North American market.

“With regards to the wider industry, we forecast that regulations around Anti-Money

g All Encompassing

Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing will continue to be a focus for governments across Europe and globally. To date, these regulations have been getting stricter on those who are found to be in breach of these rules. This trend will continue with both AMLD4 and AMLD5 both coming down the line. To date, we have seen some serious fines and sanctions passed to banks and financial institutions for being in breach of these rules. Moving into 2017 and beyond, we expect that regulators of professional service will also being paying closer attention than ever before, as evidenced by the recent ‘flag it up’ campaign – a joint initiative involving the Accountancy Affinity Group, the Home Office and National Crime Agency (NCA) to tackle the serious threat of money laundering.

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Company: Encompass Corporation Name: Wayne Johnson, CEO Web Address: www.encompasscorporation.com Address: Encompass, Level 3, 39 St Vincent Place, Glasgow Scotland G1 2ER Telephone: +44(0)141 406 7761

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Successful Software Solutions Centium Software has been producing state-of-the-art meeting technology for over 25 years, with their technology being used by meeting planners and organizers in all event industries, including corporation events, incentive events, association events, world government events, and global sporting events, including three different Olympic games. We spoke to Alec Sonenthal to find out more his firm’s work within the industry.

Centium Software’s flagship product, EventsAIR, is the culmination of 25 years of industry leadership and provides organizers with a comprehensive, cloudbased platform for managing all aspects of events and meetings.

This includes the management of travel, accommodation, registration, functions, exhibitions, speakers, onsite check-in, mobile apps, accounting, budgeting and much more. Alec explains that events are complex, dynamic and ever-changing, which necessitates consistent updates to the technology that manages them in order to keep pace with the industry.

“As the event lead-up moves into the actual event, the time pressures, constraints and workloads increase exponentially; we understand this, and have created powerful, easy-to-use, real-time solutions with redundancy and support 24/7. We don’t outsource our support. We maintain offices around the globe and deliver support in person, by telephone and online. We are proud to specialize in event management, and we’re pleased that our products are proven and trusted all over the world.

“Our clients include professional conference organizers (PCOs),

corporate planners, non-profit planners, government planners and travel organizations.

Everyone involved at Centium Software is committed to the success of our clients, evidenced by the hundreds of clients that have utilised our service for over a dozen years and continue to do so to this day. As an employee owned company, we focus on providing leading edge technology, designed for the needs and requirements of today’s meeting planners. Our team consists of meeting experts who walk-the-walk and fully understand the challenges and needs of today’s rapidly changing meetings industry.”

For more than 25 years, the team at Centium Software have developed some of the biggest innovations in the event management industry. What got them to this stage? The same thing that Alec believes makes them different: their point of view.

“Our background is in event management, so we think like event organizers. We design and develop according to what will make life easier for them and for attendees, and what will benefit the host organization.

The meetings industry has been dramatically affected by changes in the software and technology industry, with the shift to cloud-based design leading

36 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

these changes. Other providers of event management solutions rely on web-based designs that are more than ten years old and are not nearly as secure or robust as current, cloud-based technology. This shift to the cloud has opened up numerous new approaches to how we can design technology and deploy it to our clients.

“Cloud-based technology has allowed Centium Software to completely re-think and reengineer how event planners can manage their events.

Our technology is app-based, providing a far superior level of security and ease of installation.

By deploying cloud-based technology and cutting-edge architecture, we are able to constantly innovate new technology and push this out to our clients every 30 to 60 days. This new architecture has allowed Centium Software to create a new paradigm in how meetings technology is deployed and licensed. For the first time, meeting planners can license a comprehensive and powerful technology for a flat monthly fee, as opposed to the overpriced approach of charging per-person registration fees.

“In order to stay ahead of the curve, our entire development team, including our Innovation Lab group, is constantly

evaluating trends and technology in the meetings industry. We are constantly holding innovation lab sessions with our clients, we speak to industry groups around the globe to gather further information and are focused on providing cutting-edge solutions to our clients. Our company size and structure allows us to constantly innovate new solutions and bring them to our clients in months, rather than years.”

Another ground-breaking approach that Centium Software is taking to new technology is the EventsAIR App Store. This collection of advanced services and tools allows clients of the firm to provide specialized and powerful tools to expand more traditional event tools, as Alec explains.

“Our app store includes dozens of apps, including tools for selfcheck in, onsite management, exhibitor appointments, audience live polling, exhibitor management, group management, speaker/abstract management and much more.

Most of these advanced apps are included at no additional charge to our clients, including our mobile attendee apps and mobile organizer apps. As you would expect, our commitment is resolute to continue innovating and leading the industry well into

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Successful Software Solutions

the future. We are continually releasing new technology within the EventsAIR platform, and focus on offering these enhancements without nickel and diming our clients for additional fees and charges.

Company: Centium Software Name: Alec Sonenthal Email: info@centiumsoftware.com Web Address: www.eventsair.com Telephone: 61 7 3341 8320

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“We support our future event organizers by sponsoring thousands of students studying event management at over 35 universities and institutions around the globe the with Rising Star education program. This real-world education program allows students to learn how realworld event technology works, and we extend certification to all students who complete the Rising Star program, and also provide 10, $1,000 scholarships each year to students across the globe.�

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 37

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Feeling Energised Filippo Fantachi is the CEO of Contax Partners and was recently awarded the title of CEO of the Year 2016 – Bahrain. He tells Corporate Vision more about the firm.

Chief Executive Officer, Filippo Fantachi, has been in the industry for more than 20 years.

He tells us more about the business, its ongoing strategy and what it is exactly that sets the firm apart from competitors.

“Contax Partners has two distinct service lines that set us apart from the other energy research and consulting firms in the region,” he begins. “Our core business is business advisory that provides research and consulting services to companies working in or looking to enter the regional energy industry. This activity also involves business development work that we do for our clients post completion of consulting pieces of work. The other line of business is Business Investments, in which Contax Partners takes an equity stake in upcoming and new technologies within the energy sector that show strong potential for growth.

The investment arm is supported

by the advisory team from an in-house research and consulting aspect.

“Our ability and commitment to see projects through by providing assistance via our business development efforts, investing our own money, or raising funds for business ventures that we strongly believe in, make us stand apart from our competition.

“Our strategy is to continue growing our existing business lines while constantly looking for services and geographies that offer good opportunities for diversification and expansion. Our acquisition of an engineering and design firm from Europe in late 2016 is in line with this strategy.”

The energy industry within the Middle East has seen several peaks and troughs and, in its 30-year history within the sector, Filippo has witnessed first-hand, several positive and negative impacts to the business and has had to constantly adapt in order to stay ahead of the game.

“Over time we have built a very strong reputation within the market and developed a robust mechanism that has sound data and analysis at the core of its strategy. With the regional O&G market moving towards adhering to international standards, we are witnessing a larger influx of new players and a greater requirement for strong compliance, all of which has had a positive impact on our business. While the market has gotten more price conscious, our diversification into other services and geographies has helped

38 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

us navigate through the tough times and has allowed us to take advantage of new opportunities that present themselves.”

Technological advancement within the energy sector, like in many other businesses, has revolutionised the entire sector.

Countries such as the United States that have historically been net importers of crude are now using their technological advantage to become significant global energy producers, thus shifting the global energy balance.

“As an advisory firm, our use of technology is rather limited to our database and the new technologies that we invest in,” embellishes Filippo. “Given that the core focus of our business investment arm is to invest and promote new technologies within the energy industry, we have the added responsibility of educating and promoting these technologies with key users in the market. While adoption rate is slow and gradual, our responsibility as being a socially and environmentally aware company adds to our mandate of promoting new and efficient technologies.”

Filippo may be an award-winning CEO, but he is quick to praise the efforts of his strong, talented and hard-working team. “They make my job simpler and more enjoyable. Given that we are a small company in size, making sure that the company retains a “family” like feeling is important in order to keep the morale high, even during the difficult times. This also shows in the low employee turnover that we have had over the course of the 30 years. On average, our employees have been with us for over four years, which is a strong testament to the inclusive culture of our company.”

With regards to the future, Filippo sees the firm as a well-diversified energy company with individual profit centres that support the overall growth of the company.

“I continue to see myself actively involved within the company from a strategic perspective, supporting the growth and vision of Contax Partners and contributing directly with sales and execution roles where applicable. I would love to see this being replicated in other markets that require these services.”

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Since its inception in 1985, Contax Partners has been recognised as a leading provider of project data, research, strategic analysis, risk and growth advisory and business development services to the Middle East energy and energy-related industry. For more 30 years, the firm has been working with national and international oil companies, contractors, subcontractors, service providers, equipment manufacturers, as well as, government agencies, investment banks and private equity firms.

Company: Contax Partners Name: Filippo Fantachi Email: Filippo.fantechi@contaxpartners.com Web Address: www.contaxpartners.com Address: Office 241, 19th floor, Platinum Tower, Seef District, Manama, Bahrain Telephone: +973 17 224456

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Guiding Lights S.P.Srisaila of Murano Lighting explains his/her passion for the lighting industry and how excellent customer service is the key to great success following their selection in the Small Cap Top 50.

S.P.Srisaila of Murano Lightning tells us more about the company.

“Starting from a single showroom and office in Sharjah, we have expanded with showrooms and offices in Dubai, Sharjah, & New Delhi. We continue to grow and maintain our global presence, with satisfied customers from Africa, Middle East and South Asia. Our product range includes architectural lighting, indoor decorative lighting and outdoor lighting.”

Murano Lighting is passionate about promoting the latest lighting technologies and practices in the lighting field and promotes innovative, eco-

friendly, energy efficient lighting technologies. It therefore has a diverse clientele, including hotel chains, residential buildings, commercial towers, hospitals, schools, banks, palaces and villas.

The firm’s overall mission is to deliver exceptional, personalised, and flexible services to clients by providing the latest technologies and practices in the lighting field as well as innovative, creative, and low cost solutions in lighting technologies.

S.P.Srisaila goes into further depth about how the company achieves this mission.

“We have our set goals and objectives to achieve our company’s mission. We also craft strategies to achieve our goals and objectives.

“Our organised, decision-making, precision-seeking Murano family uses the communication, networking channels to carry out our vision in a systematic process in order to achieve success.

“Our dedicated team of lighting designers, engineers, technicians and sales personnel are trained to understand the lighting needs of our customers and provide innovative solutions.

“Our dedicated customer service and after sales service ensures an overall rewarding experience for our clients.

“But above all, we promote innovative, eco-friendly, energy efficient lighting technologies in line with our mission.”

In order to differentiate itself from the competition, Murano Lightning focuses on customer service excellence, ensuring strong ongoing relationships.

“We are transparent to our customers in what we do and why we do it,” explains S.P.Srisaila. “We have a staunch belief in superior customer service. From the initial process through the final delivery of the products we treat each and every customer as if each is the only customer we have.”

In order to stay ahead of the curve, it is important for Murano Lightning

to keep up-to-date with emerging trends in the lightning industry.

“Apart from our conventional range, we provide lighting for specialised applications such as façade lighting, hospital lighting and museum lighting,” says S.P.Srisaila. “Our continuing steadfast relations with leading lighting manufacturers in Europe, United States and China enable us to monitor upcoming trends in the lighting field and satisfy even the most sophisticated and specialised requirements of our customers.”

With regards to the future for Murano Lighting, S.P.Srisaila believes it to be bright… very bright indeed!

“In line with our vision, we would like to be the leader in our lighting products, services and solutions and continue to grow, maintain the global presence with satisfied clients all over the world.

“We hope that we will expand this lighting business across the globe with many innovative ideas and products and we will have the global customers from across the world as we are providing our best to our clients.”

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Murano Lighting Company, established in 2001, has over the years evolved from a small trading company into a leading specialised lighting company based in the Middle East and focused on providing turnkey lighting solutions for all types of projects, including lighting design and procurement of customised fittings.

Company: MURANO LIGHTING COMPANY L.L.C Name: S.P. Srisaila Email: murano@emirates.net.ae Web Address: www.muranolights.us Address: SHARJAH P.O. Box 48557, Sharjah Telephone: U.A.E Tel :+971 6 5776998, +971 6 5776399

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 39

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Cloud Innovation Colin Aurelius of TDB Fusion shares his secrets to being a successful CEO and how the company’s core ethos is key in delivering consistent results following his success in receiving the UK CEO of the Month – Technology and Software award.

TDB Fusion is a software and managed services company, focused on the integration and automation of on-premise and Cloud market platforms for both IT and Data Centre operations, using the Federos™ product suite. Its customers include service providers, banks and government organisations that are looking to leverage existing investment in management systems to drive automation and innovation.

One of the firm’s core principles for success is transparency throughout the organisation, extending to its customers.

Colin Aurelius, CEO, explains more about the business and its ongoing strategy.

“Our success is inextricably linked with the success our customers have seen in delivering operational efficiency in both IT and Data Centre operations. We are using Federos to drive automation and converged operations, putting the needs of the end user at the heart of the business by providing targeted management information from existing data sources. Our vendor agnostic approach allows customers to adopt a unique and evolving strategy which is driving tangible returns, whilst introducing greater flexibility, and in turn innovation, as the needs of the business evolve.”

Colin tells us that the fundamental business principles are straightforward – how does the customer leverage existing

investments in management systems to improve the end user experience? It achieves this by following three key steps: Integrate – whereby we provide cross platform integration based on industry standards to ensure flexibility and future proofing; Automate –implement workflow and orchestration that saves time and money on repetitive activities and; Innovate – with the integration and automation provided we have seen our customers embrace innovation in response to market drivers, by focusing on the needs of the user, and breaking down siloed operations.

“The primary objective is to deliver concrete, measurable business value,” says Colin.

“In planning any project, we are always looking for the incremental milestone activities which enable our customer to see tangible, demonstrable results. With automation as a core objective, Federos allows customers to evolve over time, allowing users to repeatedly extend and refine business processes to address the changing needs of the business.

Our objective is to enable customers to adopt a policy of continuous improvement, and avoiding costly, open-ended consulting engagements which have become the norm in the industry.”

Recently, Colin was awarded the title of UK CEO of the Month – Technology and Software.

He comments on how it felt to receive this accolade in his jurisdiction, and the challenges

40 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

he has had to overcome as an award-winning CEO. “As a software and managed services business, we are operating in highly competitive markets, and competing with some of the largest software companies in the world. This award recognises the first class team we have established at TDB Fusion, and reflects all the hard work completed to get the business to this point in its development. In this respect I am delighted that the business has been recognised.”

recently been further enhanced with Tim Eltze, CFO, joining from Expansys US where he held the position of president, and Rob Gould joining as Managing Director for TDB Fusion, following his most recent role of Vice President EMEA at RSA Security. Both are tremendous additions to the business, and underline the progress we have made to date. Exciting times!”

Colin believes motivation as a CEO is of utmost importance, in order to keep on driving a strong team with successful results.

“As with any business, there are always challenges to be overcome. As a British software company, finding suitable funding options to enable the business to invest in product development beyond working capital resources is a constant challenge, particularly when compared to our compatriots in the US. We have been fortunate to work with three key organisations – Finance South East, the Santander Growth Fund, and more recently with our partners at Barclays Bank - which has allowed us to develop more strategically in the last two years. However, the availability of funding to UK business continues to be a major limitation for growth, and can inhibit innovation, and this will continue to be a key factor in the UK moving forward.”

“My motivation comes from two key perspectives: to deliver tangible, cost effective solutions to our customers and encourage innovation in an industry dominated by self-serving global players; and the enjoyment from working with a first class team in building a business we can all be proud of.”

“A second critical challenge has been recruitment, and we are constantly striving to bring in the highest quality talent in all areas of the business. I am very proud of the first class team we have put together, which has

“Moving forward, we are extending Federos to integrate the major Cloud Management platforms, providing a consistent management system for on-premise and Cloud-based operations,” comments Colin. “As

“I believe Richard Branson has been quoted as saying that the key attribute for any CEO is resilience, and who am I to disagree!”

Currently, within the industry, the IT, network and data centre verticals are moving at an extraordinary pace, and Colin’s focus on innovation has put TDB Fusion right at the heart of these changes.

g Cloud Innovation

a vendor agnostic solution this introduces a level of control and flexibility which organisations are struggling to find today.”

“In our case, technology is fundamental to the industry. We are focused on driving greater value, from a vendor agnostic perspective, and putting the customer in control of their management systems, rather than being at the mercy of the individual technology providers.”

As a CEO, Colin ensures that he keeps up-to-date with industry trends in order to always stay ahead of the curve in an everevolving sector. He also envisions opportunities for the future.

“The inexorable drive towards Cloud is challenging, with much of the marketing ‘noise’ ineffective in addressing the practical considerations of operating both on-premise and Cloud environments. Working with major industry analysts at Gartner and 451 Research enables us to share insights on market trends, and validate practical solutions to addressing customer demands for integration, automation and innovation”.

Company: TDB Fusion Limited Name: Colin Aurelius Email: colina@tdbfusion.com Web Address: tdbfusion.com Address: Swan House, Waterside Park, Cookham Road, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1RB, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 1344 852 852

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“We are developing a global software and managed services business with a strong, committed team, national and international reference customers and a clear product strategy.

We will be looking to ensure we capitalise on the significant opportunities we see to support our customers in driving innovation. We live by our own mantra: Integrate. Automate.

Innovate.”

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 41

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Fire in the Belly Philip Bartey, CEO of Autism Plus, is passionate about his work and tells us more about the firm, its initiatives and the secrets to its success, and his own CEO of the year success.

Autism Plus was founded in 1986 by a small group of parents of Autistic children.

The founders were concerned regarding the dearth of available provision to support their children so they created a small local service to meet their needs in South Yorkshire. In the early days, Autism Plus provided limited residential services and later developed day care facilities.

Philip Bartey was appointed CEO in 2005 and increased the size of the organisation from £2m to £10m annually. The service broke out from its limited South Yorkshire base and expanded across Yorkshire and Humber.

Today, Autism Plus works from 29 service locations across Yorkshire and Humber employing 450 staff and supporting 300 adults primarily diagnosed with autism.

Philip tells us more about the firm, the work it does and its ongoing strategy to ensure continued success.

“Our core business is social care where we provide residential and supported living services on a 24/7 basis each week of the year,” he begins. “Our adult service customers range in age terms from 18 to elderly and each and every one is very different in terms of their condition that we describe as the ‘Autism Spectrum’. At the far end of the spectrum the customers are more able and are often diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. This client group mostly display tremendous aptitude for complex work with numbers, complex detail with remarkable levels of memory recall. Recently a person with Asperger’s syndrome

was flown over New York in a helicopter and later drew a detailed accurate drawing from memory recalling precisely the shape, number and layout of every building across the city.

Some of the windows in the drawing were darkened with his pencil. When asked about this he responded that the drawing reflected precisely the number of dirty windows he observed in each building. This is an example of the latent talent each autistic person displays. However autistic people are often excluded from employment because they have communication difficulties.

“At the opposite end of the spectrum we have autistic people with severe and complex conditions and this group requires 24/7 support often within a residential or supported living environment although a good number still live with their parents and families but require outreach or community support.”

“Our strategy includes spreading our service risk more widely in recognition that commissioners vary across the region in terms of their capacity to respond. We are focussing on the five key city regions within Yorkshire and Humber to take advantage of increased devolution of powers and funding from central government to the regions.”

Philip explains that Autism Plus has positioned itself to create unique selling points in order to differentiate from the competition. “We have worked hard to improve the quality of our provision and all our core service areas have achieved a ‘Good’ rating from the Care Quality Commission. We also receive many compliments from parents, families and commissioners regarding our work. In 2011 I was not satisfied with simply

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conducting internal audits of our business and hoping the next CQC inspection would go well.

The gap between inspections could often be a year or more so my staff would not be used to the inspection process and despite their dedication and experience they would sometimes find the inspectors intimidating. I therefore commissioned an external auditing and mock inspection company to provide more support for front line staff.

External validation of quality and standards adds independent value to management and board audits. We were able to identify and rectify fault lines in advance of the real inspection but importantly the confidence and capability of my team improved enormously. I commissioned further staff training in understanding how and when to challenge inspectors (who sometimes get it wrong). This key move improved the quality of our business and ratings enormously. I do not know of any other provider that has adopted this comprehensive approach.”

At the core of Autism Plus’s strategy it has developed person-centred approaches in recognition that every customer is different. This has proven essential to understand the differences between each individual and it is important to discover what their personal attributes and aspirations are.

“Beyond support within a caring environment most customers want to work, to feel valued and to gain more independence. In 2010 we engaged in the New Deal Programme and successfully placed 1800 autistic people into employment. With a change of government the New Deal was scrapped and the coalition launched the Work Programme.

The work programme was unhelpful for disabled people as the government wanted quick results and engaged with large national companies who were incentivised according to the number of people they placed into work. This led to the ‘parking’ of disabled people and we disengaged from the programme.”

More recently Philip and the company launched a range of social enterprises across the region including a working chocolate factory at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire. The factory produces high-quality handmade chocolates and involves disabled co-workers in the process. The site has only been operational for 18 months but is proving to be a great success already. On the same site Austism Plus has also launched a horticultural service and provides vegetables to the local colleges and communities.

He also purchased a musical instrument manufacturing business with an established UK customer base. Within the first year of acquiring the business, it broke into the global export market for the first time.

“We are planning more micro enterprises at Ampleforth including a vintage Morris Minor car hire business and woodland management,” says Philip. “At the heart of our social enterprises the primary aim is to upskill disabled adults, to get them a foot on the employment ladder and to assist them in progressing to open employment. Our secondary aim is to open up new income streams as dependence on state income is diminishing.

“The social enterprises we have created offer a unique selling point for our customers and commissioners. Providing such an exciting range of enterprises

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is increasingly leading to Autism Plus being the preferred provider because we offer powerful progression routes that have not been replicated by our competitors.”

wanted my board and team to feel passionate about our business, to understand the challenges and opportunities and to develop that corporate ‘fire in the belly’ motivation.”

When Philip first joined Autism Plus in 2005 his main aim was to focus on the staff. At the time motivation was low, there was a bullying and blame culture and the attrition rate was in excess of 30%.

As a highly successful CEO Philip clearly has outstanding attributes which have helped him climb the ladder in his career, but humbly, he doesn’t comment on these, and instead tells us how his early career in business prepared him well for the career change in the social care arena.

“At the same time I launched ‘Parents Question Time’ events.

Engaging with parents and families is crucial to our business and it is important for me to hear first-hand how they feel about our work and the changes to the lives of their offspring.

“Having laid the above foundations or prerequisite approaches to embarking upon our strategic journey I engaged with my senior team, staff and the board to develop the strategy.

I have a strong interest in military history because that is where strategy was born. Men and women thrown together in conflict and crisis were forced to develop strategies to keep them alive!

Strategy can be quite boring a subject for some people so I introduced military examples and analogies that we could translate into our own approaches. I

“Undoubtedly my early career in business helped me in understanding the importance of meeting customer needs, getting the product or service right, motivating the team, why inspirational leadership matters and in constantly seeking continuous improvement. I seek out ways of identifying and creating the USP or advantage over the competition that makes a real difference to service users and I have never lost that ‘fire’ in my belly that drives me onwards and upwards.”

With regards to the future, Autism Plus aspires to be the service of choice for autistic and disabled people and wants to roll out this unique service nationally.

“We strive for continuous improvement - there is no ceiling when it comes to meeting customer needs and driving up quality of service and products,” Philip says.

Autism Plus has ambition to extend its work nationwide and is finalising its strategy to achieve this in recognition that the autistic population is growing and demand for services and support is increasing substantially. With the state withdrawing support, providers need to adapt the way they work without compromising quality.

“I think it will take us five years to achieve the national step change but Autism Plus is up for the challenge as ever.

“Where will I be in five years’ time? Still alive and kicking I hope and still seeking excellence through change and growth.

These are challenging but exciting times. I want the best possible outcomes that can be achieved for disabled and vulnerable people.”

Name: Philip Bartey MinstD, Group Chief Executive Company: Autism Plus Address: The Exchange Brewery, 2 Bridge Street, Sheffield, S3 8NS Email: Philip.bartey@autismplus.co.uk Telephone: 0114 384 0284 Web: www.autismplus.org

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“I spent my first year focussing on changing the culture and this led to the attrition rate falling to 2%,” embellishes Philip. “It has since grown to around 8% but remains well below the industry average. My approach was simplistic. I could not accept inheriting an unhappy workforce.

If they are demotivated, dreading to come to work, not feeling valued then this must impact on the vulnerable people we are there to support so for me it was a crucial starting point. Building trust and confidence with staff led to better communication, understanding, engagement of staff and we could embark upon the journey of growth and diversification as a team.

I introduced CEO Cup of Tea meetings held across the service locations four times per annum. The meetings were in accordance with Chatham house rules –open and informal- an opportunity to chat with the CEO, to present ideas, to explain what works well and what does not work so well.

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 43

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Building a Better Lifestyle for the Over 60s Chairman and CEO of Churchill Retirement, Spencer McCarthy, tells us more about the firm and his visions for the future.

At Churchill we specialise in purpose built one and two bedroom apartments, located throughout England and specifically designed to meet the needs of independent retired people. We focus on providing an independent lifestyle, with regular social activities for our Owners to enjoy, and all those time consuming maintenance jobs taken care of so they can have more time to relax and enjoy their retirement. Churchill Retirement Living has built over 100 developments featuring 3,856 apartments, and we employ over 500 in our six offices across England. Our 100th development – Chelmer Lodge in Chelmsford – was officially opened last November by Dame

Esther Rantzen DBE, who is an official Brand Ambassador for the business.

Like most housebuilders we’ve faced plenty of challenges over the years, but we’ve worked hard as a team to achieve continued growth and success.

Our success is a testament to the excellence of our people and our product, our superb build quality, our customer service and the way we do business.

We have a very clear focus on what it is we want to achieve at Churchill, we have a very clear understanding of our customer and their needs and this is all reflected in the product we have and the clear understanding of our specification.

There is plenty of uncertainty around the housing market at the moment, and plenty of debate about whether we can build enough homes to supply our growing – and rapidly ageing – population. What I do know is that, whatever happens in the coming years, we’ll be looking to keep on growing, investing and improving across every aspect of the business. We have ambitious targets and a clear plan in place to keep delivering disciplined growth whilst maintaining sector leading margins.

Despite the uncertainty of Brexit, and whatever that might mean for the economy and the wider housing market, I see plenty of reasons to feel confident about our sector. There’s no getting around the fact that we have a rapidly ageing population, many

44 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

of them isolated and lonely and living in housing which doesn’t suit their changing needs.

Analysts forecast that by 2039, 37% of all households in the UK will be headed up by people aged over 65. There are already around 8 million over 60s who are interested in downsizing.

They’re compelling figures, but we need to provide these people with the right homes in the right places, and planning reforms and more incentives for older people to downsize will be vital to achieving that. The Government’s Housing White Paper has highlighted some of these issues, but there is a lot more that needs to be done to bring about the changes we need.

Another focus for the year ahead is to keep growing the Churchill Foundation, our registered charity which enables us to support the many local communities where we work. The Foundation was set up in 2015 to give to a wide range of charities, and it’s an initiative I feel very strongly about. We managed

to raise over £250,000 for the Foundation in its first full year, and it’s another aspect of the business that I’m very proud of.

Our own Churchill Awards for the over 65s, now in their fifth year, will also keep recognising the achievements of the over 65s in British society. Increasingly the over 65s play an important role in all realms of society, be it politics, art, business, sport, or championing the environment, and we want to keep honouring this.

I’d like to thank all my colleagues for their continued hard work and commitment towards the company. Awards like this wouldn’t be possible without such an excellent team of people around me, and I look forward to achieving plenty of further success over the coming years.

K

I’m very proud to receive the CEO of the Year award, which I see as a testament to what we are achieving at Churchill Retirement Living. We have a company Mission Statement: “To be the most successful housebuilder in the UK.” It’s an ambitious goal, but by winning recognition like this I can certainly say that we are on the way to achieving it. Last year was our most successful to date, with record turnover and profits. We also became the first retirement housing specialist to win the WhatHouse? “Housebuilder of the Year” Award, and just last month we were named 13th Best Company to Work For in the UK. So the accolades keep coming and that’s something I am very proud of.

Company: Churchill Retirement Living Name: Spencer McCarthy Email: enquiries@churchillretirement.co.uk Web Address: www.churchillretirement.co.uk Address: Millstream House, Parkside, Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 3SG Telephone: +44 (0)20 7608 7222

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The Invisible Man Guy Cramer is President and CEO of Hyperstealth. He talks to us about the fascinating industry he operates in, and tells us about a few of his most successful projects to date.

Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp is a world leader in Camouflage, Concealment and Deception (CCD). Hyperstealth has developed over 14,000 camouflage patterns and over 5,000,000 military issued uniforms using Hyperstealth camouflage to militaries all over the world, including: The Kingdom of Jordan, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Jamaica, Afghanistan and the Philippines.

Hyperstealth also designed the Optifade hunting line camouflage for WL Gore (Goretex) for their Sitka products which is also used by Beretta, and the firm has developed patterns for Vans Shoes OTW (Off The Wall) Collection, Columbia Sportswear PFG (Performance Fishing Gear) and LBX Tactical (a division of London Bridge Trading Inc.).

Guy Cramer is President and CEO of Hyperstealth. He tells us more about the company and its business strategy.

“Given that Hyperstealth is primarily about camouflage design I don’t require much staff and thus I can keep our overhead to a minimum so revenues are being built up and not being offset by huge wage requirements,” he explains.

“I have been called an expert disruptor; someone who is innovating the industry of camouflage and not only staying ahead of the competition but changing the way business is done in the industry.

“We can print on demand any one of our 14,000 patterns in a matter

of hours, not days or months as the large print factories require.

One would think that this would upset the large print factories but our quick turnaround actually saves them time and money as the process of development no longer pulls their machines out of production for the many days it would often take to get patterns developed and colored correctly.

Their large print machines are often running three shifts a day for most of the week so any downtime for them to carry out development is lost production and lost revenue. We save our clients time and money by rapid development and short run production. We can print 1 yard or 100 yards at the same cost per yard but the large printers typically require 10,000 yard minimums, so we don’t even compete with their business and we’ve changed their business by being able to provide them a final product that they just need to match to, which can save them 80-90% of the time it used to take them to do this.”

The motto of the company is ‘Making The Best Better’ and Guy strives to do this constantly.

“My job as a CEO is to run the company on behalf of the shareholders. We have about 130 and each of them put faith in Hyperstealth so my focus must be on behalf of each shareholder to provide the best products, the best science and the best representation, which in turn will create the best value for the company and thus the benefit the shareholders.”

When undertaking a new project, Guy has a very set process that he follows in order to quickly and accurately assess the client’s

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needs, but Guy won’t take on just anybody.

“We used to take anything that came our way but I now carefully pick and choose based on past experience, for example I ask myself ‘How long do I anticipate this will take?’ ‘Will it interfere with our core business?’ ‘What is the current focus and will this distract me from that?’ Once I have determined that it meets our criteria I have to determine what the client’s expectations are: do they want to have me develop something unseen before or do they want to pick from my library of 14,000 camouflage patterns?

Where will the camouflage be expected to operate in? Are there surrounding countries that use our patterns and if they do I need to make something that won’t be confused with those?

“Most country programs take 2-3 years before the uniforms start being issued so it can take a lot of patience and the term “loose lips sink ships” is something we practice, you won’t hear me speak of a new country until uniforms are being issued, so what is happening now will only be revealed between tomorrow and three years from now. Even when I travel I don’t post on social media where I’m going or take photos when I’m there unless there is no requirement from that country for a new camouflage pattern, in which case I am there for other reasons that don’t show up on any radar.”

Recently, Guy was voted Aerospace and Defence CEO of the Month – an accolade awarded to him by readers of Corporate Vision magazine.

How does it feel to have won this award in your jurisdiction?

“It is an honor to be recognized in this industry, which has so many intellects and top-quality people in it that while our business is in the area of concealment and hiding (camouflage), our company ironically has become quite well known around the world,” he laughs. “I have been involved in this Aerospace and Defense part of the business for 14 years now and, while my focus is on survivability and effectiveness, I also understand that you need to listen to your mentors and advisors and I have the best possible people in that area to allow me to make the best decisions I can.”

Guy has faced many challenges in his life as CEO of Hyperstealth. Initially it was his age and inexperience.

“We formed the company in 1999 right when the dot com craze was happening and being a young President and CEO was considered the new and improved way of taking on the business world. Many people discovered that these 30-year old CEO’s were making huge mistakes, they had the drive but not the experience and the years of dealing with people and companies.”

Guy was fortunate in his upbringing and he tells us of the mentors and life coaches who had a huge influence on him and have helped to make him the success he is today.

“My first mentor was my Grandfather, Donald L. Hings CM MBE, inventor of the

g The Invisible Man

##

Name: Guy Cramer, President/CEO Company: HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp.

Website: www.hyperstealth.com

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 47

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Walkie-Talkie and more than 56 other patents. He received the Member of the British Empire award after World War II and the Order of Canada in 2001. I worked with him for six years as his assistant and he taught me how to innovate. I absorbed his stories and his life experiences which provided me with a huge advantage at a young age.

“In 2003, I meet another mentor, Lt. Col. Timothy R. O’Neill, Ph.D. (US Army, Retired), the world expert on camouflage.

We discovered early on that his research and guidance, along with my advancements in the field, would allow us to make better, more effective patterns than both of us working independently. Again I listened and relied on his teaching and this has happened numerous times to me with other very experienced people in their areas of expertise. It is these relationships that have allowed me to gain so much understanding that without them I would not be the success that I’ve become. It really is the sum of all parts (mentors and advisors) that makes this work.

“I get so tired of the comment ‘If you just put your mind to it you can do anything you want!’ This comment routinely comes from the .0001% of the population that just had the right opportunity at the right time or knew the right person that elevated them to that stunning achievement. In their minds, if they could do it, anyone can do it. The reality is

that most people that attempt this will only be disappointed. We are not all radio quality singers or actors or authors, often success comes from a lot of persistence and hard work but the formula is much more difficult to pin down.

More often than not, it is who you know, not what you know that puts you on that road.

“Success is also fleeting, how many award winning actors continue to always have similar performances in the future?

Because of the award they are offered better roles but this doesn’t always translate into a cookie cutter performance. It is one thing to be successful at some point and another thing entirely to be described in the same way two or five years down the road. My motivation is not the success but doing the best job I can with the talents I have and in the end that may be why I’ve become successful.”

Guy claims that he is constantly problem-solving and he loves a challenges, this is one of the attributes he possesses which have helped to make him the successful CEO he is today.

“I enjoy coming up with new solutions that have not been tried before, which makes me a disruptor in this industry!” he states. “You can model other company business models or technology but that usually doesn’t put you at the top. You must do the extraordinary, the unexpected, the impossible, in order to stand out from the crowd.

“I capitalize on new ways of developing, designing, interacting with technology and finding hybrid solutions that don’t require huge investments. I utilize those developments quietly before anyone realizes change is coming and by the time I release something that looks new to the world, I’m already busy working on the next generation, always staying at least one step ahead of any other company.

part, a mimicry of natural settings and that there didn’t seem to be any science behind them. W.L. Gore tasked Guy, Lt Col Timothy R O’Neill and brought in Dr Jay Neitz (an Animal Vision Expert) to work together to come up with a camouflage based on the science of how animals see and not how humans see. It took us some time but in the end, we came up with a number of patterns under the Optifade camouflage clothing line.

“It is not the one game that creates a championship team but a whole season of games that makes them the best. In business, one good contract should not reflect on the CEO but all the contracts, programs and projects together over the years reveal the attributes which truly separate the average from the above average success rate.

“These patterns have been proven to be very effective in the industry and hunters swear by the Optifade brand as the animals or birds that they are hunting do not see them the same way the other hunting brands allowed them to. You have to do something very different to break into this well established market and WL Gore did just that.”

“I can say that Hyperstealth is associated with many hugely successful outcomes and many more are in the works.”

With regards to the current industry, Guy has seen many new companies starting up in the last ten years, with only a limited number of them in the military market enjoying any success.

Indeed, most of these new companies are now struggling to survive as countries are deciding to develop on their own, or simply to do what everyone else is doing.

“The problem with wearing the same thing as everyone else is ‘operational security’,” explains Guy. “Can someone easily infiltrate your defenses wearing something that almost anyone can acquire? One of the biggest complaints from the public about Hyperstealth is that they can’t seem to acquire our patterns, even on Ebay, whereas our competitors are easily obtained. The reason is that most countries we work with get an exclusive pattern to provide them with the operational security they need and should have.

In the hunting industry there are a few companies that have recently made a name for themselves – WL Gore is one of those companies that recognized that hunting patterns were,for the most

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It is clear that in Guy’s line of work, technology is of critical importance and provides him with the innovation he requires to continue succeeding. He tells us in more detail about some of his greatest creations.

“In 2010 I developed a color-changing cloth, called Smartcamo, which I didn’t realize at the time, far surpassed anything the US Military was developing.

“In 2011 I developed Quantum Stealth (Light Bending Technology) and discovered a way to completely hide a target by bending the entire visual light spectrum around the target. This technology also works in the near ultraviolet, near infrared and thermal spectrum. Many physicists claim what I’ve done is impossible, which is actually beneficial to me as it provides more time to develop and improve it to the next generation (version 2) before they have even figured out what version 1 is. I’ve done numerous demonstrations of the technology to a number of highlevel military and government groups and it is progressing, but that is all I can say without giving something away.

“I can, however, tell you that this technology makes many aspects of traditional camouflage

g The Invisible Man

obsolete and providing it to everyone would create a host of problems for our own forces where they utilize technology as an advantage over their adversaries. Our Quantum Stealth would render many of these advantages useless, so it has to be controlled, which is why it is still not something I can show to the general public after all these years. I don’t mind the skeptics, I would be one of them myself if I was on the outside.

“In 2012, CNN ran a story on me describing the Quantum Stealth applications and the story went viral around the world with more than 5,000 news organizations picking the story up. That was overwhelming and I can only imagine what would happen if I was ever allowed to show it to the public.”

Guy tells us of current trends emerging and where he believes the camouflage industry may be heading within the next five years.

“I see the trend moving to the science side: objective testing, vision science, color science human behavior studies - we are that trend and we are very much ahead of that trend as typical bureaucracy delays many of these advancements.

This has allowed many of the competitors freedom to promote their products without any testing or minimal testing at best. Even military testing is often subjective and flawed and the sad part is the soldier is the one who is put in harm’s way with an inferior product due to politics, poor testing, lobbying or naive policies.

I would hope for the sake of the soldier that whoever gets the next contract can provide an optimal solution with the best pattern or technology available to give them an unfair advantage against their enemies.”

With regards to his own business, Guy coyly tells us that he is working on several ‘big’ projects, however he cannot share them for security purposes! Nevertheless, the future is looking very bright for Hyperstealth.

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 49

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Power to the People David Burkhalter of American law firm Burkhalter, Rayson & Associates talks to Corporate Vision magazine following being awarded the prestigious title of American Law Firm of the Year – Tennessee.

“Our law firm prides itself on representing only the hardworking people of this country, and not corporations or insurance companies,” he begins. “Whether they are the top executives, like the CEO or VP, blue collar, white collar, or a doctor, we represent clients from all walks of life. We treat our clients like family because each case is truly personal to us.

“With over 70 years of combined legal experience, we represent individuals in nearly every type of employment matter, including wrongful termination, retaliation, contractual disputes, severance negotiations, discrimination, etc. This also includes those brave whistleblowers who choose to speak out against government fraud, in cases such as, government contract and/or procurement fraud, healthcare Medicare/Medicaid fraud, illegal kickbacks, SEC and securities frauds, and IRS and tax fraud.

We also have an extensive personal injury and wrongful death practice, and we represent a wide range of seriously injured persons and/or their family members.”

The practice of law and the business of running a law practice are two very different aspects, and David embellishes.

“The business of running a law practice requires us to always be up-to-date on the most recent innovations and technologies

that will help make our business more efficient and effective, and in turn, allow us to offer the best possible service to each individual client.”

There are several key attributes which David believes sets Burkhalter, Rayson & Associates apart from the competition.

“The mo¬st obvious is that other law firms do not have the wonderful staff that this law firm does,” he laughs. “Also, we welcome the opportunity to fight for the people of this country, and find justice for those who have truly been wronged (or injured). That is what this law firm is all about. We make a point to understand our clients and empathise with their problems.

We embrace the fact that we are a family of trial lawyers, and we apply that type of mindset to our clients. Every case is personal.

Every client is important. Finally, it is our ability to creatively find the right solution to every problem, no matter how small or complex.”

First and foremost, the client’s best interest is always the firm’s number one priority.

“Making this the top priority in every case results in the type of client satisfaction that is critical to obtaining the results that matter, as well as maintaining our reputation,” says David. “Nearly all of our cases are taken on a contingency fee basis, which means if there is no monetary recovery, then the client does not owe an attorney fee. Therefore, if our client is satisfied with the results, then we are also

50 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

satisfied. We have a personal stake invested into every single case just like our clients. We stand or fall together.”

Maintaining neutrality, confidentiality and fairness in cases can often bring forward challenges. David explains how the firm deals with this.

“With every case, there are a number of circumstances that you must always take into consideration. As an attorney, we are obligated to maintain the utmost confidentiality with every client and potential client. As a counselor, we advise our client on every conceivable option and outcome. As an advocate, we zealously fight to obtain justice for our client. As a human, however, it can sometimes be very difficult to remain neutral when you empathize with a client who you know was truly wronged. In this regard, we are never “neutral”. However, in order to be as effective as possible, we have to objectively view cases from all sides, as we strive to put all necessary time, energy, and talent into each case in order to ensure the best possible outcome.

“We embrace all challenges at this firm. The ability to overcome challenges and adversity is certainly a measure of success.

With that being said, you cannot always predict the future. You must learn from your mistakes.

You must surround yourself with good people who share our vision, believe in the process, and importantly, are the type of people who will tell you what you need to hear, rather than what you want to hear.”

Industry in America is everevolving and David comments on how the legal field is no different and how the firm works hard to stay ahead of the game. “Laws and regulations change and/ or are created every day. We stay abreast of the most recent legal innovation in several ways but, as a boutique law firm, we also have to be practical in making cost-effective decisions.

This firm focuses on innovative approaches to client acquisition, client satisfaction, and successful representation.”

K

David tells us a little more about the firm, its work and its clientele.

Company: Burkhalter, Rayson & Associates, P.C. Name: David A. Burkhalter II Email: david@burkhalterrayson.com Web Address: www.burkhalterrayson.com Address: 111 South Central Street, Knoxville, TN 37902 Telephone: (865) 524-4974

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People Power Tony Boyle talks to us in the wake of being voted Canadian CEO of the Month – Ontario about his firm and what it is that truly keeps him motivated.

HRdownloads was founded in 2008 in London, Ontario and since that time has become the Canadian leader in providing results-driven and tailored human resources products and services. Today, HRdownloads provides thousands of Canadian businesses with cost-effective and time-saving documentation, live HR advice, employee and customer surveys, and online employee training solutions to transform and maximize the efficiency of HR processes.

Tony Boyle is Chief Executive Officer of HRdownloads. Tony is ready to share his broad-based HR experience and advice with HRdownloads clients on topics like industrial relations, contract negotiations, recruitment, training and development, benefits management, organizational planning, health and safety, attendance management, emergency management response, coaching, counselling and has previous experience as an ISO Auditor.

With more than 25 years of experience in HR and operational management, Tony has accrued extensive first-hand knowledge in the construction industry and IT related companies. He also has experience in the public sector employed in HR management training/safety roles with a Municipal Government.

He has worked in both union and non-union work environments where he held operational and HR managerial positions giving him a broad scope of business expertise.

Tony tells us more about the firm and its ongoing strategy.

“Our business today and since our inception continues to focus on providing practical solutions to both HR professionals and business owners, we assist in everything relating to employment from on boarding to succession planning.

HRdownloads offers live HR support, documentation, training and virtually every aspect of human capital management is our number one focus. One of

the key principles we strive to adhere to is providing affordable solutions to small and midsize enterprises and from an internal standpoint we put a very concerted effort on providing a great workplace founded on the an employee centric approach and we ensure that every day is healthy mix of fun and high productivity.”

The process for HRdownloads undertaking a new client or project is quite unique and tailored to each individual project or customer. The firm does not employ a blanket approach that one-size-fits-all and the approach is very individual based on the client or project in hand.

“For us, technology is very important,” Tony says. “Tracking your customers usage of your products and engaging in digital marketing constantly is a very crucial part of any modern business. How we ensure it used effectively is through rigiorous training and retraining we put a very strong emphasis on utilizing all the most technologically advanced tools available today.”

Recently, Tony was given the title of Canadian CEO of the Month and tells us the attributes he possesses which make him award-winning.

The key attributes I believe in, and that have helped me succeed, include my continuous thirst for knowledge and my ability to motivate,” he says.

“I have spent years leading teams of people and truly enjoy speaking and engaging my staff.

Also my sense of humour as I

52 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

believe it is incredibly important for me to have fun and share laughs with my colleagues at work on a daily basis!”

Tony tells us that his motivation comes largely from his family and his dedicated team of hardworking staff at HRdownloads.

“I believe when you make your employees daily activities fun and their wellness a priority they in turn will make your business and customer interactions a high priority.

“The most common challenge for me as CEO is trying to make more hours in the day! There is always something to do and it can be challenging to spend time on everything I would like to.”

The HR industry is absolutely booming and more and more organizations of all sizes have come to realize the importance of talent acquisition and retention.

Tony confirms this: “Our greatest asset as a business is our people and therefore making HR and your staff morale a priority will have an immediate and lasting effect on the health of your business.”

So what does the future have in store for HRdownloads? Well Tony doesn’t believe in following trends, but he does believe in creating them!

“Over the next five years we expect to see dramatic and disruptive change in the HR space - driven by HRdownloads!”

g

People Power

“We’re the first place you will turn to for HR solutions and the last place you’ll ever need to look. Bringing all areas of human resources together, our out-of-the-box and tailormade solutions empower companies of all shapes and sizes. We help you elevate your human resources and concentrate your efforts where you’re needed most.

##

Company: HRdownloads Name: Tony Boyle Email: tboyle@hrdownloads.com 195 Dufferin Ave, Suite 500, London, Ontario, N6A 1K7, Canada Telephone: 15194389763

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 53

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Leading the Way in Technological Optimisation eMazzanti Technologies helps small-to medium-sized enterprises use and optimize technology to reach specific business goals. We profile the firm to showcase the vast array of solutions and services it offers.

Establihsed in 2001, eMazzanti Technologies offers a range of services including IT network, cloud computing, business continuity and disaster recovery, video conferencing, security, outsourced IT services, PCI compliance, custom developed software and more. eCare, the firm’s signature service offering, supports successful businesses around the globe. This innovative suit of products supports everything from network security through to disaster recovery and office relocation. eMazzanti engineers are highly innovative and technically

minded, as well as being excellent listeners and communicators. This enables them to take their clients’ unique business needs to heart and bring them solutions which both meet the highest industry standards, effectively and efficiently resolve their most pressing issues and optimize the way they want to work moving forward.

As the firm leverage the customer’s existing hardware and software investments, it is able to get new solutions up and running as quickly as possible. From troubleshooting against future bottlenecks and ensuring scalability to providing clients with reliable training and support, eMazzanti truly offer a

fully rounded service to meet the needs of its clients.

These clients are based around the world and across the corporate landscape, as eMazzanti services businesses throughout the New York Metropolitan area and in three countries worldwide ranging from home office environments to multinational corporations with mission-critical needs. These organizations rely on eMazzanti as their technology management partner.

Critical to the firm’s success as a company has been its ability to accommodate the global infrastructure requirements of these customers. eMazzanti has endeavored to build a global network of vendors and

partners that allow us to support its customers’ technology needs throughout the world in a highly effective fashion.

Moving forward, as the firm’s clients grow and their needs change, its flexible, scalable model adapts to meet the aspirations of their businesses. eMazzanti form long-term relationships with clients that value stability and reliability in their IT partners. An innovative and comprehensive approach to technology services has earned eMazzanti the trust of a rapidly growing client base and recognition by many of the industry’s foremost publications, and looking ahead the firm is keen to build upon this and grow even further over the coming months and years.

K Company: eMazzanti Technologies Phone: 844.360.4400 Email: sales@emazzanti.net Fax: 844.360.4500 Website: www.emazzanti.net

54 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

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Achieving Outstanding Results It’s an honour to be recognized for Corporate Vision’s CEO of the Month – USA Construction award, especially because the award comes from an elite magazine that reaches more than 130,000 top-tier professionals around the globe.

Learning that Corporate Vision is read by a worldwide network of CEOs, directors, and other top-level professionals as well as investment professionals, spanning an array of industries and sectors, it feels tremendous to be able to share, learn and collaborate with other likeminded, high achieving business leaders.

About me I’m a retired Army Officer, graduated from West Point in 1981, and for 10 years, served in various combat Armor Unit leadership and staff positions.

The next decade, I served in uniformed acquisition assignments such as, contracting officer, R&D domestic and international acquisitions, generals aide-de-camp and Director, Army Science Board when I retired in the Pentagon in 2001.

I am proud to say, a few of my West Point classmates are still on active duty and, they’ve reached the highest levels of the Army to include Army Vice Chief of Staff. The following 10 years I was employed at Pfizer, Inc. as a site General Manager.

There, I was tasked a facility lead for 5 different M&A integrations, companies that Pfizer Animal Health, a $4B division, purchased.

My wife and I started AEONRG LLC, 5 years ago. The company provides facility services and data facility solutions to the government. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, start my own business. My value proposition is building teams and then managing complex projects.

AEONRG has a culture of and laser focus on providing high quality services, delivered on time, within budget and, with exceptional customer satisfaction. In 2014, AEONRG was the recipient of the Chester County SCORE small business award with citations from US Senators, Representatives, and local officials.

Within the last 4 years, AEONRG has been awarded over 50 government contracts.

A substantial portion of our business is with the Veterans Affairs Medical Centers within the eastern portion of the United States. Our relationship with our VAMC customers is professional, respectful and focused on getting the job done to meet mutually agreed expectations.

Our relationships with teaming partners are developed after extensive vetting to ensure outstanding fit among these high performing teams. Our principles are such that our projects are always completed to a high degree of quality, on-time and,

56 CORPORATE VISION / March 2017

with our extensive, mandatory safety program, always zero safety incidents.

One of my leadership philosophies is based on General Patton’s leadership style. Provide the team with the mission/project goals, provide them required resources and let them determine best manner of successfully completing their portion of the project. I’m always amazed at the creativity of individuals and teams in achieving outstanding results.

I am often asked, “How do you keep myself motivated and positive to be successful?” My employees and I have a passion for executing high quality facility maintenance, repair and service contracts. We enjoy the challenges of each project as every one of them is different.

There are different customers, effects on operations, regulatory requirements that must be adhered.

We stay motivated by continuous training and learning so that we can implement the latest, most technologically efficient solution for our customer. The other important component of staying motivated is balancing my business with family, exercise, and church activities.

As with any endeavour, I’ve had to overcome challenges to be

a successful CEO. In a word, I would say it is balance. Fast growth is important but it must be accomplished in a disciplined, managed manner in order that AEONRG continues to provide quality, on-time projects to its customers and, above all, meet and exceed customer expectations.

I have several key attributes that I possess that I believe facilitated me to become an award-winning CEO. First, is a passion for setting and achieving stretchgoals and, pursuing the “harder right”. Second is living a life where the glass is “half full” and always searching for the ‘Art of the Possible.’ Since graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point, I’ve learned the virtues of persistence, grit and a “never quit” attitude toward accomplishing personal and organizational goals. I recognize my personal strengths and weaknesses and don’t hesitate to obtain assistance or advice to overcome my weaknesses.

My thoughts on the state of my industry are very positive. The demand for AEONRG’s products and services is increasing significantly, customers are pursuing us like never before.

New business opportunities are emerging with my primary customer and other government agencies. AEONRG’s partnership

g Achieving Outstanding Results

base continues to mature and grow increasing our operational range. Within my industry and base customers, we’re experiencing 30% growth rates for new opportunities for the next 4-5 years.

A major challenge facing the company, is obtaining even more capital. It has been an ‘uphill’ challenge. The US Dodd Frank financial law negatively affected traditional bank’s lending abilities. We’ve overcome this hurdle mostly self-financing and now other additional financing opportunities. Being a Leadership Council member within the National Small Business Association, I can influence legislation and tap into resources to overcome past obstacles, such as with FINTECH solutions.

Company: AEONRG, LLC Name: William J. Belknap, Sr., M.B.A President & CEO Email: Bill.Belknap@AEONRG.com Web Address: www.AEONRG.com Address: 845 Tremont Drive, Downingtown, PA 19335-4131 Telephone: + 1 610 518 5784

##

As to AEONRG’s future, we are continuously seeking high quality, highly motivated partners. We are expanding our reach of customers across the US. Emphasis is on our team’s collective and individual success - financial, professional, and personal. In addition, giving back to the causes we believe in - West Point and Twilight Wish Foundation. Thank you again for this prestigious award.

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Caring for the Future Todd Thiede tells Corporate Vision more about Preferred Home Health Care & Nursing Services in the wake of being awarded CFO of the Year 2017 – USA.

“Home health care can be clinically complex and environmentally unstable. As such, Preferred insists on a team approach to communication with our clients and their families. This constant interaction allows us to manage expectations, discuss future goals and work though the obstacles that can arise when dealing with medically fragile individuals.”

Preferred’s mission is to deliver an unwavering focus on client needs and positive family outcomes. Chief Financial Officer, Todd Thiede, tells us how this is achieved. “We do this through quality service, consistently transparent communication and an internal belief that appropriate home health care is essential to the overall health of our country.

The best day in our firm is when our clients no longer need our nursing services, because they can sustain and thrive on their own.”

Home health care is a competitive and volatile industry. To differentiate itself from the pack, Preferred stays hyper-focused on providing unparalleled training to each nurse and coordination with each family. “Our training program has been certified by the State of New Jersey as an important and unique education that puts our nurses, and thus our clients, in the best position to succeed.”

“The lone constant in home health care is change,” Todd tells us, talking about the industry in general and the influences affecting it. However the firm also strives to employ techniques which keep it one step ahead of emerging developments.

“Given the clinical, social and environmental needs of each client, there are daily internal challenges. Externally, our industry is impacted by the political landscape, insurance pressures and the nursing population. Preferred has succeeded by staying fluid and focused on educating our nurses, providing unparalleled service and ultimately, the clients specific needs.

“We are consumed with

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transparent communication between our Preferred family and our clients’ families. We strive for similar dialogue with the respective political setting, insurance contacts and trade organizations, which allows Preferred to stay nimble during uncertain times. Specifically, as the future of the Affordable Care Act is unclear, it is imperative that the firm considers possible outcomes and manages the potential impacts to our employees and our clients.”

As a family-owned company in a caring industry, Preferred boasts an extremely unique and devoted company culture. The firm is consistently among Fortune’s “Great Places to Work”, in part, because it constantly asks every employee, every client and every contact the same “What can we do better?” question. “This coherent feedback allows us to ensure that our core values are always known, shared and acted upon,” explains Todd.

“Given our intense focus on culture, our hiring process is both robust and dedicated to ensuring that any potential hire would be an appropriate addition to the

Preferred family. Additionally, the most talented people in the industry have identified and appreciated the services that we are providing and in turn, contact Preferred for employment. Our passionate concentration on the client attracts people with similar values.”

Home health care is a growing and evolving industry and Preferred plans to continue to grow organically and via acquisitions within its current geographic footprint and beyond.

The future looks very bright indeed.

“In the near term, the political climate, the nursing population and the changes in health care will have a true impact on our business and we stay closely connected to each conversation.

But regardless of external changes, Preferred understands that if we maintain unwavering emphasis on our clients, continue to provide unsurpassed service and ultimately, provide positive outcomes, the business will always react favourably.”

K

For more than 25 years, Preferred Home Health Care & Nursing Services, Inc. has been providing home health care services and medical equipment throughout the American Northeast. Whilst the firm’s clients span the age spectrum, Preferred focusses on the acute paediatric population.

Company: Preferred Home Health Care & Nursing Services, Inc. Name: Todd Thiede Web Address: www.preferredcares.com Address: 45 Main Street Eatontown, NJ 07724 Telephone: + 1 732 443 8100

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The Power of Social Extends Beyond Social Media Ed Keller, of Engagement Labs, talks to Corporate Vision about how they have become an award winning firm.

Engagement Labs is a technology and analytics company that helps brands to drive sales and improve their marketing ROI by tapping into the power of social influence.

multiple verticals, including leading brands such as Avon, AT&T, CBS, ESPN, RBS, and Toyota, among others. We work primarily in the US and the UK, although we undertake global assignments on behalf of major marketers in these geographies.”

“We are unique compared to other firms who are in the social influence analytics arena, in that we are the only firm that monitors both offline consumer conversation about brands as well as social media conversations,” explains Ed, telling us more about the company. “Together these have been proven to be important drivers of sales. Many companies are focused on social media but ignore the influence that real world consumer conversations have on their performance, or fail to understand the ways in which they can help to drive word of mouth if they make it an important part of their marketing strategy and goals.

This is a mistake, because word of mouth is a bigger driver of sales than social media. Further, word of mouth and social are not mirrors on each other. Very few brands are performing well on both dimensions. Yet, only when brands look at the two in a holistic fashion and understand how to optimize their performance in driving conversation and consumer advocacy both online and in the real world can they fully capitalize on this wonderful asset to drive sales.

At the heart of the business is a new, patent-pending data solution called TotalSocial™. Ed explains more about this brand, the rationale behind it and its ongoing strategy.

“Our work is on behalf of major consumer marketers across

“TotalSocial is the only comprehensive social data solution that measures and reflects insights about both online and offline consumer conversations—the single most important asset for brands and a proven driver of sales. Uniquely, TotalSocial comprehensively measures and quantifies the voice of the consumer.

Bringing together social media listening data with face-to-face conversation metrics into a single performance dashboard, TotalSocial is designed to enhance marketing ROI and impact sales. The analytics allow marketers to track and evaluate social marketing effectiveness for their brand, category, and competitive set. TotalSocial is built on the four essential drivers of a brand’s social marketing performance: volume, sentiment, brand sharing, and influence.

Consumer conversations and advocacy online or face to face, can make or break brand sales momentum; using TotalSocial marketers are equipped with the insights they need to harness the full power of social influence.

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“TotalSocial is integrated into a single dashboard to allow marketers an enhanced ability to understand their performance, diagnose areas of weakness as well what’s driving success, and provide predictive tools to know what levers to pull to optimize ROI and sales. We have continuous programs in the US and the UK. And for some clients we are conducting TotalSocial performance tracking in markets around the globe.

“Our strategy is to develop a predictive analytics engine that will allow our marketing clients to understand exactly how the chain of social influence works, and to let them know what type of enhanced business outcomes will be derived from performance improvements on the different metrics that comprise their TotalSocial score.”

Being a successful CEO is no easy task, and Ed highlights the key attributes he believes have led to his award-winning appointment.

“To me, the key to being a successful CEO is balancing the big picture (vision and strategy) with paying careful attention to the details,” he states. “I believe in keeping my eyes on the horizon, about three years out, and at the same time making sure that we’re doing all the little things that need to be done in order to keep our people, our sales, and our financial results meeting our goals.

“Another skill is being able to identify and developing great

people. Many of the key people in my business have been with me for a five, 10, even 20+ years.

But at the same time, we are always looking for new talent with new skills to help us innovate and evolve.

“Innovation is exhilarating to me. The pace of our innovation over the past has kept me extremely motivated. And there is more to come in 2017 as we sell what we’ve built, deliver on our roadmap, and plan for the future.”

Of course, it’s not necessarily been a smooth road and Ed tells us more about the challenges he has had to face.

“I’ve had the interesting experience of facing two seemingly opposite challenges.

In 2005, when I launched a predecessor company, it was before Facebook and Twitter, and it was sometimes difficult to get clients and prospects focused on the importance of peer-to-peer social influence.

It was not as ‘sexy” as social media in the eyes of some. New entrants tracking social media were popping up almost weekly and. the challenge was to stand out from the literally hundreds of companies that were chasing the shiny new toy of social media analytics. Today, we are in the sweet spot with TotalSocial—the only data solution that embraces all forms of social influence, both online and offline. We now stand out from the crowd, and we’re getting meetings, and making sales, more easily than ever before.”

g The Power of Social Extends Beyond Social Media

With regards to the future, Ed has high hopes for Engagement Labs, both short and long term.

“We have charted an exciting future for Engagement Labs with the development of TotalSocial in 2016, and are now at the stage of commercializing it in the US and the UK. We have a lot of runway ahead of us in terms of sales growth, as well an exciting roadmap for innovation.

We expect to grow our business manifold over the next several years based on the roadmap, as well as new direction we’ll take as we work with top marketers as clients and understand their evolving needs so we can continue to serve them well and in unique ways.”

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Company: Engagement Labs Inc. Name: Ed Keller, CEO Email: Ed.Keller@engagementlabs.com Web Address: www.engagementlabs.com Address: 65 Church St., New Brunswick NJ 08901 Telephone: + 1.732.846.6800

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Making Mealtimes Magical MagicKitchen.com is a meal preparation service created by CEO Greg Miller. We profile him and his innovative website and explore the secrets behind their success.

Founded by Greg in 2006, MagicKitchen. com provides tasty, healthy, restaurant quality meals to a wide variety of clients across all of the United States. Central to its mission, is its focus on encouraging people to: understand and implement how to properly fuel their bodies, consistently eat tasty, healthy meals and to enjoy a healthy life.

The website’s healthy, chefprepared meals are created using top-quality fresh produce

and ingredients to ensure customers receive delicious, nutritious meals that are quick to prepare. The meals arrive frozen and all clients have to do is heat and serve, offering a convenient and fast way to enjoy nutritious meals.

Greg’s goal in establishing the firm was to bring families together again for family dinnertime, and to allow seniors good meals and nutrition. Since then MagicKitchen.com has been dedicated to providing delicious, nutritious, convenient and special

diet sensitive meal options for individuals and families to eat well at home, while promoting quality family time through expedited meal preparation and clean up.

In addition, the firm’s customer service staff are helpful and knowledgeable, ensuring that clients receive the very highest level of support when choosing their meal. This in turn means that they will enjoy their selection.

As such, its Senior Meal Programs is the firm’s main focus. Often seniors do not have access to family who can cook for them, but their children can send them meals through MagicKitchen.com, ensuring that seniors can enjoy quality, healthy meals with little prep or clean up.

The choice is vast, with main meals, sides, starters and desserts all available individually or as part of a meal plan and a la carte menus designed for many different dietary requirements including gluten free, dairy free, low fat and diabetics.

As many seniors have special dietary needs, a large part of MagicKitchen.com chefs’ energies have gone into creating complete meals that can be included as part of a healthy diet, and are also special-diet-friendly.

From diabetic to dialysis meals, we have you covered. Having a Registered Dietitian on board has been invaluable to the firm, and her expertise is available to its customers.

Looking to the future, MagicKitchen.com will continue to listen to its customers’ wants and needs and adding new dishes as they are required.

Offering variety is crucial to ensuring the continued interest of many clients, including seniors, who are the firm’s core market, and as such it will constantly develop new and innovative ideas, whilst retaining special meals and old favourites.

K Company: MagicKitchen.com Address: 118 Bentley Square, Mountain View CA 94040 Phone: + 1 650 941 2260 Fax: 650-941-2255 Email: Greg@magickitchen.com Website: www.magickitchen.com

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Investing in the Future Tim van Delden speaks to us about HPE Growth Capital, its mission and how it achieves these hot on the heels of their success in achieving the Finest in Fund Management - CIO Winner – Germany award.

HPE Growth Capital is a pan-European private equity firm focused on technology-related companies that have high growth ambitions and to rapidly expand its business. HPE offers to those companies dedicated hands-on support in areas such as increasing international sales and distribution or building strong back-offices.

HPE manages about Euro 400 million and invests Euro 10-30 million per portfolio company.

Former and current investments include Kreditech, AEVI, PPRO and Cotesa. HPE is backed by institutional investors (Pension Funds, Fund of Funds, large single Family Offices) including the European Investment Fund.

As a growth investor, the firm’s mission is: “Investing in tomorrow’s market leaders” and van Delden begins by telling us what it is exactly that sets HPE aside from competitors and marks it out as the best option for clients.

“Our core differentiator is the combination out of a very seasoned and international team combined with a very analytical and process driven investment approach,” says van Delden.

“This shines through in all areas of our firm, starting with deal and investment sourcing

where we see through a very systematical methodology about 1,100 companies a year, but goes further on in our portfolio work and exit success. In the period of value creation is one of our core USPs our true global reach, here in particular to the US. We support our technology companies to successfully sell directly or via partners their products and services into the US or even building up a strong organisation there.”

“HPE is a very process driven investment firm to ensure that we can replicate investment success and are not too dependent on individual judgement skills.”

Recently, the firm was awarded the title of Finest in Fund Management - CIO Winner – Germany in the Investment Awards 2017. Whilst Tim van Delden is obviously delighted with such an accolade, he is quick to sing the praises of his dedicated team.

“Such awards can only be won with a fantastic team in place and I am very proud of them,” he enthuses, and continues to discuss the firm’s internal culture.

“At HPE we were able to create a culture of responsibility. Everyone in our firm is aware that we as a manager of third party capital have to follow strict regulatory rules, ethical standards and honourable codes. That is why

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HPE is ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) compliant and among other signed up to the UNPRI (Principles of Responsible Investment of the United Nations). In addition, HPE is regulated under the EuVECA label (European Venture Capital Fund Regulation).”

Looking to the future, it is HPE’s ambition to invest in fast-scaling, disruptive technologies. “With that in mind we intend to build many market leading and outstanding firms in its sector,” tells Tim van Delden. “Therefore, we as a firm have growth plans, too: returning capital with an attractive yield will attract further capital and great talent which allows us to broaden our mandate by region and scale.”

“Governments more and more recognize that growth focused private equity investments drive both, innovation and employment. Therefore, we currently see and are involved with various government initiatives to create capital pockets to support firms and funds like HPE Growth Capital.”

g Investing in the Future

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HPE Contact: Titus Schurink, CFO and IR at HPE Email: Tschurink@hpegrowthcapital.com Company: HPE Growth Capital Königsallee 12 Düsseldorf, 40212 Germany Web Address: www.hpegrowthcapital.com Telephone: +49 211 6025 8800

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In Close Contact Danny Singer of software developer Noetica talks to us about the firm and what it takes to be an award-winning CEO as he is crowned UK CEO of the Month.

Synthesys™: a user friendly contact centre productivity suite aimed at non-technical users SmartBound™: patented outbound technology designed to promote responsible and considerate yet super-efficient dialling.

NVP™: highly cost effective telephony platform dedicated solely to the contact centre.

Noetica’s products are deployed across most verticals with particular focus on blue chip clients within market segments such as contact centre BPOs, insurance, media, fundraising as well as many others.

Danny Singer explains that, as a software development company, the firm’s approach has been rather unorthodox, however it has certainly served it well over the last decade. He embellishes on the company’s ongoing strategy.

“About 7-8 years ago we decided on an early transition from a capex to an opex/subscription model for software licensing, whether delivered on premise or in the cloud. Although initially we had to take a hit on revenue, over time this has delivered significant benefits. Most of our

revenue is now recurring year on year. This means that we have been able to break the addiction to acquiring new clients each and every month allowing us to focus on our existing customer base and support them with their growth plans whilst offering a level of service that our competitors would struggle to deliver.

“We have restructured the company so that we not only provide state-of-the-art software but also expert consultancy services which assist our clients to make the best use of the technology we provide. To this purpose, we set up a brand new Client Services department staffed with people who are not techies but instead have long-standing experience in utilising technology for setting up and managing complex contact centre operations.

In addition, we are now also offering infrastructure (servers, networking, telephony, database, etc.) consultancy to our clients.

These new service offerings have proven extremely popular and a major differentiator in our markets.”

One of the many qualities that Danny possesses as an award-winning CEO is having the ability to make decisions in a dispassionate way and accept the opinions of others. He tells us more about the key attributes which have led to his success, and about what keeps him motivated.

“Personal pride has no role to play in decision-making and the CEO doesn’t have a monopoly on wisdom,” he says wistfully.

“Listen to your staff and your customers and be open to be persuaded and change your mind if need be.

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“Success is a great motivator.

Together with my excellent, passionate management team we have been able to grow the company profitably and deliver innovation to our growing client base on a continuous basis.

Having successfully completed an MBO in 2010, we are now the masters of our own destiny, have no external shareholders to appease, are debt free and financially secure. The contact centre market is currently in the midst of a period of fundamental change. Technology and telephony are moving to the cloud and millennial customers choose to contact organisations using new channels which need intelligent new technology. This makes our lives as a technology company extremely interesting and rewarding. We live in exciting times.”

One of the main challenges that Danny has faced in his rise to the top is the temptation to micro-manage and get involved in everything. He explains how he overcame this issue, with fantastic results.

“This issue is often what stops brilliant small companies becoming great medium sized or large companies. Having started as a software developer and system analyst, there is always

the temptation to get involved in the minutiae of the day to day.

This can be disastrous for a CEO whose main task is to provide a clear vision and ensure that staff are fully aware of it, contribute to it and buy completely into the strategy. The trick is to build a management team that you can trust and let them get on with it.

As a CEO, it is important to keep that vision alive both internally and externally by reinforcing it and amending it as circumstances change. These are treacherous waters that we navigate and the role of the CEO is to be a skilled, alert and attentive skipper.”

With regards to the future, Danny hopes to be managing a Noetica that is at least four times larger than it currently is today. He has aspirations for the firm to be trading globally and widely recognised in the industry.

“It is my aspiration to bring to market an offering which seamlessly combines contact centres with social mobile apps and cloud computing to create a seamless experience for the mobile, wireless oriented generation. I believe that such a platform could completely revolutionise the contact centre market. At this stage, it is purely an idea and I am thinking of ways of making it a reality.”

K

Noetica is a software development company specialising in the delivery of advanced technology to organisations that operate contact centres.

The company will this month be celebrating 20 years in business, is headquartered in London with further offices in Durham.

Noetica’s product range consists of three separate yet tightly integrated modules:

Company: Noetica Ltd. Name: Danny Singer Email: Danny.Singer@noetica.com Web Address: www.noetica.com Address: The Hop Exchange, 24 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TY Telephone: 0845 0181 070

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Designated Driving Force Elaine Owen of Designated.org.uk talks to us about keeping up-to-date with the latest technology and how a good work/life balance is key in running a successful business.

Elain Owen is Managing Director of the firm. She tells us a little more about the company, its ongoing strategy and more about its client base.

“We were formed in 1994 with the aim of helping corporates to make the most of IT, PC and system developments at that time e.g. to help to improve efficiency and effectiveness of their investment in IT. Clients include the likes of General

Motors, Google and Vodaphone.

As my family grew, I wanted to work closer to home so we changed our strategy - my husband runs the analysis and systems side of the company and myself and my team on digital engagement, content creation and management. I typically work in and around the North West but our data analysis and CRM side of the business works throughout the UK and Europe.”

In order to develop the business, Elaine has always kept a close eye on emerging technology and business communication styles to stay ahead of the curve.

“Digital progress can present numerous challenges and opportunities for businesses,” she explains. “They must carefully rethink everything in order to properly manage, monitor and evolve what they do and how they do it and this in turn creates work for my business. My approach is no different; we are

always monitoring, constantly researching, learning and evolving to be able to provide the skills and services required by our clients.

Obviously, technology is critical in Elaine’s world and the speed of change within the digital sector means Designated continue to evolve with their clients and make use of new tools, apps, platforms and methods to ensure continued success.

“Technology is our lives - it’s our bread and butter and we use it internally and for our own business requirements as well as we help our clients to use it. Without the emergence and development of technology for business we would not have a business.

“A website is not for life, it should be regularly content managed, evolved and renewed regularly.

Social media needs a strategy and action plan to ensure results rather than just posting willy-nilly to anyone who is out there.”

Being an award-winning MD of a successful business takes skill, and Elaine believes she has certain key attributes which contribute to this.

“I believe from my team’s feedback that I am a coach/ mentor style leader and they like this, I listen and reflect before I make decisions. My clients tell me that they feel they can trust me and that my team’s commitment to myself and the company reassures them of a trusted service.

“I have the best job in the world, a great work/life balance and a cracking team!”

Elaine recently won the title of MD of the Year for the Merseyside area, an accolade of which she is very proud.

However it is not the only highlight that Elaine has seen of late as Designated clinched a project in Europe for the European Centre for Disease Control. This has further fuelled Elaine and her team with aspirations of continued expansion into Europe.

“I would like to thank all the team at www.designated.org.uk who are simply fantastic and without whom we would not have the success we have had or the lifestyles we all enjoy.”

K

Designated, www. designated.org.uk, provides website design, digital engagement, social media management and data analysis. The clients it caters for are typically businesses who want to improve their online presence, sell more, rank higher on Google and who typically don’t have an internal team dedicated to managing and creating content and social media.

Company: Designated Associates Name: Elaine Owen Email: Elaine@designated.org.uk Web Address: www.designated.org.uk Address: Vale House, Vale Park, Magazine Lane, New Brighton, Wirral CH45 1LZ Telephone: 0151 653 3338

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A People-Focused Approach Partner of the Year 2017 UK has been awarded to Andrea Smith of Franklins Solicitors LLP, who tells us about her passion for working with clients and the approach that she takes to growing her Corporate team.

“My clients are at the heart of what makes my job so enjoyable” begins Andrea Smith, a corporate solicitor and equity partner at Franklins Solicitors LLP and who was recently awarded Partner of the Year UK. “Every single transaction represents a different business from a variety of sectors, with a distinctive personality, and a new approach to business. You couldn’t do corporate work if you didn’t have a passion for working in such a changeable environment”.

A corporate solicitor with 15 years’ experience, Andrea specialises in mergers, acquisitions and disposals.

Her other areas of work are diverse but include shareholders agreements, share schemes, company re-structures and joint ventures. In order to provide a wide-ranging yet specialised provision of corporate services, Andrea and her team work closely with the firm’s commercial property, employment, commercial litigation and intellectual property specialists.

“Being a medium-sized, regional law firm enables us to provide a flexible, approachable service to our clients, and to collaborate easily within the firm, which I think sets us apart from many of our competitors”, explains Andrea. “We are a partner-led firm, so clients always have a

close source of contact with their relevant Partner and we also encourage dynamic interaction across all divisions in the firm.

As a result, we often find that many clients are loyal to the firm and access a wide range of our services. These high levels of client retention are a credit to the ethos of the firm and the high standards of service that we set”.

Internally, the firm adopts a similar people-focus and prides itself on its friendly, approachable and accessible working culture. This internal working culture is partly rooted in the firm’s accreditation with and commitment to the Investors in People Standard, but Andrea sees this culture as being more than just a policy: “As cliché as it may sound” she says, “I have heard members of staff describe the firm’s culture as ‘like a big family’”.

“As a Partner of the firm I find it highly rewarding to hear members of my team and other employees of the Firm describe our working culture as such: it really validates the investment and energy that we as a firm put into our staff, and serves as a reminder that our people-centred approach to our legal practice (whether that be towards our staff or our clients) is worthy of nurturing.”

While Andrea is evidently committed and driven to the growth and success of the firm,

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it is in the development of her corporate practice that she is particularly inspired. She speaks animatedly of innovations in the pipeline and warmly of the people on her team. “I am so proud of the growth of our Corporate Services department in Northampton”, she says. “I started out as a one-woman team having just come back from maternity leave and when the country was still in the depths of a recession. Since then, the team has not only grown in number, but also in the size of our client base, the value of deals that we act on, and our reputation in the Midlands region. For me that is a real achievement.”

Currently, Andrea is working on an innovative due diligence service which aims to prepare a business and maximise its value prior to the sale and acquisition process. The service is a unique product to the owner-manager in the SME sector that the firm is proud to provide, and which has already received positive feedback from a number of clients that have undertaken this service.

“I developed this service following my experience in share sales and acquisitions” explains Andrea.

“I was finding that many businesses and companies were entering a sale transaction relatively unprepared for the full rigours of the process; had they started to engineer their exit strategy in advance, this would

have maximised their sale price and made the sale process more efficient.”

Another area which Andrea is particularly enthusiastic about is the world of start-up business. “The early days of starting a business or Company is enormously exciting”, she explains, “but it is also a steep learning curve and one in which clients are typically costconscious. I am therefore in the process of developing various collaborative initiatives that will provide cost-effective, initial guidance to help get start-up businesses off on the right foot.”

This ethos of innovative solutions and collaboration is at the heart of Andrea’s growth plans, and her spirit is not dampened by the uncertainty of the commercial landscape as the UK commences its exit from the European Union.

“Whether my clients are individual shareholders, business partners, small owner-managed businesses, or large national and international companies, I am yet to see the dynamism of the corporate space being dampened by Brexit despite the uncertainty of the commercial environment. Businesses are responsive, adaptable and ingenious entities that are savvy with how they strategise and plan for the future. For me, that’s what makes this career so exciting.”

g A People-Focused Approach

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Company: Franklins Solicitors LLP Name: Andrea Smith Partner, Corporate Services Team Email: andrea.smith@franklins-sols.co.uk Web Address: www.franklins-sols.co.uk Address: 8 Castilian Street, Northampton, NN1 1JX Telephone: +44 (0)1604 828 282

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London Calling As Founder and CEO of a successful advertising agency, Michael Moszynski talks to us about the industry and what makes the firm a natural choice for clients following his success in winning the CEO of the Month- Greater London (Advertising and Marketing) award.

“The company was incepted two weeks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008,” he begins. “My creative partner and I left the Saatchi Brothers after 21 years to risk all by setting up our own global agency to challenge the traditional networks.

“Our mission was as simple as it was audacious: To deliver London-quality creative work in any language, in any media and in any market from one office.

We had already identified that clients around the world see the city of London as the best place to create international advertising. That is why we called ourselves LONDON Advertising.

“We use the internet to transform the processes and distribution model of the traditional networks which are based on having expensive offices all over the world. Our 16 man team has run work in more countries than WPP (which has 190,000 staff) has offices. We work with clients on every continent across a wide range of sectors: luxury, travel, finance, fmcg, drinks, politics etc.

“Our internal mantra, emblazoned in neon in our office, is “Be Brilliant”.”

Michael is proud of his dedicated staff and the strong agency culture that the firm has developed.

“It allowed us this year to pull off the remarkable feat of re-uniting the Beatles,” he embellishes.

“Mandarin Oriental, London was undergoing renovations which required a white shroud to cover its extensive frontage in Knightsbridge.

put his reputation on the line by predicting in the media the result of every major UK election in the last three years.

“When we enquired whether we could print an ad from our international ‘Fan’ campaign on the shroud we were told it was impossible as Westminster Council would never allow an ad to be displayed on such a landmark location. So, rather than give up, our account team, Henry and Jack, got the bit between their teeth. Their first breakthrough was to secure agreement in principle from Westminster that if an ad was not allowed, that a work of art might be possible.

2015 General Election “The Conservatives will win a single seat majority” Result: Conservatives won by six seats.

“The next step was to recruit the ‘Godfather of Pop Art’, Sir Peter Blake, to do our ad/artwork. We then secured 100 the hotel’s ‘Fans’, from Dame Judy Dench to Morgan Freeman, to appear in the ad – without paying them. Also as it was the 50th anniversary of Sir Peter’s iconic Sergeant Pepper’s album cover we went in pursuit of Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr who agreed to take part.

“Since launching it has generated front page media coverage at a value of over $4m and has been shared on social media over 11 million times.”

As an award-winning leader, Michael employs keeps himself motivated by continually searching for difficult challenges to overcome. For example, he

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2016 EU Referendum “Vote Leave will win by 52-53%” Result: 51.9% to Vote Leave.

2014 Scottish Independence Referendum “Yes Vote will be less than 45%” Result: Yes vote 44.7%.

Being a successful CEO is not without its challenges, however Michael clearly loves a challenge and takes it all in his stride.

“The key challenges I have had to overcome as a CEO is to achieve things that people kept telling me were impossible.

When I came up with the name “LONDON” our lawyers said we could not use it as we could never own the IP. I replied “perfect – then no-one else will do so”.

“My personal attributes are exuberance, energy and a thick skin. I also think it helps that I am deaf in one ear so I don’t hear half the brickbats sent my way!”

As for the future, Michael has aspirations of further growth for LONDON and foresees the industry moving back to traditional media build brands.

“We identified that the UK advertising sector was mature with low margins so we targeted international high growth markets as a more profitable route to go.

The fact we have grown our profit 300% in the last three years and make a margin over four times the UK industry average is a testament to that.

“My aspiration for next month is that the “the glass half full party” I am hosting with Lord Bell on March 23rd after Article 50 is triggered will help build confidence in our ability to secure more of the 85% of world trade that occurs outside of the EU. “My aspiration for the future is that one day all other agencies will be a little bit more like LONDON.”

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LONDON Advertising is a global advertising agency designed for the 21st century.

Michael Moszynski, Founder and CEO, tells us more about the firm and its inception.

Company: Michael Moszynski Name: Founder and CEO Email: michael@londonadvertising.com Web Address: londonadvertising.com Address: LONDON House 3 Baltic Street East, London EC1Y 0UJ Telephone: +44 (0)20 7608 7222

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The Future is Bright Founded in 1989, the Information Security Forum (ISF) is an independent, not-for-profit organisation with a Membership comprising many of the world’s leading organisations featured on the Fortune 500 and Forbes 2000 lists. We spoke to the organisations managing director Steve Durbin to find out more about the ISF’s work following their success in winning the Best Cyber Security Consultancy 2016 award.

Turning his thoughts to winning the Best Cyber Security Consultancy 2016 award, Durbin underlines that it is always encouraging to see the ISF’s work recognised, and since this work is a recent addition to the ISF portfolio of services the recognition is helpful and rewarding for those involved.

From a consultancy services perspective, ISF aims to provide focussed and highly leveraged services that have a specific business impact to organisations

that lack the time, resource or in-house expertise to deliver a specific security or cyber risk related project. It could involve the provision of interim services, or building out resilience programmes, or the validation of specific security arrangements.

ISF Consultancy Services provide independent and objective guidance, support and training. They can better support global business leaders and information security professionals to build and embed cyber resilience in their organisational structure, planning processes, information risk management and information security initiatives.

Note that ISF members receive a discounted consultancy rate as a benefit of membership.

“The advice given is always neutral and objective, which enables the ISF to provide pragmatic advice to protect organisations. Moving up a level from that, we also look at how we can add value in the board room.

This is becoming increasingly important because cyber risk plays a key role in the board room, but how do you take some of those risks and translate them into board room reporting. How does the business need to adapt to operate more effectively?”

In terms of previous experience, Durbin spent a number of years with Gartner and built out their consultancy business worldwide.

This provided him with insight into how to take a small group of individuals who were able to provide more contact based

work, and then to expand that into more fully-fledged consultancy services.

“One of the challenges we are seeing is that cyber is becoming a more day-to-day business issue, and many organisations do not know how to handle that.

With our consultancy services, we are aiming to provide collaborative support in that space. We bring in the skill-sets from our consultants who are all very well known in the industry to provide the resources that are needed to deliver a world class service in a timely manner.”

Durbin then goes on to reveal that the ISF has a unique model, in that they also provide research and topic areas voted on by its members. They look into issues that their members think are important, so the consultancy services can take away some of those pain points.

“At the ISF we ensure that our consultants are equipped to be agile and apply best practice and thought leadership in managing

cyber risk and information security to meet client requirements. It is about being entrepreneurial and looking at different ways we can address the problem from a client’s point of view.”

Durbin stresses that ISF Consultancy Services provide organisations with customised professional support and training to strengthen their overall cyber resilience and improve their security posture while responding to today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape. These services deliver a variety of business solutions which are tailored to meet immediate business requirements.

The last word goes to Durbin who shares ISF’s plans for the future, remarking that this is certainly exciting and bright. “I think that the requirement from a consultancy standpoint is to stay abreast of emerging threats and come up with equally imaginative solutions to some of these rather complex issues. This will keep everybody on their toes and we look forward to that.”

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By way of background, the Information Security Forum (ISF) is dedicated to investigating, clarifying and resolving key issues in cyber, information security and risk management, by developing best practice methodologies, processes and solutions that meet the business needs of its Members.

Company: Information Security Forum Name: Steve Durbin, Managing Director Email: june.chambers@securityforum.org Web Address: www.securityforum.org Address: Information Security Forum Limited 10 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1AJ, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 7785 953 800

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Delivering at Pace Anne Bowen-Long of UPS talks to us about the firm, its strategy for growth and what the future holds.

UPS is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight via ground, ocean and air transport modes; customs brokerage to facilitate international trade, along with advanced inventory control, warehouse management and shipment tracking technology to help customers more efficiently manage the world of business.

Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS delivers more than 4.7 billion packages a year in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide.

UPS works with customers of all sizes, from small businesses to multibillion dollar global corporations, and there is one objective they all have in common – profitable growth.

UPS sales professionals serve as logistics consultants taking a holistic approach to understand each organization’s supply chain and how UPS services

and capabilities can help drive sales, reduce cost and improve cash flow. As new logistics and transportation challenges arise, UPS helps customers solve them by mobilizing a project team of operations, logistics, IT, sales and customer solutions experts to implement highly customized plans. These experts develop shipping systems and logistics solutions to improve customers’ efficiency and position their company to grow, immediately and well into the future.

Anne Bowen-Long, Vice President, Global Sales Strategy explains more about what differentiates UPS from its competitors and marks the firm out as the best possible option for clients.

“From our inception in 1907, UPS has grown into a $58 billion corporation by meeting customers’ requirements, by building an unrivalled global infrastructure, and by an ongoing development of innovative

technological capabilities. The focus is on outstanding reliability, greater speed, more services and innovative technology.”

“For consumers, small business owners and global corporations, UPS offers customers a complete range of logistics services. With extensive global and domestic capabilities, UPS provides a total enterprise solution: package delivery (ground and air), freight services, technology solutions, supply chain management, consulting, mail services and financing solutions from UPS Capital.”

“UPS’s infrastructure, scale, financial strength, expertise and skilled workforce make the company unlike any other in the world. UPS delivers more guaranteed packages on time around the world than any other carrier. This level of coverage and service makes UPS a trusted brand in logistics. UPS continues to be recognized in the industry with awards and honours in business, technology, diversity, community and executive leadership.”

“UPS believes in being an ethical and responsible corporate citizen. With industry leading sustainability policies, diversity and minority programs, and support of various charitable organizations, the dedication to the community is sincere. UPS has built a legacy as a caring and responsible corporate citizen, supporting programs that provide long-term solutions to community needs. The UPS Foundation leads global citizenship programs. In 2016, UPS and its

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employees invested more than $116 million in charitable giving around the world.”

UPS has a long history of promoting from within the company as a means of engaging and retaining its people, along with bringing valuable experience and continuity to customers. Anne tells us more about the culture at UPS. “Our founder Jim Casey had a quote that is used frequently today – ‘Determined people working together can accomplish anything.’ Through this determination, we have developed a culture of ‘Yes’ and ‘How.’ We take on big challenges to improve service to our customers in innovative ways. In a culture of Yes, our customers see UPS as problem solvers.

In a culture of Yes, people are encouraged – not discouraged – from challenging the status quo.

We’re constructively dissatisfied – another Jim Casey phrase – which keeps us continually asking the key question ‘how can we do things better?’”

UPS is always finding new ways to help its customers and Anne lets us in on a recent development.

“We recently announced a “chatbot” – it’s an artificialintelligence-enabled platform that mimics human conversation.

You can get it on Facebook Messenger, Skype and Amazon platforms. UPS customers can use simple phrases like ‘shipping rates’ to get voice responses in English. Over time, we’ll integrate

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UPS My Choice® with our chatbot, so our customers can quickly and easily get information about their package delivery times and locations…all using natural voice commands or through messaging apps.”

Company: United Parcel Service (UPS) Name: Anne Bowen-Long, Vice President, Global Sales Strategy Web Address: www.ups.com Address: 55 Glenlike Parkway, Atlanta, GA 30328

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“With regards to the industry as a whole, the biggest trends driving the transportation industry in recent years have been the explosive growth of e-commerce and mobile technology. Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices for researching, shopping, and buying at home and on the go.

UPS recognizes these trends by offering UPS My Choice, UPS Access Point locations, UPS Marketplace, UPS I-parcel, the UPS Mobile app along with other technology solutions to increase the speed and flexibility our customers demand.”

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A Helping Hand Greg Jones Law is a North Carolina law practice specialising in product liability cases arising from dangerous drugs and medical devices. We profile the firm to learn more about the vital services it offers.

Since being established in North Carolina, Greg Jones Law has earned a reputation as one of the most successful pharmaceutical and defective product litigation firms.

The firm’s dedicated team understand that when clients have been injured due to the negligence of a company the process of pursing legal recourse can seem daunting. As one as the nation’s leading law firms Greg Jones Law has had many successful experiences with cases just like yours.

Pharmaceutical companies, medical manufactures, insurance companies and other big corporations may not have your best interest in mind. However, Greg Jones Law has a proven track record of successfully protecting the rights of victims.

For example, the firm is skilled at supporting those diagnosed

with various diseases, such as Mesothelioma. Those diagnosed with Mesothelioma are generally individuals who have been exposed to asbestos fibers. In litigation regarding diseases like Mesothelioma and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome it is important to have assistance in every phase of the case, from investigation to trial. Greg Jones Law’s attorneys have obtained compensation for victims of diseases caused by toxins or bad drugs for many years.

In addition, a great deal who receive a startling diagnosis come to find out that many diseases are often caused by direct exposure to toxins or defective drugs. Every year thousands seek legal aid as a result of being prescribed a defective pharmaceutical drug.

Most often times it is due to a side effect that could have been adequately disclosed but was not so that these companies could continue to profit. The

practice is determined to see that their clients get the maximum judgement permitted in cases against big pharmaceutical companies.

Alongside this, modern medicine has permitted millions to live a life they could not have without the use of medical devices.

However, when these medical devices malfunction or become defective the consequences can be severe and impose a serious health risk, and as such Greg Jones Law have successfully helped countless people get the best possible outcome in litigation with medical device manufacturers.

Another key area the firm practice in is insurance fraud, which is committed quite often and is easily hidden by insurance companies who appear to be taken every day actions by raising premiums, denying benefits to those who really need it, and unjustly long claim processing times.

For all of these services and more, the practice draws on the expertise of Founder Greg, who

is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Georgia. He focuses his practice on plaintiff litigation of personal injury cases. Serving clients in multiple states, Greg also works with a network of lawyers across the United States, handling mesothelioma, birth injury, and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) claims.

As testimony to the level of excellence Greg works to he has received various honors and recognitions, including his listings in Super Lawyers, Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and Who’s Who in American Law. In order to share his knowledge and expertise with the wider legal market he is an active member in a number of trial lawyers associations and frequently travels to conferences and lectures, where he advises other attorneys regarding personal injury representation.

Overall it is the combination of experience, dedication and sheer hard work that has led Greg Jones Law to the success it enjoys today.

K Company: Greg Jones PA Address: 1319 Military Cutoff Road Suite CC, #138 Wilmington, NC 28405 Phone: 855-566-3752 Email: info@gregjoneslaw.com Website: www.gregjoneslaw.com

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Innovation for Women’s Health Fernand Labrie is CEO of Endoceutics and recently received the CEO of the Month- Canada (Pharma) award. In an interview, he tells us more about the company and how it plans to change the lives of women the world over.

Fernand Labrie is Chief Executive Officer at Endoceutics and he explains that the company’s key principle is innovation in science.

“Our business goes from fundamental discovery to clinical research, manufacturing and commercialisation or a complete pharmaceutical company,”

“We provide novel treatments using the latest science and technology applied to all aspects of menopause.”

Fernand Labrie has been awarded CEO of the Month for his dedication and his role in the industry. He tells us how it felt to receive this prestigious accolade, and what key attributes he believes make him an awardwinning leader.

“It is great to see that all the work performed by such a large number of colleagues over so many years in order to develop the new science of intracrinology becomes known and can be applied to women.

“With the collaboration, expertise and dynamism of hundreds of colleagues, we could discover and develop a completely new field, namely intracrinology, which is behind this innovative new treatment for women’s health. We previously discovered and developed the first treatment to prolong life in prostate cancer and the first combination therapy approved by any health authority (1984 in Canada and 1989 in the US).

“There are many challenges since much patience is needed to start from discovery and apply the interesting discoveries up to the patient. One of the challenges is all the steps which we have to go through up to the

FDA, Health Canada and other Health Agency approvals. Also, one of the biggest challenges in research and development is to find investment and people who believe in your project, which is not easy.”

Fernand Labrie foresees continuing success and growth for Endoceutics and tells us why there are exciting times ahead for both the firm and the industry.

“Looking to the future, we believe that the female health market will be dominated by a focus on creating novel treatments for all aspects of menopause based upon intracrinology or the normal physiology of sex steroids, a discovery of Endoceutics. In order to keep ahead of this emerging development, we will be seeking to explore more clinical applications using the best technology which we largely developed, taking as example steroid assays using mass spectrometry, now the gold

standard in the industry. Change in the therapeutic field is central to improving the lives of women across the globe, and as such, we will continue to embrace this strategy as we seek to remain the leaders of innovation in the women’s health pharmaceutical market.

“Our overall aim is to be able to offer to all women around the world the benefits of an efficacious and safe treatment of all the problems of menopause, which include hot flushes, vaginal dryness, sexual dysfunction, loss of bone, loss of muscle as well as memory and cognition loss.

We have a strong desire to move science forward for a better life of our fellow citizens, and this will remain our ongoing goal.

“Moving forward, we see exciting times ahead as Endoceutics is bringing IntrarosaTM to market with partners and consequently change the lives of millions of women around the world.”

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Endoceutics is a private pharmaceutical company operating in the field of women’s health and hormone-sensitive cancer prevention and treatment.

Following approval by the FDA of Intrarosa™ in November 2016, for the treatment of dyspareunia, a symptom of vulvovaginal atrophy due to menopause, Endoceutics focuses on developing non estrogen-based therapies for sexual dysfunction and the other symptoms of menopause, including hot flushes, osteoporosis, muscle loss and type 2 diabetes.

Hormonal therapies for breast, uterine and prostate cancer, male hypogonadism as well as endometriosis are also under development. Endoceutics has five Phase III product candidates addressing large market opportunities and two Phase I/II product candidates. Endoceutics has exclusive worldwide rights to patents, patent applications, technology and know-how related to all its products.

Company: Endoceutics™ Name: Fernand Labrie Email: fernand.labrie@endoceutics.com Web Address: www.endoceutics.com Address: Endoceutics 2795 boul. Laurier, suite 500 Quebec (QC) G1V 4M7 Telephone: +1 418 653 0033

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Cut from the Same Cloth Ahmed Shaikh heads up one of Pakistan’s most renowned textile manufacturers. He talks to us about what makes the firm so successful following their success in achieving the European Business Awards - Ones to Watch 2017 (Textiles Production and Supply – Sweden) award.

The Shaikh family, one of the oldest business families in the sub-continent spanning four generations, incepted the business in 1886 in Shamkot.

The family has experience in many diverse business sectors, including banking, power generation, fertiliser production, cement production,

and insurance and textile manufacturing, with a proven track record of successful business leadership across four continents.

Chief executive officer, Ahmed Shaikh, tells us a little more about the sector that the firm operates in.

“The textile industry is the major source of export earnings for Pakistan,” he begins. “Textile and apparel play a central role in job creation. The sector is a crucial source of employment and one of the few industries of scale, the nation can boast.

“We, as a largest ladies and men’s garment producers, are providing work for 10,000 people and contributing a significant portion of garment exports to the industry in Pakistan. There are several projects underway to maximise this garment export.”

Azgard-9’s Italian and Asian heritage allow it to combine Italian fashion DNA and style with an Asian cost base. The firm offers high-end products at a very affordable price.

“Our main strength is innovative research and development projects which provide our customers with cutting-edge technology by using new chemicals and new washing techniques in denim. Flexible and sporty fabrics are our key

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strength with more than 100% stretch fabrics & bi-stretch garments.”

Being CEO of the company, Ahmed focuses most of his efforts into bringing sustainable growth to Azgard9 where more jobs can be created for the people of Pakistan better sourcing solutions can be provided to the rest of the world.

“Innovative and sustainable products are Azgard9’s prime focus for the year 2017 and approaching 2018 with optimum levels of sustainability where we can save the planet,” he explains.

“Azgard9 has been famous for its innovative products in the past but now we are moving towards the resolution of a save the plant philosophy so we will attempt to save the earth for upcoming generations whilst still serving the changing needs of the consumer

by providing the best fabric and garments we possibly can.”

Ahmed explains how Azgard9 is bringing about some immense changes in Pakistan’s denim fashion and textile platform with the team of leaders that are the best among the best. “We’re progressing and reaching the heights of success with our new team. To stand out in the textile and apparel industry in Pakistan, by the end of 2017, we’re planning to produce one million garment and four million meters of fabric every month. As well as broadening its sourcing focus, Azgard9 is continuing to invest in design, fabric and technology innovation.

“We value our team. Our highly skilled individuals, specialized in the art of denim and style, create cutting-edge garments that make us successful. Teamwork is remarkable in Azgard9 which is our key to success for the future.”

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Azgard-9‘s principle business is the vertically integrated manufacturing and marketing of denim focused textile and apparel products from raw cotton to retail ready goods. Azgard9 is one of the largest garment manufacturing businesses in Pakistan and is the largest denim production company, by sales.

Company: Azgard Nine Ltd Name: Asif Ali Khan, Chief Operating Officer (COO) Telephone: +92 344 8445255 Email: asif.ali@azgard9.com Web Address: www.azgard9.com Address: Ismail Aiwan-e-Science, Off Shahrah-e-Roomi, Main Ferozpur Road, Lahore, 54600 Pakistan

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Investing in the Future Almi Foretagspartner is a Swedish investment firm supporting businesses from across the corporate landscape. We explore how CEO Sara Wallin has worked to ensure the success of this dynamic and innovative company.

The firm complements the market by providing risk bearing loans where nobody else does. Almi’s role is to take slightly larger risks.

The viability of an idea and a company’s future potential are more important than its real assets. The entrepreneur’s and the company’s ability to develop and exploit the idea or the investment is also important. To compensate for the higher risk

taken, and to ensure that Almi does not compete with privatesector players, the company charges an interest rate that is higher than the average interest rate offered by banks. Almi’s lending activities are often conducted in collaboration with other lenders, and banks are important partners.

Almi’s Business Loans are aimed at companies with up to 250 employees in all industries. Its Micro Loans are designed for businesses with smaller capital requirements, primarily new enterprises that would find it difficult to meet their need for capital in other ways. Almi also offers funding for businesses that need to raise capital in connection with an export venture as well as specially adapted forms of finance for development of innovation projects.

Alongside its core offering, Almi is made up of subsidiaries.

Almi Invest is the Group’s venture capital firm. Its role is to supplement that of the market, investing where the risk is high and access to capital is scarce.

Almi Invest invests in companies with scalable business concepts and prospects for long-term capital growth. The companies must have the ability to compete nationally and internationally, and there must be a clear customer need. Management should consist of dedicated

entrepreneurs or a team with the ability to build a successful company.

The company invests from the seed phase to the expansion phase. Seed phase refers to start-ups and new enterprises in very early stages. Expansion phase refers to businesses that are already in the market and are in an early stage of expansion or growth.

In addition to its investment offering, Almi also supports its clients by providing advice and support. Advice is given by Almi’s advisers by external subconsultants. The basic concept is that customers are offered the best possible service and expertise based on their needs.

The services offered vary from region to region depending on regional circumstances and the resources of the regional Almi company.

CEO Sarah Wallin is a senior executive with experience within the fields of strategy, financing, entrepreneurship, venture capital, keynote speaker and marketing/sales. She draws on this through her role at Almi. She provides operational leadership experience as well as various board assignments, drawing on her excellent communication skills and a genuine interest in people. She is inspired by challenges in the field of change management, customer focus and organizational development.

Overall, it her vast industry experience coupled with her commitment to excellence that has helped lead her firm to the success it enjoys today, and looking to the future she and her team will continue to drive development as the firm seeks to support even more businesses over the months and years ahead.

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Established in 1994, Almi provides advisory services, loans and venture capital through all phases of the establishment of a business, from idea through to successful company. The firm’s vision is to create opportunities for all viable ideas and companies to be developed.

Company: Almi Foretagspartner Väst AB Address: Almi Företagspartner Väst AB, Ekonomiservice, Box 190, 831 22 Östersund Phone: 031-779 79 22 Email: sara.wallin@almi.se Website: www.almi.se

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Passion for the Hotel Industry Ren Tobing of Topotels Hotels & Resorts speaks to Corporate Vision about the services the firm provides and emerging trends to watch, as winner of South East Asian Business of the Year – Indonesia.

Topotels Hotels & Resorts is a regional hotel management that has been operating for approximately five years in the hospitality industry and has already managed 22 hotels in Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar.

Headquartered in Jakarta, the company was founded by three partners, Yonto Wongso as Chief Executive Officer, Ojahan Oppusunggu as Chief Technical Officer and Ren Tobing as Chief Commercial Officer.

Ren Tobing comments: “The three of us bring a wealth of knowledge and perspective on all aspects in the industry. Our capabilities, experience, and passion for the hotel industry build the foundation of Topotels Hotels & Resorts for professional management excellence.”

Ren Tobing also states: “Our company offers the full spectrum of hotel business development, starting from visibility studies with a business forecast, technical services consultancy in hotel construction, pre-opening guidelines and programs, and all aspects of the operational hotel.”

The firm is considered as one of the fastest growing companies in its industry regionally, and Ren has a Vision to be the leader in the hospitality industry through

the commitment of delivering quality management, service excellence, profitable growth, and to exercise corporate social responsibility.

“We want to anchor every aspect of a business in a set of commonly-held beliefs. Our commitment can be formulated into the Topotels Seven Core Values which are Respect, Recognition, Consistency, Exemplarity, Performance and Determination.

“This clearly defined vision helps us to provide true hospitality from the heart, which is the main characteristic of human culture as well as the mission statement of the firm.”

Currently in Asia people are still focusing on the rapid growth of China and, to a lesser extent, India. But Ren tells us of an area of emerging opportunity for Topotels. “The archipelago nation of Indonesia has as many opportunities for property development, including the hotel industry, as there are so many islands. It has been proven for the last couple of years that the country is shifting from third world to second, and then soon to first.

“On top of this, Southeast Asia has seen significant growth in its hospitality industry, boosted by the increasing number of global visitors and tourism spending. However

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regulatory harmonization, good governance, innovation and skills development in the hospitality industry are the main key challenges and shortcomings that we need to deal with effectively.”

Topotels Hotels and Resorts has experienced the same struggles as similar companies, these being a highly competitive industry which leads to a sometimes stressful and competitive workplace. To meet these challenges, the firm has been developing open communication and teamwork as the company culture, and it has a tried-and-tested strategy to ensure it is always one step ahead of competitors.

“Managing hotels is managing people. Attracting good attitude and skilled talents in the industry are really important for the success of the organization.

One of the greatest challenges in the hotel industry is to recruit and retain good employees and managers.”

“We have strategic ways to keep ahead of our rivals,” explains Ren. “To find out who our competitors are, to identify our customers (both existing and new), to develop and maintain our competitive edge, to step up our marketing strategy, to be the best employer and to look forward and build a roadmap for the next couple of years.”

Ren tells us that Topotels makes constant improvements, innovations and enhancements of its services in order to grow business in the region. The firm currently has five hotels in the pipeline which are scheduled to open in Indonesia and Malaysia this year, and Ren expects a further 20 new hotels to be signed up in the next 24 months.

“I strongly believe in the Southeast Asia’s ability to sustain future growth. Regardless of the country, this region is strategically located between Australia, Middle East, China and Europe, making it almost impossible for international travellers not to stop over. And by its economic and culture, these destinations also remain very attractive to either accommodate business or leisure trips, including some of the world’s most luxurious retreats such as Bali. The new emerging markets, such as China, India and countries in Middle East, have strategically replaced the western countries during the economic downturn. Hopefully, with the signs of recovery for the global economy, it seems we can look positively to the future.

“However, the rise of demand as described will also develop more hotel suppliers which will automatically create tougher competition. Thus, to adapt around these, we plan to

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Company: Topotels Hotels & Resorts Name: Ren Tobing Email: ren@topotels.com Web address: www.topotels.com Address: Plaza Oleos Lt17, Topotels Jl TB SImatupang kav 51-53, South Jakarta-Indonesia Telephone: +628551150 153

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Making Playtime Magical Fantastic Playgrounds is an Australia based provider of high quality cubby houses, indoor and outdoor play areas, commercial and private playground equipment and accessories. We Fantastic Playgrounds is a family run online store providing a range of quality cubby houses and other playground equipment for both private clients and child care facilities.

Its fantastic range of cubby houses have a selection of raw, stained or specially treated timber that is child friendly and safe for all ages. This means a quality product at an affordable price.

The firm offer a wide range of cubby houses that can be raised off the ground from 30cm to 1.5 metres. Accessories can then be added to customize the cubby houses including slides, ladders, rock walls, rope walls and sandpit areas. Monkey bars and wooden swing sets can also be added to create a fantastic playground for your children.

Fantastic Playgrounds understands that all children are different so parents can choose cubby accessories to suit their child or a fort with the package

already included for ease. In addition, the firm also have a range of equipment suitable for use in childcare centres, parks, councils and primary schools.

The popularity of these innovative playtime solutions is growing as parents attempt to remove their children from screens and introduce them to fun outdoor activities. With the right cubby house kids can have healthy outdoor play that will allow them to build their social and motor skills by interacting with other children and using their imagination.

Cubby houses also make for great memories, and parents can enjoy the feeling of constructing the house and watching their children enjoy it. Fantastic Playground’s cubby houses can be built easily and with only a few tools and a set of instructions which the firm provides. Some of the firm’s cubby houses come partially assembled with the walls, roofs and floors already put together making it even easier for parents to build. Installation can also be arranged for those who are not technically minded.

With the increased focus on removing children from screens and getting them outdoors the cubby house and outdoor play market looks set to continue its upward trajectory for many years to come. As such Fantastic Playgrounds looks set for an exciting future as it continues to provide the very highest quality products and great customer service.

K Company: Fantastic Playgrounds Business Owner: Dikea Roussos Email: sales@fantasticplaygrounds.com.au Phone: 0428826124 Website: www.fantasticplaygrounds.com.au

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Creating a Legacy of Excellence in Law Winston & Strawn is an international law firm offering support to clients across a wide range of practice areas. We explore how the firm draws on the experience of Zoe Ashcroft, Partner in its UK office, to ensure success for its clients.

Among the team at the firm’s London office is Partner Zoë Ashcroft, an English qualified solicitor, who is one of the founding partners of Winston & Strawn London LLP, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. She concentrates her practice on cross-border matters and leads the firm’s business and finance practice in London.

As a lawyer Zoe has more than 25 years of experience handling complex cross-border deals for a broad range of corporate clients, with a particular focus on clients who are either operating or investing in the United Kingdom, or who are based in the United States, Continental Europe, Africa, Asia, and elsewhere who select English law as the governing law for their crossborder transactions.

Her experience includes cross-border mergers and acquisitions; strategic alliances and joint ventures; private equity

investments; high-yield debt offerings and private placements (of both debt and equity); and corporate lending (representing both lenders and borrowers).

In addition, Zoe also advises companies with respect to securities offerings, including London Stock Exchange listings; Alternative Investment Market listings; and dual listings on these markets in conjunction with the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ; and most recently on the first dual listing of shares in a Nigerian company, on the London main market, and Lagos Stock Exchange.

Her clients include companies in a variety of industry sectors, including: oil and gas, clean technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, consumer/retail products and services, general industrial, and financial services/ investment funds.

Alongside her vast industry experience, Zoe also relies on an impressive career to support her clients. She received an LL.B. from the University of Bristol, England, in 1986 and completed her Law Society Final Examinations at the College of Law Guildford, England, in 1987.

She Qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales in 1989 and was admitted as a Solicitor in Hong Kong in 1990.

In order to give back to the wider law industry and share her knowledge and expertise, Zoe is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales and the UK Institute of Directors. She serves as a director and special counsel to Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, a UK-registered charity which arranges mentoring and internship opportunities for persons from underrepresented ethnic minorities within the investment banking, corporate law, and other sectors. She has also been appointed as a trustee on the Board of The Climate Group, a not-forprofit organization working internationally with business and political leaders to advance clean technologies and policies to cut global greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate a prosperous low carbon economy.

since co-founding the firm’s London office in 2003. The team has been ranked in the UK, EMEA, and Global Editions of the annual Legal 500 clients’ guide to the legal professions among the leading law firms in the United Kingdom in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, and projects, energy, and natural resources (oil and gas).

With this vast industry expertise and dedication to her craft it is no wonder that Zoe and her team have achieved this success, and looking to the future she and her staff will be keen to build upon these achievements and continue to serve both current and future clients to the very highest standard.

Drawing on this vast industry experience, Zoe has led the London office corporate transactional and finance team

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For more than 160 years, Winston & Strawn LLP has served as a trusted adviser and advocate for clients across virtually every industry. In that time, through careful growth and thoughtful fiscal management, the firm have built a law practice with tremendous breadth and a global reach.

Company: Winston & Strawn Phone: +44 20 7011 8725 Email: zashcroft@winston.com Website: www.winston.com

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Driving Employee Engagement Through Excellence DEVELOR International is one of the fastest growing international Learning & Development organizations, drawing on over 23 years’ experience in this industry to provide excellence to clients. We profile the firm and explore how Global CEO Zsolt Pozvai has worked to drive it to the success it is today.

Established in 1992, DEVELOR is a customer experience and employee engagement specialist international consulting firm.

The firm is represented in 14 countries of EMEA; have been delivering various development projects from Germany to Russia and from Poland to the MiddleEast, in more than 20 countries, ensuring that clients get the benefits of working with a truly international company when they collaborate with DEVELOR.

DEVELOR companies operate under the same principles and guidelines: centrally developed innovative know-how, unified trainer development and quality standards, cross-country IT systems - this is the solid basis to provide unified, high quality, state-of-art solutions.

participants to apply what they learned on the job, and stimulate their implementation progress.

The firm operates across a number of sectors, including training, in which DEVELOR design and deliver training programs that are engaging, relevant and practical. The firm then motivate program

In the consultancy space, DEVELOR help to define the outcomes that business stakeholders expect to be delivered though the learning and development initiatives and we design them accordingly. It also helps to align connected processes and systems so that desired change is supported and reinforced.

Alongside this provide personal assistance and guidance in the process of personal behavioral change that accompanies all true learning and development projects.

Overall, with DEVELOR clients’ learning and development projects will generate positive

and measurable impact on business results.

“My main business goal is to strengthen DEVELOR’s international presence and our strong positions on the training and consulting markets of EMEA region”, Zsolt comments.

“DEVELOR is not only a professional service firm and the fastest growing consulting network, but first of all a valuebased partnership of our fair and engaged colleagues.

As an international network builder with solid experience in business services (consulting, training, advertisement, marketing) and in sales and marketing with a full commitment to business ethics and human leadership, Zsolt is well placed to achieve this goal, and this will be his ongoing focus moving forward.

K Company: DEVELOR International Address: H-1074 Budapest, Rákóczi út 70-72.

Phone: +36 1 413 7990 Fax: +36 1 321 0413 E-mail: info.hungary@develor.com Website: www.develor.com

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Keep it in the Family David Perry is MD of Perry of Oakley – he tells us more about the firm and how being a familyrun British business stands them in good stead for the future.

“In essence we are a family run business,” begins David Perry, who took over as Managing Director of the firm in 2007.

“We were established 70 years ago by Thomas Perry who was my grandfather and we have a strong reputation for supplying high specification machinery that lasts.

“Over my 26 years in the trade, from graduation until now, and in my time as a boy, I now do business with customers who remember me as a boy visiting with my father and we even still do business with customers who remind me of how they used to deal with my grandfather all those years ago. This is a great accomplishment.”

The firm aims to be the leading supplier of innovative bulk materials handling and drying equipment in the UK and Europe.

“We pride ourselves on defining the right specification to best meet the customer’s budget and their requirements,” continues David. “We also aim to engineer new products to be as versatile as possible giving us the maximum range of sectors to sell them into.”

Being a family-run business and having a long-standing reputation for excellence stands the firm in good stead when it comes to differentiating itself from competitors in the market, and David explains further what else sets them apart.

“As the market becomes increasingly competitive it’s tempting to lower the specification of the machinery to help meet the customer’s budget but, as we have been doing this for 70 years, we know that doesn’t always lead to the best outcome for the customer. Lower specification machinery often breaks down more frequently and needs replacing sooner.

As we design and manufacture our own product range we have an excellent reputation for applicable innovation.

“We are the most experienced manufacturer of bulk handling and drying machinery in the country. We are very proud of the wealth of knowledge we have in our extensive team of consultants and engineers. If one of our customers does run into difficulties we can quickly despatch one of our team out to their site and have them back up and running quickly and effectively. We also carry one of the biggest inventories of spares in the country which enables a rapid turnaround to support our customers right when they need it.

“The deep working knowledge we have of our customers’ needs, coupled with our in-house design team, production and installation capability means we

can move quickly from idea to installation and adapt as we go.”

At Perrys, it is imperative that staff are up-to-date with the latest processes and emerging trends in order to better serve their customers. With this in mind, David states that the firm has recently improved the tools that staff use to achieve the perfect client outcome.

“Our customers want confidence that we will deliver on time so this maintains our focus on their needs and our timeliness. We aim to help our staff play to their individual strengths while delivering to as high as standard as possible.

“Over the last decade it has become increasingly obvious that, for export work, being British is a definite benefit.”

“We achieved an incredibly high percentage of on time delivery during the last 12 months and more than 90% of our customers repeatedly buy from us so we are confident that our culture and team deliver the desired results.”

So what does the future hold for Perrys? David has big plans for continual growth from international shores and from non-agricultural sectors in the UK. “Over the last decade it has become increasingly obvious that, for export work, being British is a definite benefit, and as long as it is followed up by living up to your claims you soon earn the respect and repeat business from dealers and customers alike.

Being a British manufacturer is also a benefit you can use in the UK and it is rewarding that this, and our history, are a key part of our marketing to customers.

“Nothing in business is easy and the history and being British is nothing without the team of staff that work within the business some of whom have been there many years and are much much more than just colleagues to me.”

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Perry of Oakley is a designer and manufacturer of bulk materials handling and drying equipment. The company provides equipment for applications on farms, commercial grain stores, feedmills, biomass drying and handling solutions and operates in both the UK and international markets.

Company: Perry of Oakley Ltd Name: David Perry Email: claire.mcternan@perryofOakley.co.uk Web Address: www.perryofoakley.co.uk and www.perrybiomassengineering.co.uk Address: Perry of Oakley Ltd, Dunkeswell Airfield, Dunkeswell, Nr Honiton, Devon, EX14 4LF Telephone: 01404 890300

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Onwards and Upwards Philip Shepherd, CEO of Opilio Recruitment, is passionate about his firm, his staff and his clients. He tells us more about the business and how growth is very much on his mind for the future, following his success in winning One to Watch in 2017: Recruitment Opilio Recruitment is a niche consultancy firm focusing on the digital sector.

Established in London in 2010, Opilio has an impressive list of clients, including The Walt Disney Co, Penguin Books, PriceSpy, Harvard Business Review, News UK, Bauer Media, Nectar, Universal Music, Jinn, BBC, and Mediacom to name but a few. “Generally, we work with clients that require highly skilled candidates from within the technology, marketing, entertainment, eCommerce and publishing sectors and our three divisions of Commercial, Technical and Marketing allows us to really focus on the market,” explains Chief Executive Officer, Philip Shepherd.

Opilio’s mission is simple – be the first point of call for clients and candidates alike. “We are all about the personal touch with everyone we come across because we want to build long term relationships, it’s not about the here and now for us,” Philip embellishes. “All our consultants are passionate about wanting to create the right impression now so that we are highly regarded in future discussions. We think we do a pretty good job as for five years in a row we have managed to retain over 96% of our clients.”

Such a high client retention rate is no mean feat, and Philip goes into more detail about how he ensures his clients are always satisfied, and what it is that sets the firm apart from competitors.

“It’s pretty simple. We know the market better than others and we hire talented, relationship builders within Opilio to manage our clients. We have an account management model within Opilio so consultants are not constantly chasing their tails and fighting for new business, thus they can focus their time on finding the right candidates for each client

we have. Given that we have over 96% client repeat business, this obviously works. Finally, we have core values that support this long term, partnership model – moral integrity, reliability, respect and entrepreneurialism.

“In addition, we are all passionate about the digital and data world we live in. We want everyone that comes in to contact with us to know that we are passionate and have integrity that can be relied upon. By making sure we treat everyone with the same reverence we expect for ourselves, we believe that we can further build our reputation above other recruiters.”

When working with a brand new client, Opilio has a tried and tested strategy it employs to ensure that clients always receive the best possible outcome. Philip takes us through the process.

“We act as management consultants so understanding the client and how they make money is the first aspect we consider. If we have the in-depth, commercial understanding of a client’s business, the ability to find the right candidate is easier.

That works across all of our three divisions – Commercial, Technical and Marketing. With our clients, it is vital that we meet them to get a clear understanding of their cultures, values and what the absolute must haves are from the candidate they are looking for. Meeting clients on site has such an important part to play in ensuring we deliver the right type of candidates. As for the candidates, we apply the same rigor. We know that by taking the time to interview face-to-face generates a deeper understanding of their skill set and also what they are looking for from their next role.”

In order to best serve their clients, it is imperative that the staff at Opilio keep-up-to-date with the latest emerging trends to

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stay ahead of the curve.

“We live and breathe digital and keep an eye on all emerging and existing technology,” explains Philip. “We are briefed on the latest investment activity in the digital sector and, by operating at the cutting edge, we have conversations with clients and candidates that are on point and relevant. Quite often, we will be engaged prior to investment rounds concluding so funded businesses are ahead of the curve when it comes to talent.”

It is important to work hard but have fun at the same time. Philip believes that the internal culture at Opilio is unique and not at all like your run-of-the-mill sales office.

“We have a great bunch of consultants that are like minded and team orientated,” he enthuses. “They work for each other which is just a great thing to see. We do lots of fun stuff together, the usual nights out but we always have a team event monthly, be it clay pigeon shooting, archery or trips to the German markets in Switzerland!

“We have an internal training consultant that will be there assisting our trainee consultants daily through their first six months. This is coupled with our retained external training consultant who is there to keep us all updated on the latest developments in our market.

We completely see the benefits of making sure we try and stay ahead of the market.

We have a pretty strict internal recruitment process. In fact, the same stringent process we apply for our clients. Firstly, making sure that new hires fit our culture is number one on the list, they must be caring, reliable and respectful people. Having some real-life work experience is also high up on the list and global travel experience carries much weight. We hire grown-ups and

empower them to manage their own desks, within the constraints of the overall Opilio processes.”

With regards to the future, growth is Opilio’s main focus and Philip tells us that it is well-funded to achieve this. He has plans to launch a new website, enhance the firm’s marketing effort, launch an Executive Search division, begin Opilio Events and announce a new charity initiative.

We strive to improve everything we do and we constantly seek feedback from our clients so the future is to get better and better at what we do,” he comments. “We now have a core team in place, solid revenues, a strong database of candidates and clients and a reputation to match so for us, we continue to hire well and find more consultants to join us.

“In the future, we would love to go international and be able to open up new offices in New York, Dubai and Singapore, we are looking into this and would hope that we are in a position to be able to achieve these things in 2018 and beyond.

“Finding candidates is the key and every year, there is a new place to go to find these candidates so we simply move some of the budget to pastures new. Given we have an enhanced database already, I am confident we can continue to develop. Since our Technology Director is at the cutting edge of coding, we keep a keen eye on emerging trends and market developments.

“I have put six years of my life into building Opilio Recruitment with much sacrifice and have no back up plan so the only option is to continue to grow and keep Opilio expanding and developing.

I love what I do and I think that passion and enthusiasm filters down to everyone who joins us and candidates and clients that work with us.”

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Company: Opilio Recruitment Ltd Name: Philip Shepherd Email: london@opiliorecruitment.co.uk Web Address: opiliorecruitment.co.uk Address: 48 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2NS Telephone: +44 02071837145

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An Attorney You Can Bank On Pastore & Dailey LLC is a leading financial services law firm which represents sophisticated financial services clients and some of the largest financial institutions in the world. We explore the work of Managing Partner Joseph Pastore and how he has worked hard to drive the company to the success it enjoys today.

Managing Partner Joseph Pastore focuses his practice on the financial services and technology industries. He represents major multinational companies in state and federal courts, as well as before selfregulatory organizations, such as FINRA and the NYSE, state boards and federal agencies, such as the SEC and the FCC. Prior to his work at Pastore & Dailey he was a managing partner for two national law firms, and served on the National Executive Committee of an AmLaw 200 Firm. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” for both New England and New York, and has been rated AV Preeminent for 14 years in a row.

In addition to these prestigious accolades, Mr. Pastore has been consistently named as a leading attorney for financial

services companies, including the securities, banking and insurance industries on securities matters. Pastore & Dailey represents major securities industry companies, including internationally significant brokerage firms, broker dealers, specialist’s firms, transfer agents and derivative brokers. Pastore & Dailey also represents large and small hedge and venture funds and RIAs, and provides counsel on all aspects of private equity investment. Pastore & Dailey has also handled several of the largest FINRA arbitrations ever held before that body. Mr. Pastore was counsel in national seminal securities investigations including the national SPAC Investigation, the national CDS investigation, and an investigation by the SEC, FINRA and TARP concerning the largest IPO in US History.

and litigations including matters filed in foreign jurisdictions hosting captive reinsurance companies. He also regularly represents major international insurance companies in disputes critical to their investment holdings. Large international carriers have regularly placed Pastore & Dailey on approved counsel lists.

On banking issues, Mr. Pastore has handled regulatory and litigation disputes for the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and defended and prosecuted major matters concerning bank conversions. He is counsel to lenders, including counsel for the leading lender in the largest bankruptcy in Connecticut in the past 10 years. He has represented banks in asset backed lending disputes and as counsel to several of the largest custodial banks in the country, including in a $40B matter in the SDNY. Mr. Pastore has also represented one of the largest retail banks in over 100 cases nationally.

Pastore & Dailey also has extensive experience negotiating commercial agreements, including venture capital term sheets, technology license agreements, partnership agreements, joint venture

With regards to insurance matters, Joseph has handled major reinsurance arbitrations

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In addition, he is also recognized for his representation of many technology companies.

He regularly represents large technology and telecommunications companies, including many Internet, satellite, computer software, networking, voice and data companies, and start-up ventures. He has also served as lead counsel in New York and Connecticut for Fortune 500 corporations in several national class action litigations.

agreements, merger agreements, executive employment and compensation plans and limited liability company agreements.

Mr. Pastore has published several articles concerning securities law, technology and corporate governance in the New York Law Journal, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the Connecticut Law Tribune and the Practicing Law Institute.

Alongside his published works, Mr. Pastore serves on the Public Policy Board for Bucknell University. He also serves on the Board of Visitors of his law school. He is a member of the Bars of the State of New York and the State of Connecticut.

Pastore and Dailey has recently added a cybersecurity practice, focusing on new cybersecurity regulations for financial service companies. This new practice group acquired through Mr. Pastore’s leadership, represents his commitment and the Firm’s commitment to protecting and aiding clients on the most pressing issues facing their business.

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Pastore & Dailey LLC is a leading law firm for financial services companies, including the securities, banking and insurance industries on securities matters. Our partners also include the former general counsel of a Wall Street firm and senior NYSE regulatory attorney; the former Secretary of State for the State of CT and a candidate for the US Senate; an attorney who has been named a top litigator nationally in multiple legal publications for nearly 10 years; and several other attorneys from AmLaw 100 firms.

Pastore & Dailey maintains six offices nationally, including New York, Boston, Stamford and Glastonbury and in Florida in Gainesville and Melbourne.

Company: Pastore & Dailey LLC Address: 4 High Ridge Park, Third Floor, Stamford, CT 06905 Phone: 203.658.8454 Fax: 203.348.0852 Website: www.psdlaw.net

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An Intelligent Woman Shawna Erdmann of Intel talks to Corporate Vision about winning the prestigious title of Most Influential Woman in Executive Leadership - California.

She elaborates on the company’s overall aims and objectives.

“Our aim is to be a worldclass leadership and learning organization that not only responds to the most critical learning needs of our company, but also anticipates what learning will be most vital for company

success. To help us maintain a forward looking position we participate in key industry research and carefully examine data and trends.

“These aims have given us several opportunities to be a fully vested partner along with business leaders as they determine strategy and direction.”

Intel is a worldwide company, which allows it to better serve its customers. “The global demand for key talent continues to influence our approach for attracting and retaining the industry’s best. It also provides opportunity to be creative when finding solutions.” ”I see our company positioned as a leader in the far wider HR & Training market. We are

introducing content that not only trains our businesses, but enables our leaders to grow and continue to innovate.”

Shawna runs us through key steps she follows when undertaking a new training programme. “Our first step is always to evaluate the business need we are working to solve and ask ourselves what true result we expect to achieve,” she says.

“This allows us to appropriately scale the effort and determine additional work required beyond training. Changing behaviour and habits is challenging so when that is the primary goal, we include a robust transition and change management component to our strategy to ensure every stakeholder group is aligned.”

Recently, Shawna was awarded the title of Most Influential Woman in Executive Leadership - California in the HR and Training Awards 2016. She tells us how it felt to receive this accolade.

“I’m honoured to have won this prestigious award from among the many talented leaders in our industry. My success is due in large part to the incredible team of brilliant and innovative learning professionals with whom I work. Their passion to delight and amaze every learner is inspiring.”

With respect to the future, Shawna shares what we can expect from Intel.

“Organizationally in learning at Intel, we have our sights set on the learner experience and opportunities to make the whole learning journey more dynamic.

“The pace of change in our wider industry has been unprecedented in recent years and I expect it will continue. Building our competencies around adapting to change and leading through change will be crucial.”

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“Intel expands the boundaries of technology to make the most amazing experiences possible. Harnessing the capability of the cloud, the ubiquity of the Internet of Things, the latest in memory and programmable solutions, and the promise of always-on 5G connectivity, Intel is disrupting industries and solving global challenges,” enthuses Shawna Erdmann.

Company: Intel Corporation Name: Shawna Erdmann Web Address: www.intel.com

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Social Butterfly Renée Wallen, recently awarded CEO of the Year 2017 – London, for her role as founder and CEO at Imaginative Training, is a renowned specialist in effective communication skills. She outlines her thoughts on social media marketing, business growth and making the most of working in the UK’s capital city.

Founded by Renée in 1998, Imaginative Training grew from a company specialising in plain English business communications to the global social media business it is today. It has two main strands: training, obviously, mainly in social media marketing and related topics; and actual social media marketing – for businesses that are too busy to do it themselves.

It is for both of these aspects that the firm and its Director, Renée Wallen, have been recognised by Corporate Vision for its Executive of the Year awards, as well as the UK Independent Business Honours List, which honoured the firm for training and coaching.

Working with an eclectic range of companies to provide them with a more effective on-line presence, Imaginative Training’s clients include mid-sized corporates in professional areas such as accountancy and law, to specialist companies including those in hotel hospitality and engineering. With bespoke packages for smaller clients, as well as comprehensive services for larger firms, the business offers an ideal social media marketing solution for every size and type of company wanting to get ahead.

One of the firm’s recent success stories was its work promoting a client’s ’meeting-up app.’

Renée has worked with them on previous projects so she was their first port of call for promoting this new app on social media.

Initial meetings, held over coffee and cake in a favourite Shoreditch café, ensured that she and her team understand the product completely. Together, they then nail down the target market and client’s vision in order to create a marketing strategy going forward.

So, what marks out this social media company from its competitors? “We’re business people,” says Renée. “Many of our competitors are fresh from university with bag loads of enthusiasm and a natural talent for tweeting, but often they have no business acumen. We offer the whole package! And with a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics, I am able to ensure that clients’ communications – whether tweeted, posted or emailed – are correctly spelled, punctuated and grammatically or colloquially accurate. It’s a cliché, but first impressions count - and with prolific social media, mistakes don’t go away.”

Renée loves the training aspect.

She works with businesses in group sessions or – as she prefers – on a one-to-one basis, teaching them the specifics of social media marketing for their particular industry. “I used to teach in adult education, and I’ve lectured and presented for years.

This is how the social media side of the business came about.

People would attend my sessions then call me a few weeks later to say they understood what to do, but simply didn’t have the time, energy or copywriting skills inhouse to handle the demands of on-line marketing. We can step in

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and take all that pressure away from them, which leaves them to do what they do best, and us to tell the world about it!”

Social media is a vast and ever growing industry. New platforms naturally bring different challenges for businesses.

Issues such as keeping ahead of the search engine algorithms, being creative with regular blogging and pushing though the increasingly-limiting unpaid reach of Facebook mean that small to medium-sized businesses often can’t cope alone. This has led to the rise in firms such as Imaginative Training. As Renée comments: “Not all businesses need to be on every platform.

Some clients are more suitable for marketing on LinkedIn, while others enjoy the camaraderie of Twitter and interaction on Facebook. It’s about targeting it in the most appropriate way.”

“We work with clients across the globe, from America to the Netherlands, Ukraine to Australia. Different target audiences in differing geographical environments can require diverse tones of voice, so we cater for whatever our customers need.” With its global reach, the majority of Imaginative Training’s clients are based in and around London, allowing Renée to spend a great deal of time building solid business relationships at citybased networking events and in the capital’s finest cafés and chocolate shops.

Imaginative Training’s internal culture is relaxed yet

professional. Renée reveals that “the nature of the business means that the team can be dispersed yet cohesive. Social networks help of course!!

With Facetime, Skype, simple email and the reams of communications apps available, everyone working on a particular project can be easily kept in the loop. But nothing beats a good old face-to-face catch-up, which is why we are taking a few days out for a team holiday in the beautiful Isle of Mull later this spring.”

The team is well equipped to ensure clients receive the best possible service. A systemised business approach and constant contact to become enmeshed in each client’s individual culture allows everyone to feel part of the wider team picture. “We don’t advertise who our clients are, as we think of ourselves as an extension to their own teams.”

Renée works closely with those clients’ business owners and is delighted to be included in their team events. In the past couple of years, she’s been to several awards dinners and celebrations (having copywritten their successful award applications) plus trips to Paris and various beautiful hotels and day trips around the UK. What does the future hold for Imaginative Training? A solid business strategy and a lot of satisfied clients! If you’d like to find out more about the services offered, please call Renée on 020 8551 7077, email info@ imaginativetraining.com or connect on social media!

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Social Butterfly

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Contact: RenĂŠe Wallen Email: info@imaginativetraining.com Company: Imaginative Training & Development Ltd Phone: +44 (0) 20 8551 7077 Web Address: www.imaginativetraining.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/reneewallen/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ImaginativeTraining/ Twitter: twitter.com/WeekendWitch

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Innovative Finance in the Renewable Infrastructure Sector Founded in 2011, Aurium Capital Markets (Aurium) is an award-winning investment manager targeting mid-market opportunities primarily in the low carbon infrastructure sector. We were recently selected as Ones to Watch in 2017: Investment Management by Corporate Vision magazine.

The firm’s overall objective is simple – to originate, execute and manage best in class investments for itself and investors. High quality deal flow, rigourous due diligence and commitment to transparency are essential elements in delivering these objectives.

Aurium aims to differentiate itself through a strong risk adjusted return – primarily by focussing on value-added midmarket situations where size, complexity, knowledge or speed of decision-making are all crucial to achieving attractive returns without compromising asset security.

Investment structures can involve debt, hybrid or equity positions, depending on the particular situation.

Aurium is a principal investor and is able to access a wide investor base, ranging from single family offices through to large institutions, in order to finance a broad range of investments.

The essential element of Aurium’s approach is to leverage over 100 years of combined management experience in

structured and asset finance to assess risk in a manner that is specifically tailored to the sector of the relevant project.

on these core objectives within a lean and focussed team targeted at minimising costs and maximising returns.

balancing measures in the form of diesel and gas, which can create further issues around emissions.

For example, it is Aurium’s view is that specialist projects, particularly in the low carbon infrastructure sector, are often analysed by financiers on the basis of generic criteria rather than a detailed analysis of the quite unique combination of elements that make up each project (e.g. land rights, planning consents, asset and equipment finance, long term public sector subsidies, substantial corporate guarantees and warranties, etc).

Overview of the wider industry In 2009, EU legislation was enacted, setting a target for 20% of its energy to come from renewable sources by 2020, translating into a 15% target for the UK. Through the Climate Change Act, the UK government articulated its own goals to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels). Under the Coalition government of the time, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (“DECC”), now part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) set up a roadmap to reach this target by having 30% of electricity, 12% of heat and 10% of transport come from renewable sources.

There is therefore an increasingly important role for innovative solutions in the low carbon infrastructure sector. Aurium’s role in privatising the Green Deal Finance Company, targeted at reducing carbon emissions in the UK residential sector, , is an example of a step to overcome major challenges in this area.

Aurium is fortunate to have both an internal team with a strong blend of skills and also access to an ecosystem of partners and advisers to provide support in specialist areas. Aurium is therefore able to deliver flexible (and often innovative) solutions to clients seeking finance for relevant projects.

As with any investment manager, the value for investors is based on the quality of deal origination, excellence in execution and management through to exit, whether in the context of debt or equity. Aurium prides itself

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At the same time, the UK power generation sector is severely strained. Traditional energy sources (such as coal) are being phased out, whilst demand for power is increasing. Often, the difference between available supply and peak demand has to be met by using additional

To stay ahead of emerging developments, we believe that constant research, communication with both policy decision makers and investors, and taking risk, both financially and commercially, will facilitate wider engagement by the private sector.

We are a lean team with open architecture and a cohesive vision. We hire best in class professionals that share our vision to combine finance, strategy and policy to create attractive risk adjusted returns for investors whilst achieving wider policy objectives.

With this in mind, our approach to hiring staff is to attract talent

g Innovative Finance in the Renewable Infrastructure Sector

that is aligned with our core objectives and values – a desire to create value, in a flexible environment, without the limitations of burdensome bureaucracy but with the discipline expected by our investors.

The future We would hope that we could work with other partners and investors that share our ethos.

The provision and financing of energy in the UK and globally is evolving rapidly. Our ambition is to assist with the transition to a sustainable, independent, technology-based and ultimately secure energy ecosystem for the UK. Aurium has gradually built a significant presence and position in the mid-market UK infrastructure sector. It is a lead sponsor of the Bioenergy Infrastructure Group, which is already a prominent independent power producer focussed on the aggregation of UK biomass and energy from waste assets.

In addition, Aurium has been recognised with a number of different awards over the last few years, and one of the partners chairs the Bioenergy (Waste to Energy) Group within the Renewable Energy Association.

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Company: Aurium Capital Markets Email: acm@auriumcapital.com Web Address: www.auriumcapital.com Address: 86 Brook Street, London W1K 5AY Telephone: +44 (0)207 101 3080

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Hurrah for HR Hayley Hynd, one of two directors at VCA Consulting, speaks to Corporate Vision about the changing African corporate landscape and how the firm is striving to stay one step ahead, following their award win of Best Outsourced HR Consultancy 2016 - Gauteng.

“We use email, newsletters, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and Marketing as tools to communicate with current and potential clients in order to help advise and update them on changes or even just for feedback on the service they are using.”

VCA has a vast array of clients, approximately 374, in different industry sectors, from construction to IT to hospitality.

The services that the firm offers include Skills Development Facilitation, Employment Equity, Health and Safety, Recruitment, Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, Adult Education and Training, Training, Audits, Outsourced Payroll, Mentorship and Coaching and Industrial Relation Services.

The overall mission of VCA is to deliver cost-effective, meaningful and precise Human Resources development outsourcing options which add value to business partners in commerce, industry and the professional and public sector as well as to play a leading role in the development and self-actualisation of all South Africans. This is done by having competitive pricing while giving as much information as possible in the quickest possible time and keeping costs to a minimum.

Hayley continues, explain exactly what it is that sets VCA apart from the competition and marks it out as the best option for clients.

VCA ensures that its staff are always up-to-date with any changes in legislation in the services they offer as well as having sufficient staff to service their clients’ needs. Hayley Hynd tells us more about the techniques the firm employs when embarking on a new project.

“We make use of professional business partners to assist in some of our service offerings.

Staff are always in contact with clients giving feedback on the progress of the service they are receiving from VCA, either telephonically or via email. Most of the services we offer have deadlines and the staff are always aware of these to make sure that the deadlines are met.

“The overall mission of VCA is to deliver cost-effective, meaningful and precise Human Resources development outsourcing options.”

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“VCA’s competitive pricing, professionalism, staff’s vast amount of knowledge in all services, willingness to go the extra mile and ability to do client meetings with all of their clients nationally are just a few of the things that set us apart. Word of mouth and excellent feedback from our clients makes VCA one of the most sought-after HR Consulting agencies.”

The dedicated staff at VCA work very much as a team. “They work so well together you could say they are more like family and not co-workers,” enthuses Hayley. “They are happy at work because they always receive guidance and advice if they are unsure about something. The management of VCA are always sending the staff on training courses and update workshops so they are always on top of their game and give professional advice to their clients.”

“As VCA has made a good name for itself because of its experience and professionalism in what it does, we receive CVs all the time from people looking to work here. Because of the

laws and legislation that the staff of VCA deal with on a daily basis, the criteria for a new employee is very high and they can only employ qualified people for the various positions that may be available.”

The African corporate landscape has been a little tumultuous recently, with changes in regulations and legislation affecting business.

“The thresholds have changed for Employment Equity in terms of staff compliment and annual turnover which means that some companies no longer have to do Employment Equity so they are deregistering; in turn VCA is losing clients,” states Hayley.

But being on-the-ball and staying ahead of the curve is one such way that the team at VCA are preparing themselves.

“Whatever does happen in the future, VCA will be prepared for any changes as the management and staff of VCA are always ready for change and new ideas as laws and legislation in the HR industry are ever-changing.”

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VCA is an HR Consulting firm that was founded in 1996.

Run by two female directors, Gwen Cooper and Hayley Hynd, they have a staff compliment of six members who are fully trained in the services that they offer.

Company: Veld Cooper and Associates (Pty) Ltd Name: Hayley Hynd Email: Hayley@veldcooper.com Web Address: www.veldcooper.com Address: 86B Pretoria Road, Rynfield, Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa Telephone: +27 11 425 3575

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If the Shoe Fits Rinaa Shah, luxury shoe designer, talks about her latest collection and how she strives to ensure success every time. around 3000 brides over the 15 years. We also make custom shoes as per clients’ requirements.”

Rinaa has been designing and manufacturing shoes for 15 years and has made shoes for almost all markets in the world including USA, Europe and Australia.

It is this attention to detail which has served Rinaa well over the years and sets her aside from competitors in the industry.

“We were India’s first shoe designers and have around 5000 clients all over India,” she explains. “We have also made shoes for Hollywood and Bollywood clients and dressed

Rinaa and her team’s mission is to achieve the best possible quality and she strives to meet the international standard. “As we make all the shoes by hand we pay special attention to all the small details and make sure the design and standards are maintained consistently.”

“We are the best shoe makers in India because we pay attention to the clients’ needs. We buy the best raw materials from Italy, and we follow international standards for quality and design which others in India can’t do.”

Rinaa tells us more about her latest collection, Rinaldi Polo, and the inspiration behind it all.

“I love horses and always wanted to ride,” she enthuses. “In 2011, I watched a Jaipur polo game with some friends and fell in love with the sport. I want my collection to reflect the fun and style surrounding the game of polo”.

Rinaa, whose accessories have in the recent past been carried

by Natalie Portman, Pamela Anderson and even Goldie Hawn and Naomi Campbell, travelled to Santa Barbara and Argentina to learn and train in the sport of polo.

“Being so passionate about the sport and being with horses every day of my life, I thought it would be great to do a line that’s comes from the heart,” she adds.

Using her signature style of embellishments with crystals and coloured stones Rinaa has created a line using equestrian prints and polo prints on large bags with bamboo handles.

The theme is brought to life with saddle bags, complete with trimmings, rein handles, spur straps with crystals and feathers

and even a unique collection of belts with horses as buckles.

Rinaldi Polo Boots are handcrafted and made by specially trained skilled craftsmen with beautiful tanned leather.

Each boot is custom-made with special care and high-quality.

“Polo is slowly but surely becoming a lifestyle statement in the world!”

The main challenge that Rinaa faces in India is the lack of labour. “It is hard to find good staff and skilful labourers. India has no top fashion schools; therefore, we have to train our craftsmen every time as handmade shoes require a lot of work and skill.”

With regards to the future, Rinaa and her team have big plans for the Rinaldi brand.

“We are planning on launching Rinaldi shoe studio for bespoke shoes and also a website that we will launch globally where anyone in the world can create their own shoes online.”

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India’s first shoe designer, Rinaa Shah, has designed an equestrian collection that portrays her love for Polo. Rinaa started playing the equestrian sport four years ago when she sat on the horse for the first time and simply loves every moment on the ground, atop her horse.

The collection, entitled Rinaldi Polo, is sporty and chic, just like the game.

Company: Rinaldi Designs Name: Rinaa Shah Email: rinaldi50@hotmail.com Web Address: rinaldipolo.com Address: 121 Tantia Jogani Ind. Est., J. R. Boricha Marg Lower Parel East, Mumbai, 400 011, India Telephone: +91 22 400 40343

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Leading the Way in Family Law The Law Office of Claudia Zucker is a Virginia based legal practice focused on issues related to divorce, custody and other family law issues. We explore the range of services the firm offers in this vital sector.

Established in 1991, the Law Office of Claudia Zucker focuses primarily on the family related issues of divorce, custody, visitation, relocation cases, child support, spousal support, military divorce and pensions, modification of existing custody and support orders, and immigration related divorce issues.

Claudia Zucker represents both men and women in a wide variety of complex divorce issues.

She handles complex division of asset cases, jurisdiction disputes, international divorce issues, military divorce, highly contested custody issues, contested relocation issues and divorces involving immigration

complications. Prior to focusing on domestic law issues in 1998, Claudia focused primarily on immigration issues and was an immigration practitioner for over 17 years, she has a deep understanding of the implications of divorce as it relates to immigration concerns.

Claudia also has experience in handling cases involving jurisdictional disputes between different states and different countries, as well as international custody disputes. She is

knowledgeable on issues related to The Hague Convention and international child abduction.

Claudia has handled cases for clients of almost every nationality.

Her international clients have given her opportunity to gain an understanding of cultural related issues that may affect the issues involved in your case. She also has gained a working knowledge of other countries’ laws that may help you in a jurisdictional dispute.

She also boasts an exception education; she is a graduate of Boston College where she earned a B.A. in political science and Boston University School of

Law where she earned her juris doctor. She was a member of the International Law Review at Boston University. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar and a section member of the family law section.

Ultimately, it is Claudia’s vast experience which forms the basis of her success, and moving forward Claudia will be looking to strengthen her position in the market by continuing to offer the very highest standards of support to her clients. Claudia provides her full and undivided attention to every client and puts her soul into providing the best legal representation of her clients.

K Company: Law Offices of Claudia Zucker Address: 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 205 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: (703) 209-0520 Email: claudia@zuckerlawfirm.com Website: www.zuckerlawfirm.com

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Minty Fresh Thinking Alexis Pratsides of MintTwist tells us about the current digital environment, the challenges it faces and what the future holds following Brexit.

The firm’s mission is to create digital campaigns that are not only innovative and market leading - but most importantly, deliver commercial success.

Alexis Pratsides goes into further detail about the firm’s objectives and the strategy it uses to ensure they are met.

“We aim to be a forward thinking digital partner to our clients, helping them deliver against their core business objectives - typically these are to connect with customers, increase brand awareness and grow revenues,” explains Alexis.

“We place a large emphasis on an upfront strategy phase. This ensures that every campaign we undertake has a much more robust approach to ensuring success. Often the campaigns we end up delivering have deviated from an original brief as a better way to deliver success is uncovered.”

The firm regularly works on individual campaigns for clients, but more and more often it is being asked to either revamp a brand’s entire digital offering, or recreate it from scratch.

“In these instances, we audit the company’s existing digital infrastructure to ascertain what assets they have and what they are missing, putting in a

plan to create or amend where necessary.

“Following this, we dive into at where they spending their digital marketing budget and how successful it has been in the past. Using these sets of data, we combine this information with their core business objectives to design and develop a digital strategy target and engage precisely the audiences that the brand is keen to connect with.”

Staying ahead of the curve is vital in the fast-paced digital industry and Alexis ensures that the firm and its staff are always one step ahead of emerging developments.

“We hire great staff who are immersed in the industry and can visualise future trends. Our team often give talks on what we can see on the digital horizon and how to prepare for it.

“It’s important to us that we provide an environment that allows people to grow and develop as individuals as well as ensuring that there are some very cool projects to work on.

The result is a fun place to work with a close knit team that are all working for the success of us and our clients.”

It’s clear that Alexis places great emphasis on a happy working culture within the firm and embellishes on how MintTwist strives to ensure that staff satisfaction is a priority.

“Our staff are crucial to our success and therefore we want to consistently invest heavily in them.

“Our remuneration packages are above market rate, we ensure that they have all the

latest technology and equipment as well as providing training regularly.

“Recruitment is a very timeconsuming process and we have a policy to always be on the lookout for talent, even if a potential role is a way off.

“It is crucial that we hire from a culture first perspective. Training can be applied where necessary but the DNA match must be there in order for the individual to succeed.”

With regards to the future of MintTwist and the digital space, Alexis sees Brexit as a huge opportunity to expand the firm’s presence overseas.

“We have traded off the British Flag for a number of years now and with the competitive nature of the pound, there is even more reason for overseas business to choose to work with exceptionally talented British companies. To this end, we are reinforcing our business in the Middle Eastern market, investigating a central European office as well as putting the wheels in motion for an entity in the Far East.

“We are also planning to accelerate growth in the next

couple of years with a few select acquisitions.

“We’ve already addressed the issue of work streams being pulled back in house – this has helped us with the forecasting of our retainer based income and given us clarity on how we pitch for work.

“Mobile usage is still very much on the rise, so building out products from a mobile first perspective is a must.

“The way that consumers are consuming information across multiple devices is complicating campaign acquisition models so unpicking this complex web is going to be crucial in the coming year when proving ROI to our clients.

“As the arena becomes ever more competitive for our clients with everyone employing the same tactics to stay ahead of the game, we feel that innovation across the board will drive success. To this end, we have created an R&D business to create new products and embark on joint ventures with our clients to disrupt existing markets to achieve competitive advantage. It’s exciting times ahead for our business, our staff and the clients we work with.”

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MintTwist is a full service creative digital agency headquartered in London that works with brands to build immersive digital experiences. Working with clients from around the world, the firm has offices in both London and Dubai and plans to open new premises in the UK and Central Europe soon.

Company: MintTwist Name: Alexis Pratsides Email: alexis@minttwist.com Web Address: https://www.minttwist.com Address: 800 Highgate Studios, 53–79 Highgate Road London NW5 1TL Telephone: 02072849750

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Safety First IDEM Safety Switches based in Wigan in the North West of England are the UK’s largest manufacturer of machine safety switches. Since the formation of the company in 2003 they have grown rapidly by continually investing in technology and utilising the experience of their talented workforce. This philosophy has resulted in IDEM now being proud to also manufacture the world’s largest range of stainless steel 316 safety switches. These are used throughout the world in areas where hygiene is uppermost such as food manufacture and processing, pharmaceuticals and petro-chemical industries.

The owner of the business, Medi , was originally employed

by EJA/Guardmaster where he set up the Research and Development department and managed the engineering team. Following a buyout he subsequently became Technical Director of Rockwell Automation. The decision by Rockwell Automation to move Guardmaster production away from the UK prompted Medi to resign his position and establish IDEM Safety Switches and continue the tradition of UK manufacturing with the design and development of the Next Generation of Safety Switches here in the UK.

gone from strength to strength and is now one of the foremost companies in machine safety switch manufacture in the world.

Today, from their modern 47,000 sq. foot production facility IDEM currently export over 95% of the goods they manufacture to all four corners of the world. Over 60% of the current workforce were former employees of Rockwell Automation.

From their manufacturing and design base in Wigan, IDEM develop and manufacture their extensive product range and through innovation and engineering design and excellence continue to bring to the market new products each and every year. The range continues to grow along with their customer base that is expanding at the same time.

In addition to selling under the IDEM brand via a network of international distributors their ingenuity and quality is also evident in many products that they “brand label” for some of the biggest companies in machine safety in the world.

As a technology company IDEM’s Research and Development efforts are focussed on producing the finest products by fostering innovation and ingenuity whilst maintaining compliance with the latest standards and approvals. This expertise within this market has resulted in numerous inventions

From day one initially working from a small unit in Leigh, Lancashire the company has

- providing ideal solutions for the human-machine environment protecting both individuals and machinery.

IDEM’s product portfolio confirms them as the leading developer of machine safety interlocks by employing the best minds in the business and extensive investment in R&D to provide the “Next Generation” of safety switches and devices.

IDEM are extremely proud to manufacture in the UK and our policy is to ensure World Class Products to support all industry sector customers. Our belief is that “Made in the UK” is still a byword for quality and is respected throughout the industrialised world.

K Company: IDEM Safety Switches Limited Email: sales@idemsafety.com Website: www.idemsafety.com Address: 2 Ormside Close, Hindley Industrial Estate, Hindley Green, Wigan WN2 4HR, United Kingdom Telephone: 01942 257070

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All that Glitters is Gold Frank Fernando tells Corporate Vision about the growth he has experience in the luxury goods industry with his brand, Goldgenie.

“We have grown our company steadily to offer not only just digital products but also luxury gifts, franchise opportunities globally and even a high end concierge service,” explains Frank Fernando. “Our clients range from private business owners, bankers, celebrities and the Royal courts.

“Our company’s main objective is to be seen as providing ‘gifts for the ungiftable’ - this mantra has been planned for our company to be not only see as just a luxury customisation business for digital products but for non-digital products with the same level of detail and craftsmanship that we are internationally famed for.

“Our head office is in London, however our strongest customer base is located in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, India and China.

This has been a huge challenge in the past as there have been no showrooms, but this has now changed as of 2016 and we now have a luxury retail

store in Dubai, Malaysia and soon our latest opening soon in Doha Qatar which has led to great interest and many more orders because our clients can finally see our products in the flesh. Our top sales staff in-store also create a positive customer experience and engage with all clients wanting to see our products.”

Frank continues to explain what it is that sets Goldgenie aside from its competitors and marks it out as the best option for clients.

“We have been in business for over 20 years and have seen the industry change drastically, we not only offer the best possible finish for our gold-plated and precious metal products but we offer exceptional customer service that we believe is missing these days.

“All our customised devices come with a lifetime warranty with master craftsmen working with precision on their orders - no other company in our industry invests this level of time and effort to ensure that all are clients are 100% happy with orders. Our extensive celebrity and corporate clientele is testament that we are the leaders in our field.”

Staying ahead of the game and being abreast of emerging trends is also key in ensuring ongoing success for Goldgenie.

“One of our many skills in goldplating is the ability to plate non -conductive metals and plastics in 24k gold. We have invested many man hours and resources to develop a specialist technique to be able to offer this. As new materials are developed we have been able to develop techniques to stay ahead of the curve.”

The internal culture at Goldgenie ensures that all staff are equipped to provide the best possible service to clients.

“Our staff are selected through a thorough three-step interview process and chosen for their strengths and past successes,” states Frank. “We personally nurture their talent and offer mentorship as an added bonus.

We have a culture of supporting each other in times of difficulty and I always encourage my staff to call me 24 hours a day for any input or guidance. We have a very tight team with all team members demonstrating the highest level of integrity and business ethics, this bond ties us together to create the corporate

culture of performing to the best of our abilities.

“Our reputation is one of our strongest assets in our industry so we require our staff to come not only from a multidisciplinary background but also have a strong track record in previous top-tier companies. We look at each staff member’s background and past achievements carefully against our recruitment criteria and only select the few we feel will add a new perspective to our operation and will move our business forward.”

Goldgenie has experienced a rapid growth in profits over the years which has given rise to hopes and aspirations for the future. “Ideally we would also like to be seen as the leader in all categories of luxury gifts outside the luxury Smartphone market,” says Frank.

“The Goldgenie brand is now expanding its brand image by incorporating Crystalgenie. This is a range of products featuring Swarovski crystals and includes watches and fashion items such as handbags, shoes and sunglasses.”

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Goldgenie has been the industry leader in gold-plating and customisation services for the past 20 years.

Company: Goldgenie Global Ltd Name: Frank Fernando Email: frank@goldgenie.com Web Address: www.goldgenie.com Address: 37 Churton street, London SW1V 2LT Telephone: 0208 804 6200

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Stand Up and Be Counted Whitefriars Catholic College for Boys aims to empower young men to live with integrity through experiences of community and prayer and through a sensitivity to justice. It assists them to take their place in a contemporary global society as valued individuals, alive with the wisdom of the Gospel. Businesswoman of the year, Emilia Fields, speaks to us about the importance women play in providing a memorable experience for students.

Whitefriars is a Catholic College for boys which is situated in Melbourne, Australia.

It is a Carmelite school which began teaching in 1961. The College is officially registered by Austrade to recruit international students into the College and the International Student Program has been running for 20 years.

The College has a student population of 1,200 and the levels taught are Years 7 to 12.

The people Emilia works with are the students, the staff, the boys’ parents, the overseas and local accredited agents, and the homestay parents.

Emilia’s role at Whitefriars College has many facets. She

has been a mainstay for 18 years, and has been in her current role, as Director of International Student Program for the last 12. She tells us what her day to day responsibilities are as well as her previous experience.

“I coordinate the Homestay program and recruit the respective homestay families.

I am responsible for the promotion of the program and the recruitment of international students. I select and liaise with the overseas Whitefriars accredited Agents. I am the Prisms Administrator (Enrolment, Welfare and records) and VRQA Policy Assurance officer (Victorian Government). I organise overseas promotional trips and attend exhibitions, seminars, visits to parents, agents and schools. I also oversee the Bridging Program which is a 20 weeks Intensive English Course for new international students.

Additionally, I have commitments as President of Vision International (An Association of Victorian Secondary schools), Representative of Victorian Non-Government Schools at the Ministerial Round table (a Victorian State Government initiative) and Member of the Victorian Student Interest Group (A Victorian Education Department project)”.

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“My previous positions of leadership at Whitefriars were Transition Coordinator, House System Coordinator and Student Representative Council Coordinator. Prior to Whitefriars, I was Foundation Head of School at a Co-educational College, Head of School at a Girls College and part- time University lecturer” Emilia discusses the importance of women in the industry and what role they play in providing the highest standard of education at Whitefriars College.

“The sector is going from strength to strength and the competition is much more evident in every aspect especially in areas such as global citizenship and multiculturalism. Over 58% of our staff at Whitefriars are women.

The school believes in women as leaders and many women are in positions of leadership and in middle management positions in our school. The College has a great reputation and this helps high quality women leaders to be motivated enough to apply for various positions within our organisation. They also feel nurtured and respected. The main challenge for women is to believe in who they are, what they can do and then go for it.

“The advice I would give to women is that they should be

proud of their achievements and believe they can make a valuable contribution to education as professional leaders, as well as not to feel intimidated by the other gender in terms of promotion and applying for jobs. Once in the job: stand up, be counted, ask for help and then leave a legacy.”

Emilia highlights what the future holds in 2017 for international students at Whitefriars College, as well as her personal goals which she aims to achieve.

“In the area of International students, we will continue to enhance integration of students, globalisation within the school community and the transition of international students to tertiary education.”

“My personal goals are to continue to strengthen international programs in schools. We listen extensively to students and then adopt new programs that enhance the students’ positive experience in a new country.”

Ending the interview, Emilia hopes to see more awareness in society with regards to gender equality and to continue to see women celebrated at the helm of their undertakings. She has a bold message for the business women of the world – “Stand up and be counted”.

g Stand Up and Be Counted

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Company: Whitefriars College Name: Emilia Fields Email: efields@whitefriars.vic.edu.au Web Address: www.whitefriars.vic.edu.au Address: 151 Park Road Donvale, Melbourne, Victoria Australia Telephone: +61 3 98728280

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The Best Talent in the Market As Regional Talent Development Manager for Asia Pacific, Stephanie Iafigliola talks to us about her role and why it is so important to hire and develop the right staff following her success in achieving the Best Regional Talent Development Specialist – Australia award.

PageGroup is a leading professional recruitment consultancy with offices in all of the main business centres around the world including Sydney, London, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Paris, Tokyo and beyond. Its consultants’ roles are to work with employers and job seekers to facilitate a successful match. This can range from advising a global company on a candidate sourcing strategy to helping a job seeker find their dream job.

Stephanie Iafigliola, Regional Talent Development Manager for Asia Pacific, tells us more about her learning approach and how they are linked to the firms’ strategic objectives.

“Our focus for Talent Development is to create a high-performance culture by driving a leading edge, commercial approach to talent that enables the business to meet its objectives through an engaged and enabled workforce. We collaborate with HR and senior leadership to ensure that our learning initiatives lead to tangible and commercial business outcomes.

In my role, partnering with our senior stakeholders that are so passionate about people and learning, makes implementing new learning initiatives relatively simple”.

“I believe that every vision is only powerful if it is brought to life each day. Every one of our goals is directly linked to this vision so all of our talented learning professionals know exactly how they are contributing to it. It ensures their day to day is more purposeful as they feel they are working towards something meaningful and contributing to the success of the organisation.

“We look to achieve our vision by delivering the most innovative and impactful learning offering out there. We are known for our great training, with one of the most robust learning pathways in the industry; and we want to take that to the next level. To stay cutting edge and relevant we evaluate every element of our learning offering each year

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and adapt it accordingly. Our people’s needs change and in order to continue to grow, we need to evolve along with it. We upskill ourselves and leverage best practice, whilst staying on top of the new methodologies and techniques in the learning industry. For example, technology has had a major impact on how our employees like to learn new things in life and in their jobs.

These new learners like to find information quickly and easily online, they prefer self-directed learning, enjoy collaborating and learning new things in shorter bursts – so we are working to match that. We have “opened the gates” so to speak of who owns and drives learning and we all work together to create the best learning environment for us. With learning ambassadors around the country coaching our rising stars and informal learning increasing as a means to drive performance, we are seeing positive results from embracing this new learning culture, where we are no longer the “gatekeepers” of Talent Development, rather we inspire what learning can achieve. Our future, whilst we have been successful for many years with our strategy, is that we never settle for status quo and our goal is to be the “benchmark” for learning, so we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible.”

It is clear that a strong team of dedicated employees is

key to ensure that PageGroup continues on a successful path and differentiates itself from the competition. Stephanie embellishes on how retaining and developing the best talent in the market is an important step in the right direction.

“Along their career journey, our employees are supported by experienced consultants and managers to help them be the best at what they do. At the backbone of our business are our support functions, from Finance to Digital Marketing, HR and so on. These teams comprise of some of the best minds in the industry all with one aim; to provide the best platform for our consultants to be successful.

“In Talent Development, our team members are highly skilled learning professionals from various industries with a strong commitment for learning.

Our role is to provide the best learning pathway for the talent within our organisation. We work with every stakeholder to tailor and provide learning opportunities that meet their needs. Our roles are structured yet varied as we respond to the changes our business faces each year. From our 90 day onboarding program to recruitment fundamentals training, all the way to management and leadership development, we pride ourselves on a 360-degree learning strategy.

g The Best Talent in the Market

Stephanie began her career within the HR team with Woolworths Limited and progressed into Professional Services where she manages the Talent Development function within PageGroup. Recently she was awarded the prestigious

accolade of Best Regional Talent Development Specialist – Australia for her diligence to her role at PageGroup. She shares with us the secrets to her success.

“Over the years, I believe my success has come from my personal values and beliefs. I am not afraid to try new things or embrace ideas different to my own.

“Working with colleagues from different backgrounds, cultures and varying levels of seniority has shown me that much personal growth can come from challenging yourself to get out of your own comfort zone and try new things. I embrace and value adopting a growth mind-set and look to embed this in everything I do. Not every day is going to go the way I expect it to, and when I come across obstacles or face challenges, I remind myself

that how I choose to respond to what’s in front of me and what I learn from it is a reflection of who I am and want to be. I don’t believe in failure defining someone, I believe in defying limitations and taking something away from each situation that I can learn from and grow from.

These guiding principles are what I come back to and have helped me seek solace many times in both my professional and personal life. It’s funny just how relevant these principles are regardless of where someone is in their career or life in general.

“What’s next for me? While no one can be 100% sure what the future holds, what I can say with certainty is that I look to continuously develop myself and challenge my own “selfprescribed” limits. Any role that has me doing that will keep me working there.”

Company: Page Group (Michael Page International) Web Address: www.page.com Name: Stephanie Iafigliola Title: Regional Talent Development Manager – Asia Pacific LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephanieiafigliola

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“It is my belief that an organisation is only as strong and successful as the people within it. To stay competitive every organisation needs to evaluate their value proposition and how they will attract and develop their talent so that they not only stay within their organisation but are ambassadors for the brand.

By doing so, the organisations culture evolves from one written on paper, to one that is “owned and contributed to” by everyone which creates a positive, exciting and inspiring place to work. In my role, every initiative we work towards has that key driver at its central point.”

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The Research Centre for the Future of Places There is a growing social upsurge in favour of being and participating in the everyday life of the public realm: a renewed emphasis on public spaces as an important but too often overlooked ingredient in our lives. Over the past two decades, cities have gained relevance in all areas of the environmental, social and economic discourse. The common denominator that gives cities its decisive prowess is its ability to concentrate people. Subsequently, positive interventions made in cities, have the ability to influence wider interconnected networks, thus achieving scalability.

Investigating and Imagining Cities & Public Spaces for the Next Century The purpose of the Centre for the Future of Places (CFP) is to use the focus on public space to merge the knowledge from different urban development silos (disciplines) and to create links among the experts in them in order to create a holistic understanding of the city. The ambition is to enhance an already ongoing paradigm shift where the focus in urbanism studies (in disciplines of urban planning and urban design) is shifting from objects to places.

Despite the numerous successful examples, the need for public spaces has not been given the attention that it deserves, in terms of policy and action in developing countries, as well as comprehensive and inter – and multidisciplinary research.

Cities must recognise the role that quality public spaces can play in meeting the challenges of our rapidly urbanising world and public space needs to be seen as an instrument of urban transformation.

As a permanent mission, the CFP places a spotlight on public space and the public realm, and

more specifically, the shifting of attention from object to places, as an essential aspect of urbanism and urbanisation.

Within that mission, we will explore the interrelationships between urban form, human behaviour, urban society, and social life, sustainable urbanism and housing in the wake of emergent global transformations looked upon through the crosscutting lens of public space.

The research will focus on four core areas, which will involve inventorying knowledge, framing research and supporting individual projects: (1) Urban form and human behaviour; (2) Sustainable urbanism and housing; (3) Public places and urban spaces; and (4) Emergent global transformations.

CFP is now engaging a (biennial) two-year research theme on the twin subjects of ‘Who Owns the City and Cities for All’. These key subjects gained prominence in the United Nations’ Habitat III conference, held in Quito, Ecuador, during October 2016, and they will be developed further through implementation of the conference outcome document, the ‘New Urban Agenda.’ The CFP aims to

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make a substantial academic and practical contribution to this discourse looking at these two key subjects as one integral research theme.

Through stringent research, meta-analysis, white papers, research projects, round tables, colloquiums and conferences and the dissemination of information through key channels, Centre for the Future of Places will serve as the clearing house for promoting healthier cities through people centred urban development, thus shifting the discussion from objects to places. During the coming two years, CFP should develop its reputation as well recognised at the international arena of public spaces and be involved in both international and national research projects and other academic and stakeholder collaborations.

The centre is committed to achieving this goal through collaborative interdisciplinary research projects, leadership forums, round tables, debates and conferences, publications, and an important presence at national and international gatherings where new ideas in urbanism are in focus. The centre has been established at the initiative of the President of KTH – The Royal Institute of Technology, Axel and Margaret

Ax: son Johnson Foundation and the Dean of School of Architecture and the Built Environment and reflects a renewed drive to excellence in urbanism.

The centre’s partners will benefit from participation in joint symposia, conferences, publications, research projects, and the research coordination network managed from the centre, known as the “Future of Places Research Network”.

These activities will provide a platform for collaboration, knowledge synergies and exchange of ideas. In addition, the centre may be able to contribute research findings that will be of direct benefit to partners in their own research, education, practice or policy work.

The centre will produce, in a usefully focused format, research products of benefit to the citizens of Stockholm and Sweden, and to the international community.

As outlined elsewhere, these products will include books, papers, social media campaigns, press releases, websites, videos, and related forms of dissemination. These products will offer useful evidence and guidance on urgent topics of housing scarcity, immigrant integration, urban economic development, environmental

g The Research Centre for the Future of Places

equity, quality of life, sustainability, climate change, rapid urbanisation, and other topics outlined in the ‘New Urban Agenda’ as identified by the United Nations in October 2016.

The centre will conduct scientific research of the highest quality, and seek to make discoveries of useful new findings that will benefit the university, its partners and society as a whole. These findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, through books and white papers, and through scientific symposia, round tables, and conferences.

The scientific discoveries may include insights arising from new syntheses of existing knowledge, or from original research, or a combination.

Name: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tigran Haas, Director CENTRE FOR THE FUTURE OF PLACES (CFP) Tel: +46 8 790 8504/Cell: + 46 73 765 0539 Email: tigran@kth.se; tigran.haas@abe.kth.se Twitter: twitter.com/tigranhaas Forum: http://futureofplaces.com/ Web: www.cfp.abe.kth.se

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The goal will be to make discoveries in the general subject area of public space and behaviour: how public space shapes behaviour and in turn is shaped by it; how it offers beneficial opportunities for various kinds of behaviour (commercial, social, restorative, ecological, etc); and how public space is created, maintained, degraded or improved. Lessons will be drawn for specific challenges of rapid urbanisation, and implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

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Microgrids: Coming of Age or Niche Opportunity?

John Murray, Senior Analyst, Delta-ee tells us why microgrids are one of the hottest topics in the industry right now in this special guest article.

As Delta-ee’s latest Multi-Client Study gets underway, we reflect on our initial findings from recent engagement with key players in the microgrids space, and consider the following questions: • Who is interested in microgrids?

• How active are those interested in the development of microgrids?

• What will be the greatest enabler for microgrid market growth?

A graphical representation of a microgrid, with multiple distributed loads and generation assets.

Utilities are exploring microgrid opportunities Utility companies are actively exploring the opportunities and threats associated with the emergence of microgrids, but manufacturers are also taking a keen interest.

We know of a number of manufacturers who are developing microgrid solutions today, with the objective of widening their service offerings to include energy services through an ESCO business model.

The continued emergence of manufacturers offering energy services alongside their hardware, is a very real threat to

the established utilities in some countries and sectors.

Aside from utilities and manufacturers, a significant proportion of those who expressed an interest in microgrids identify as housing developers or housing associations. The interest from these companies is noteworthy given the applicability of microgrids, in a community energy application, as a force to drive down energy prices and improve grid resiliency and reliability – in both urban and isolated contexts.

Most companies at an early stage of developing strategies – but competition is growing The largest share of industry stakeholders we engaged with (39%) stated that they are in the early stages of exploring and understanding microgrids as an opportunity, highlighting the relatively early nature of microgrid activity within many companies. While this result is not highly surprising given the early stages of Delta-ee’s research, what was perhaps most interesting is nearly a third of those spoken to are ‘actively engaged’ in developing microgrids but without having a fully developed strategy, product or service - yet.

What this suggests to us is that there are many companies currently in the ‘strategy development’ phase that are considering how best to position themselves to maximise the opportunities associated with this space. Following this consideration, we believe it will only be a matter of time before many of these companies come to market.

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Therefore, we can be sure that the ‘microgrid’ space will become a whole lot more competitive in the next 5 to 10 years.

Multiple enablers likely to play a role in a growing microgrid market Our recent research suggests the following factors as being important for microgrid growth over the next 5-10 years, from most to least important: 1. Microgrid component price reductions 2. Innovative business models 3. Regulatory reform 4. Increased promotion and competition A reduction in component prices will undoubtedly spur microgrid growth. For example, as we have found in a case study of the Cronimet Swartkop Chrome mine in South Africa, generating off-grid power using solar PV is often now much more affordable than using diesel generators. This is largely attributable to the rapid decline in the cost of solar PV panels over the past 10 years.

Our research shows that less than 20% of stakeholders identified policy reform as an important enabler of market reform as this is something

which is largely location specific.

It is, however, becoming more common for early developers of technologies to inform policy development as regulatory frameworks often lag behind industry developments.

What we think There are a range of actors at different stages of development, with a large number of companies taking an interest in microgrids. Microgrids will undoubtedly evolve to become a very important, perhaps disruptive, market opportunity within the energy industry. It is therefore time to act sooner rather than later.

Delta-ee’s Microgrid Multi-Client Study is the perfect tool to help position your organisation towards the leading edge of microgrid developers and provide insight into developing the right strategy for your company before being crowded out of the market.

If you have any queries or want to find out more about Deltaee’s Microgrid Multi-Client Study, e-mail John Murray, Senior Analyst at Delta Energy & Environment (john.murray@ delta-ee.com) or find out more here: https://www.delta-ee.com/ micro-grids.html

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With an increasingly distributed energy system, rapidly falling energy storage costs, and a growing demand for flexibility and energy autonomy, microgrids are fast becoming a key topic of commercial relevance in many global markets. In short, microgrids are one of the hottest topics in the industry right now - and key players don’t want to be left out.

Company: Delta-ee Name: John Murray Email: info@delta-ee.com Web Address: www.delta-ee.com Address: Floor F, Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9DR Telephone: +44 (0)131 625 1011

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Speed Is of the Essence Sesui is a cloud-based telephony and contact centre innovator that works with clients to transform the telephone from office commodity to invaluable business tool with resilient, scalable and functional telephony solutions. We were fortunate to speak to the firm’s Managing Director, Lee Bryant, to ascertain more.

How would you describe your firm’s client base?

Sesui has a strong client base of healthcare organisations,

especially out-of-hours services and NHS 111 providers. Sesui is also well suited to commercial mid-market businesses, and any organisation that could benefit from better operational agility, customer analytics and business contingency from their telephony infrastructure.

What factors make your firm unique?

Unlike typical cloud-based contact centre providers, Sesui’s solutions are underpinned by our own in-house telephony platform, the i-Platform, which won the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2016. Solutions are easily scalable and can overlay onto any existing type of telephony infrastructure, be it digital, IP or even old school analogue lines.

Moreover, by removing the need for a third-party telephony platform that is often relied upon by other cloud-based contact centre providers, Sesui has the resource and expertise on hand to quickly respond to their clients’ specific needs as well as, the emerging technology and regulatory developments of its clients as they continue to evolve.

local level, the globalisation of markets is resulting in a demand for greater reach and integration.

More businesses are seeking global deployment and greater levels of system integration of their telephony service providers as a result, and so we are currently expanding into new territories and increasing the level of integration in both the private and public sectors.

What are the most significant challenges currently facing your business in the months and years ahead?

Whereas, traditionally, multinational organisations sought regional telephony providers to look after their call management and data at a

What is the main objectives for your business in the future?

Sesui’s main objective for the future is to become a global business capable of delivering quality services around the world.

What business or business person do you most admire and why?

Elon Musk – he is always pushing the boundaries of convention and creating new markets through innovation.

Tesla is a great example of what can be achieved if you follow what you believe in and not the herd.

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Can you tell me more about what your firm does?

Sesui can quickly build collaborative call management functionality around the individual compliance, legislative and commercial needs of businesses. It can connect resources that are spread out across different locations or countries for an improved calling experience or deploy flexible working and mobile solutions that allow employees to operate from any location, including their homes, while maintaining compliance.

Company: Sesui Name: Lee Bryant, Managing Director Email: info@sesui.com Web Address: www.sesui.com Address: Sesui Ltd, Magdalen Centre The Oxford Science Park , Oxford, OX4 4GA Telephone: +44 (0)3445 600 600

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Global Reach David Cox of DCE provides an overview of the firm, its objectives and what the future holds.

DCE is a global design and production organisation that has been in operation for more 25 years.

It builds exhibition stands, retail environments and airport activations for major brands.

David Cox tells us more about its client base and what it is that makes the firm so unique.

“Globally we have an impressive global footprint, but are expanding our business development emphasis in this area, as well as looking at market sectors where we are less prevalent.”

“We have a varied client base that comprises many industries, including Broadcast, Retail, FMCG, Tech, Finance, Sports etc. We will work with anyone that is looking for a premium representation of their brand in a public space,” begins David.

“We are a sizeable company, that continues to grow largely via referral. We are proud uphold the family values that underpin our workforce, and allow us to provide premium service levels to our clients.”

There are challenges ahead for DCE, not least the consequences of Brexit, and David explains that the firm is currently evaluating this situation.

“We want to know what Brexit will mean to our business in terms of free travel and border controls. Due to our longevity as a business, this is not alien to us, as we have encountered border control regulations before.

Just as we have adapted and mastered these challenges previously we will be sure to do so again.”

With regards to the future of the firm, its main objectives are for growth. Following the opening of a London Satellite office earlier this year, DCE is now hoping to open further satellite offices in Europe and America between and now and 2010.

“Globally we have an impressive global footprint, but are expanding our business development emphasis in this area, as well as looking at market sectors where we are less prevalent.”

K Name: DAVID COX Company: DCE Group Ltd Email: David@dcegroup.co.uk Web Address: www.dcegroup.co.uk Address: Unit 12, Hambridge Business Centre, Hambridge Lane, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 5TU Telephone: 01635 230020

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Power to the People Monsanto is a sustainable agriculture company. It delivers agricultural products that support farmers all around the world.

Monsanto strives to make its products available to farmers throughout the world by broadly licensing its seed and trait technologies to other companies.

In addition to the seeds and traits business, the firm also manufactures Roundup® branded herbicides and other herbicides used by farmers, consumers and lawn and garden professionals.

Monsanto could not exist without farmers. They are its customers and the lifeblood of the company.

More importantly, they are the support system of the world’s economy, working day in and day out to feed, clothe and provide energy for the world.

At the heart of Monsanto is a very clear and principled code of conduct – one that it expects all employees, contractors and management to live by every day. The firm operates under a genuine value system - its pledge - which demonstrates integrity, respect, ethical behaviour, perspective and honesty as a foundation for everything it does.

A key part of fulfilling the promise of the Monsanto value system is by engaging communities in a significant and positive manner.

Not only does the firm work hard to support the family farmer in a variety of ways, but it also: • provides extensive educational programs – particularly in science and agriculture – for students around the world

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funds numerous research grants for graduate students works in partnership with government bodies, nonprofit agencies and advocacy groups to make agriculture more sustainable

People around the world depend on agriculture and the hard work of farmers for their most basic needs.

With global population expected to grow by 40 percent in the next few decades, agriculture will need to become more productive and more sustainable in order to keep pace with rapidly increasing demands.

Sustainable agriculture is at the core of Monsanto. It is are committed to developing the technologies that enable farmers to produce more crops while conserving more of the natural resources that are essential to their success.

Producing more. Conserving more. Improving lives. That’s sustainable agriculture. And that’s what Monsanto is all about.

“As an agricultural and technology company committed to human rights, we have a unique opportunity to protect and advance human rights. We

have a responsibility to consider not only how our business can benefit consumers, farmers, and food processors, but how it can protect the human rights of both Monsanto’s employees and our business partners’ employees.”

— Hugh Grant, Monsanto, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Monsanto is notable for its involvement in high-profile lawsuits, as both plaintiff and defendant. It defended lawsuits mostly over its products’ health and environmental effects.

Monsanto used the courts to defend its patents, particularly in agricultural biotechnology.

As well as litigation, the Law Team covers the areas of Intellectual Property; Regulatory; Environmental; and International Policy.

The Monsanto Law Team is recognised as world class and has won several awards for its work. The Law Team’s business strategy includes five core competencies to help it achieve its goal, these being: innovation and foresight; courage and candor; results orientation; agility; and relationships and networks.

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The firm is focused on empowering farmers—large and small—to produce more from their land while conserving more of the world’s natural resources such as water and energy. Monsanto does this with its leading seed brands in crops like corn, cotton, oilseeds and fruits and vegetables. It is also produce leading in ‘in-the-seed’ trait technologies for farmers, which are aimed at protecting their yield, supporting their on-farm efficiency and reducing their onfarm costs.

Company: Monsanto Company Name: Hugh Grant, Monsanto, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Web Address: www.monsanto.com Address: 800 N. Lindbergh Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63167 Telephone: (314) 694-1000

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Rise to the Top Eileen MacDonald of GS1 Canada tells us exactly what it is like to be a woman in a man’s world, as well as providing expert advice for other women looking to further their careers in the industry. organisational planning and priorities in conjunction with Board directives.

“We are an industry-driven leader representing Canadian businesses,” embellishes Eileen MacDonald. “As a user-driven and governed organisation, our subscriber base includes organisations of all sizes across a wide range of industries and sectors located across Canada and around the world.”

At GS1 Canada, 51% of the employees are female, with 71% being at senior leadership level.

Eileen tells us more about what techniques the firm is employing to attract the best female talent from across the industry.

GS1 believes in the power of standards to transform the way we work and live. Its mission is to create a common foundation for business by uniquely identifying, accurately capturing and automatically sharing vital information about products, locations and assets. “We enable visibility through the exchange of authentic data,” says Eileen.

“We empower business to grow and to improve efficiency, safety, security and sustainability.

We are neutral, not-for-profit, user-driven and governed, global and local, inclusive and collaborative.”

Eileen has been with GS1 Canada since 2002. She tells us more about her rise to success.

“Named President in 2015 in this role I am responsible for leading GS1 Canada’s strategic direction and growth by driving

“I oversee all aspects of GS1 Canada’s operations including Finance, Operations, Government Relations, Corporate Affairs, Marketing, managing business opportunities and challenges.”

“Having strong female leaders at the top of the organisation provides role models for inclusion to all employees. We have a management team that actively looks to check personal bias and ensures the right person fits the role. We also boast paid personal time that supports all our employees looking after their family and taking care of their lives, as well as the flexibility to work from home as needed.”

Eileen speaks about the challenges she has encountered as a woman working in the corporate environment and how she overcame them.

“Being feminine and holding a role that typically is female (marketing) was a challenge to be viewed as having potential to be a CEO/President. I deliberately moved myself into operations and was immediately taken seriously. Marketing advertising roles are one of the

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first to be cut back in difficult times. Once I was in operations I was no longer at risk, the fact I understood how to market products/myself was key to the growth opportunities that have afforded me an incredible career.

Operations and finance are key in my current role, however I have never left my passion for marketing behind.”

Eileen also has words of advice for other women looking to succeed in the sector, including the key attributes she believes are vital to reaching the top of a firm within the industry.

“I believe that confidence, staying true to yourself and operating with the highest integrity is paramount to leadership,” she states. “Take every opportunity to learn. Hold the course on difficult topics; ensure you are educated on all your accountabilities; garner trust; be a go to person and focus on results. Don’t think you need to be aggressive to succeed, being strong, fair, consistent and smart will get you where you want to be.

Don’t step on people on your way up, I use Steven Covey’s trust cards, they work.”

Within regards to the future of the business and the industry itself, Eileen foresees change needing to take place in order for success to continue.

“E-comm is truly here and growing at lightning speed. When you google a product you are looking for the image, not the bar code.

Our foundation is the standards around the bar code. To maintain our relevance in the market place we need to change. Our growth has been tremendous in the area of images and key identifiers.”

With regards for the future of women in the corporate landscape, Eileen has a few pointers to make it easier for women to succeed in what is typically regarded as a man’s world.

“There needs to be a continued focus on life balance which will support both women and men to succeed, as well as flexibility of working arrangements – it is about getting the work done, not the hours in the office. Strong leaders mentoring young career women will also be vital to ensure that women can continue to rise to the top successfully. “

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As a neutral, not-forprofit organisation, GS1 Canada enables its more than 20,000 subscribers – organisations of all sizes from more than 20 sectors across Canada – to enhance their efficiency and cost effectiveness by adopting electronic supply chain best practices.

Company: GS1 Canada Name: Eileen Mac Donald Email: Eileen.Macdonald@gs1ca.org Web Address: www.gs1ca.org Address: 1500 Don Mills Road, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario

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Kashing In! Karishma Samtani talks to Corporate Vision about what its really like to be a powerful woman in a corporate industry.

Ably run by founder and director Karishma Samtani (Kash), the firm was incepted in June 2012.

“My role is to bring in new clients,” explains Kash. “I focus on business development for the firm. Prior to setting up this firm, I worked as a head-hunter.”

Kash tells us more about the company, its mission and its strategy. “At KASH Events and Entertainment, we see a world of inspiration: inspiration that can draw people together and set individuals apart; inspiration that stimulates new ideas and new ways of thinking; inspiration that can make the world a better place. These are the values that define everything we do.

“We connect artists, entertainers and motivational speakers from all over the world with audiences throughout Asia, exposing local communities to fresh insight and a whole new level of entertainment.

“Entertainers and audiences alike stand by us because our philosophy is underpinned by a vein of trust. We honour this commitment each and every time by delivering in terms of substance, entertainment value and unparalleled vision, opening the local community to the best that the world has to offer.”

Women in positions of power often come up against challenges in the corporate world. Kash tells us that her role is no exception and provides some stellar advice for other women look to get ahead in business.

“Being a woman, and at the age I was when I started off my business, I definitely faced gender and age bias. I had to work extra hard to prove that, although I was younger and a woman, it did not hinder the output.

back with more energy and more enthusiasm.

“I’d like to see more encouragement and acceptance of women in the industry. I would also like to see more equal opportunity for women based on their calibre and not on their gender and age.”

Kash tells us that currently the firm is in the midst of reevaluating the direction it wishes

to continue in and exploring other avenues of growth, which may even digress from its initial plan of solely running and managing events.

“Currently while I am running this business, I have doing several other things on the side, I have a full time position in a bank, and looking to leverage on the knowledge and experience I gain in my current role to take my events business to the next level.”

“I think it’s a pre-set notion that women can’t do heavy duty work, and therefore it is taken for granted that women can’t even supervise when workers are putting up things for an event, when in fact it works the other waround as women are more detailed. There is an attitude of lack of confidence in women. Women take up several roles in both their personal and professional lives, which should be seen a little bit more of.”

Kash believes that determination, drive, resilience, grit, patience and amazing communication skills are key to surviving in any industry, and women especially need to master these traits.

“I would advise every woman not to quit! Stand your ground, especially if it is beneficial to both yourself and the firm. Yes if things aren’t exactly going as planned, it is fine to take a step up and re-evaluate. It is also fine to take a break and keep a low profile for a while until you step up direction, but never quit, always make it a point to go

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KASH Events and Entertainment is an events management company and organises corporate and social events. Its clients list includes some big names from the banking industry to hospitality and personal clients.

Company: KASH Events and Entertainment Name: Karishma Samtani (Kash) Email: karishma@kashgroupinc.com Web Address: www.kashgroupinc.com Address: Room B, 7/F Golden Mansion, 83-83 Chatham Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong Telephone: +852 6085 3937

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A Culture of Wellbeing The Stress Management Society is the UK’s leading resource dedicated to helping individuals and companies to recognise and reduce stress. In this fascinating article, the firm’s Chief Marketing and Magic Officer Louisa Valvano reveals her thoughts in winning Best Stress Management Specialists 2016, not to mention the firm’s proven track record on helping businesses manage workplace stress.

We also have a team of highly experienced consultants and trainers to support corporate wellbeing projects. Everything we deliver, we do in a clear and accessible way so that organisations and individuals can apply and benefit from our solutions and recommended interventions quickly and easily.

organisations. We also strongly believe in creating a workplace culture that is enjoyable, happy and stress free for our staff. This goes all the way through the things that we provide such as flexible working, healthy snacks and drinks, meditation facilities and wellbeing schemes.

We have just been awarded the Achievement Level of the London Healthy Workplace charter and are working towards the final stage of this (the excellence level). By achieving this we hope to show that we are embodying the principles, which we ask other organisations and individuals to embrace.

Through our team of highly experienced consultants and trainers, we have a proven track record in helping private and public sector organisations manage workplace stress and create a culture of wellbeing. We have worked with many national and international companies including: Allianz, British Airways, the NHS, Mars, Sky TV, Shell, Standard Life and Crown Commercial Services.

We have extensive knowledge on the impact of stress and how to recognise the commercial and culture cost of it to your organisation. This knowledge has been harnessed to develop the UK’s foremost range of stress management training programmes to help both staff and managers recognise the signs and symptoms of stress, define it, and introduce personal resilience techniques to equip them with the tools to deal with the demands of the modern workplace. These training programmes are the only ones endorsed by the Institute of Leadership and Management.

We find that we are able to attract talent through our strong ethos and vision and by standing behind and practising the principles that we embed in other

The UK corporate landscape and the wider UK corporate market According to the CIPD Absence Management Survey

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report in 2016 nearly a third of organisations reported an increase in stress-related absence over the past year and two-fifths a rise in reported mental health problems.

With this in mind the increasing cost of workplace stress is impacting every organisation.

11.7 million working days were lost in 2016 due to stress (HSE 2015/2016), and with the average cost of a sick day coming in at £522 per day, workplace stress cost the UK economy a total of £6.1 billion in 2016. We are experiencing wider spread understanding of the importance of developing a culture of wellbeing in an organisation.

Wellbeing is not a one-off activity so we see that corporate companies who have already put in place wellbeing schemes will now be looking to ensure that they are maintaining the level of organisational wellbeing. With an increase in worker flexibility,

we foresee that organisations will be looking at how you manage issues such as remote worker wellbeing and managing technostress. More and more corporate organisations like Google and the NHS are also looking at mindfulness in the workplace as it is credited with helping people to be healthier, smarter, happier, more efficient, creative and resilient.

We are delighted to have won this award and to be recognised after 13 years of passionately working to reduce workplace stress and improve lives. We would attribute our success to our team, who are committed and dedicated to leading effective universal change by maximising resilience, happiness, productivity and success.

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Since 2003 our mission is to create a happier, healthier and more resilient world. We pride ourselves on being the UK’s leading resource for advice, support and guidance for individual and corporate stress.

We offer wellbeing advice, news, guidance as well as access to best practice strategies to support individuals and creating a culture of wellbeing within organisations.

Company: The Stress Management Society Name: Louisa Valvano Chief Marketing and Magic Officer Email: info@stress.org.uk Web Address: www.stress.org.uk Address: The Lighthouse, Suite S, Quay West, Salamander Quay, Harefield, Middlesex, UB9 6NZ UK Telephone: +44 (0) 20 3142 8654

,

Winner’s Directory

Investment Awards 2017 Finest in Fund Management - Managing Director Winner Company: Pacific Equity Partners Name: Tim Sims Email: info@pep.com.au Web Address: www.pep.com.au Address: Level 31, 126 Phillip Street, Sydney, NSW 2000 Australia Telephone: +61 2 8238 2600 Deal Maker of the Year 2017 - United States Company: QA Mentor, Inc. Name: Ruslan Desyatnikov Email: support@qamentor.com or rdesyatnikov@qamentor.com Web Address: www.qamentor.com Address: 1441 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10018 Telephone: +1 800 622 2602 or +1 212 960 3812 Finest in Fund Management - Colombia Founding Partner & CEO Winner Company: Tribeca Asset Management Name: Luc Gerard Email: luc.gerard@tribeca.com.co Web Address: www.tribeca.com.co Address: Av. Calle 82 No. 12 - 18 Office 804 Telephone: +57 1 490 0040 Finest in Fund Management - France Founding Partner Winner Company: Alter Equity Web Address: alter-equity.com Address: 4 ter Rue du Bouloi, Paris 75001 France Telephone: +31 1 42 86 96 41 Finest in Fund Management – Cambodia Chief Marketing & Investor Relations Officer Winner Company: Leopard Capital Name: Mohamed Ahmed Email: ma@leopardcapital.com Web Address: www.leopardcapital.com Address: 33 Sothearos Blvd (Corner St. 178) P.O. Box 1141 Phnom Penh, Cambodia Telephone: +855 23 212 801 CFO of the Year 2017 - USA Company: The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) Name: Donna Rose Email: rose.dl.1@pg.com Web Address: www.pg.co.uk Address: The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), One Procter & Gamble Plaza, C-11 Cincinnati Ohio OH 45202 USA Telephone: +1 513 983 1127 Offshore and International Trade Awards Best for Customer Care and Service in the UAE Company: Inter Ocean Ship Repairs L.L.C Name: Mary Braganza Email: mary@interocean.ae Web Address: www.interocean.ae Address: P.O. BOX: 3322, Jadaf, Dubai UAE Telephone: +971 4 324 1166

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 111

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