Business Leader Magazine: February/March 2022 by Business Leader magazine

ISSN 2632-7155

9 772632 715003 9.75 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022 • £9.75

www.businessleader.co.uk

NEVER GIVING UP Jacqueline Gold CBE tells all about her unbelievable life

four day week

The future or a fad?

technology & growth

How are business leaders using tech?

BRITAIN’S LEADING MAGAZINE FOR ENTREPRENEURS AND BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS

A c o - e d u c a t io n a l b o a r d i ng a n d d ay s cho ol i n t h e h e a r t of E ng l a n d

THE HOUSE IS REPTON’S MASTERPIECE “We are only about sixty in each house, so you make friends easily, up and down. The whole House eats together, so before we tackle the big issues, we deal with the smaller ones, like passing the fruit bowl, cutting the bread, returning the smile…”

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CONTENTS

IN THIS EDITION 10 COVER STORY: JACQUELINE GOLD CBE Business Leader met with the Ann Summers CEO to talk humble beginnings, all things business, legacy and resilence

14 FEATURE: M&A Experts in the M&A sector explain what leaders need to know about changes in legislation, international investment, and what is driving future growth

18 FEATURE: FUTURE OF UK IPO MARKET?

10 24 DEBATE: TECHNOLOGY

Increasingly popular in the USA, Business Leader investigates the rise of the spac company, and if they set to dominate the UK IPO market?

How is technology transformation changing the way we interact, and the rising expectations of staff and customers

30 FEATURE: SCALE-UP What are the challenges start-up companies are facing in order to take their business to the next level and accessing the talent needed?

38 INTERVIEW: DAVID SPENCER-PERCIVAL

38 Business Leader - Inspire • Inform • Connect

CEO of Life Science People talks about his blueprint for exponential growth and the challenges of building an international brand

56 FEATURE: CRYPTOCURRENCY Following a blockbuster year for the market, and BItcoin being accepted as legal tender, will 2022 accelerate its acceptance and adoption?

60 CEO IN FOCUS: KATE BRIGHT Founder of secure lifestyle company UMBRA International talks female entrepreneurship and what leadership looks like in a modern world

64 FEATURE: FOUR-DAY WEEK With companies across the UK opening themselves up to more flexible ways of working, should more companies consider a four-day week?

NEWS

EDITORIAL Oli Ballard - Director E: oli.ballard@businessleader.co.uk Barney Cotton - Digital Editor E: barney.cotton@businessleader.co.uk James Cook - Content Manager E: james.cook@businessleader.co.uk DESIGN/PRODUCTION Adam Whittaker - Head of Design E: adam.whittaker@businessleader.co.uk SALES Sam Clark - Head of Awards Sponsorship E: sam.clark@businessleader.co.uk Emma Filby - Head of Advertising E: emma.filby@businessleader.co.uk DIGITAL & WEB Josh Dornbrack - Head of Multimedia E: josh.dornbrack@businessleader.co.uk Gemma Crew - Social Media & Community Manager E: gemma.crew@businessleader.co.uk Joshua Phillips - Website Development E: joshua.phillips@businessleader.co.uk

welcome to the latest edition of business leader magazine In this edition, we have a cover story interview with Jacqueline Gold CBE. Our editorial and video team were lucky enough to meet with Jacqueline at her home, and she spoke candidly about the challenges she has faced and the success she has had. You can read the interview on page 10 and look out for video version on our social media channels too. You may also be interested to learn that our Scale-Up Awards are currently open for entry. We’re bringing together a stellar panel of business leaders to sit on an independent judging panel and

we have already partnered with some influential organisations that include The Supper Club, Home House, and the ScaleUp Institute. To find out more about the awards and submitting an entry, please visit: www.scaleupawards.co.uk If you have any questions about the awards or anything Business Leader related, please do get in touch via editor@businessleader.co.uk Oli_BLeader oli.ballard@businessleader.co.uk

CIRCULATION Adrian Warburton - Circulation Manager E: adrian.warburton@businessleader.co.uk ACCOUNTS Jo Meredith - Finance Manager E: joanne.meredith@businessleader.co.uk MANAGING DIRECTOR Andrew Scott - Managing Director E: andrew@businessleader.co.uk

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February/March 2022

NEWS

Record breaking IPO activity in 2021 London witnessed a record number of 121 IPOs in 2021, the highest since 2007, raising total funds of £16.3bn, according to EY’s IPO Eye. The main market continued to see a significant flow of IPOs in Q4, with 17 IPOs Scott McCubbins raising £1.9bn, IPO Leader, EY UK&I surpassing the 15 IPOs in Q3, although Q3 proceeds were higher at £2.9bn. The Alternative Investment Market (AIM) also saw activity with a further 29 IPOs in the final quarter of the year raising £1bn. This brings total funds raised through IPOs in Q4 on both markets to £2.9bn. Scott McCubbin, EY UK&I IPO Leader, comments: “Last year was an exceptional year for the UK IPO market, with companies taking advantage of the open market to list in record numbers. "The outlook for 2022 is much less certain, with a number of prevailing headwinds, including inflationary pressures, which are likely to lead to interest rate rises and a move towards bond markets with more attractive yields.”

finnCap Group announce appointment of independent Non-Executive Director finnCap Group has announced the appointment of Annette Andrews to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director. Annette brings substantial HR and people expertise to the Board after a 30-year career in HR roles in both regulated financial and commercial environments. In the past 15 years, she has held senior HR leadership positions at Lloyd’s of London (Chief People Officer), Catlin Insurance (HR Director), Lloyds Banking Group PLC (various roles including Head of HR Americas) and the Ford Motor Company in Europe and the UK. On leaving Lloyd’s of London in 2020, Annette founded Acaria Coaching and Consultancy Ltd,

working with individuals and organisations globally to help them achieve their full potential. Annette is MBA qualified and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, alongside being a Life and Executive Coach. On appointment, Annette will also join the Board’s Remuneration committee as Chair and become a member of the Nominations Committee. Annette says: “I am delighted to join finnCap and look forward to working with the Board in supporting the business in delivering its growth and diversification strategy, underpinned by its focus on people and a strong and attractive culture.”

Annual global M&As deals grow 38% - with over 38,000 deals worth $3.8tn With 2021 having already seen the huge Microsoft merger — a deal that analysts note is the biggest tech merger ever — 2022 is set to follow the trend of highvalue deals, says GlobalData. The analytics and data company notes that the number of merger and acquisition deals valued over $1bn rose by a staggering 62% in 2021, compared to 2020 — reaching 825 deals. The total deal value for 2021 was $3.8tn. Sapana Maheria, Practice Head of Thematic Research at GlobalData,

commented: “When it comes to M&As, the motto seems to be ‘go big or go home’ for 2021, with total deal volume jumping up 38% year-onyear. This healthy growth was to be expected following Covid-19, which left organisations realising they need to digitise to stay relevant. Increased demand for remote working, home deliveries, automation, online streaming and digital payments increased the relevance of technology themes such as AI, eCommerce, fintech, healthtech, and digital media.”

February/March 2022

NEWS

Bentley secures UK production of first electric car and commits to £2.5bn sustainability investment Bentley’s first-ever Battery-Powered Electric Vehicle (BEV) will be developed and built in the UK, with the company committing to investing £2.5bn in sustainability over the next ten years. The announcement secures Bentley’s first step into electrification at the production plant, where all Bentley models are built and 4,000 colleagues work. The first BEV is scheduled to roll off the production line in 2025 and will mark a significant moment in Bentley history. Adrian Hallmark, Chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: “Beyond100 is the boldest plan in Bentley’s illustrious history, and in the luxury segment. It’s an ambitious and credible roadmap to carbon neutrality of our total business system, including the shift to 100% BEVs in just eight years. “Our aim is to become the benchmark not just for luxury cars or sustainable credentials, but the entire scope of our operations. Securing production of our first BEV in Crewe is a milestone moment for Bentley, and the UK, as we plan for a long-term sustainable future in the town.”

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25/03/2021 09:10 5

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NEWS

A Life of Climb

Whether you’re a brand new start up, a business struggling to get a foothold in the market or a roaring success, all aspirational businesses will have one thing in common. A good leader who recognises that things could always be better, and who will work to make that happen.

This mindset - this quest for success - is what we at Vistage call a Life of Climb. Every business leader begins their ascent from the bottom of the mountain. However, it’s only those who climb with purpose who can take their business - and their leadership skills - to a higher elevation. A new perspective can change everything. Here’s what a Life of Climb is all about. The hardest climb For many, “the hardest climb” will conjure up images of the trek to the summit of Everest or K2. For business leaders, “the hardest climb” is far closer to home.

Your climb is internal. It’s about facing your fears. It’s about overcoming obstacles, runs of bad luck and the fear of failure as you ascend. It’s about scaling peaks that are far beyond your normal comfort zone. There’s no denying that a life of climb can be a struggle at times. For those tough moments, though, there’s plenty of help along the way. Choosing the right partners in climb While it’s true that you alone are responsible for determining and defining the peaks you want to reach, you don’t need to go it alone. Choosing Vistage as your expedition partner can ensure that you’ve got both a guide and fellow climbers joining you. Your guide? An experienced Vistage Chair. What better guide than someone who has already reached the summit themselves -

and who has guided several other climbers on the same journey. It’s not just your guide who will help you succeed, but your fellow climbers - Vistage members and the wider Vistage community - too. Who you surround yourself with on your ascent is vital. Vistage members will encourage you, support you, equip you and challenge you to reach heights loftier than you had ever imagined. Visit vistage.co.uk/what-is-the-climb/

London tech set to reach new heights in 2022 following record year for VC investment 2.3x investment levels in 2020, against a backdrop of record global ($675bn) and European ($115bn) VC investment. Despite the challenges posed by Brexit and coronavirus, the strong performance and rapid growth of London’s tech sector in 2021 suggests the city is competing strongly on the world stage with other leading global tech hubs, like the Bay Area, New York, and Shanghai.

Alan Jope CEO, Unilever

Unilever announces plans to axe 1,500 jobs globally Unilever, the consumer goods giant, has announced plans to cut an estimated 1,500 jobs from its global workforce. This is around 5% of the company’s total workforce, but Unilever has said the move will not affect shopfloor jobs in factories. Reportedly, the firm is under pressure after a failed £50bn bid for a division of GlaxoSmithKline. Reports also suggest shareholders are demanding changes. Unilever has more than 6,000 employees based in the UK and Ireland, and according to Chief Executive Alan Jope, the announcement to cut jobs is part of a structural overhaul, the plans for which have been underway for months now.

The future looks bright for London’s tech sector, according to a new report from London & Partners and Dealroom.co, showing that 2021 was another record year for venture capital investment into London’s tech firms. 2021 marked the year London tech came of age, with a large increase in megarounds ($100m+ funding rounds), an unprecedented number of exits, and more new unicorns than any previous year. The UK capital’s tech firms raised an all-time high of $25.5bn in VC funding,

London ranked fourth globally for VC investment in 2021, behind the Bay Area ($100.9bn), New York ($47.5bn) and Greater Boston ($29.9bn). On a national level, the UK ranked fourth globally following another record year of funding ($39.8bn), behind the United States ($328.8bn), China ($61.8bn) and India ($44.6bn). London is producing some of the fastest-growing tech companies in the world, adding 20 new unicorns to its ranks in 2021, more than any other previous 12-month period.

February/March 2022

NEWS

Tech roles in UK set to surpass prepandemic levels

COMMENT

HOW A PINT OF GUINNESS CAN BOOST YOUR PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN IN 2022 ‘Tick followed tock, followed tick’. Remember this 1999 Guinness advertisement that featured a let’s say ‘mature’ chap waiting patiently for the perfect wave to come?

The number of tech jobs in England and Wales reached record levels in 2021, with tech firms publishing more IT vacancies in the last year than all British businesses combined did in 2020, a new labour market report says. According to global recruitment consultancy Robert Walters and data analytics firm Vacancysoft, there were over 12,800 new vacancies for tech professionals in 2021, a rise of 105% year-on-year, and 57.3% more compared to the previous annual high set in 2018. Tom Chambers, Associate Director - Technology & Growth at Robert Walters, comments: “More money than ever is flowing into UK tech. The sector raised £29.4bn in 2021, up from £11.5bn in 2020. The combined value of UK tech companies founded since 2000 is now £540bn, after the biggest year-on-year increase since 2013/14. “More money means more job opportunities – and not just in London. Although it’s the capital where most investment activity is focused, nearly £9bn went to start-ups and scale-ups outside London and the South East.”

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Guinness wasn’t looking for greater brand awareness. The challenge they faced was that while stout beer Paul MacKenzie-Cummins drinkers knew who they Managing Director, Clearly were, and had a great affinity for the brand, Guinness wasn’t winning them as customers. The reason for this? It was time. It takes 119.5 seconds to pour the perfect Guinness, and the company wanted to educate prospective customers on why it takes 10-times longer to pour one of their pints than any other drink on tap. By using the surfer analogy and ending the advert with the tagline, ‘Good things come to those who wait’, Guinness was able to answer this question and widen their appeal at the same time. It was pure genius. This campaign is, for me, an exemplar of what any great promotional campaign should be. Guinness successfully created an emotional attachment between themselves and their prospective customers. At the same time, they both educated and informed their audience by addressing the challenges they faced or questions that needed answering. In doing so, the campaign was memorable – or ‘sticky’. It remained front of mind, which gave them influence over customer purchasing decisions, impact in a highly competitive marketplace, and a positive hit on their bottom line. A recent report showed that three-quarters (73%) of marketers are finding it much harder to capture the attention of their target audience today compared to 12 months ago. For me, the reason for this is clear: businesses are impatient with their campaigns. Impatience in public relations and digital marketing is the biggest killer of all promotional strategies and marketers need to take a leaf out of Guinness’s book. Repetition of the ‘right’ message not only builds brands, it influences buyer behaviour, too. If you need guidance on developing your postpandemic communications strategy, get in touch.

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COVER STORY

i had the opportunity to empower women in the bedroom and the boardroom business leader meets jacqueline gold cbe Not many business leaders can say they’ve had bullets sent to them through the post, been poisoned by their nanny and arrested on multiple occasions. Jacqueline Gold CBE is the CEO of Ann Summers and has taken the business from humble beginnings to a global superstar of business, battling adversity and lifechanging moments along the way. The daughter of West Ham United Chairman and businessman David Gold, Jacqueline is a retail pioneer and champion for female empowerment. Business Leader met at her home, to talk all things business, legacy, and resilience. YOU DIDN’T COME FROM AN ORDINARY FAMILY – WHAT WAS IT LIKE GROWING UP IN THIS ENVIRONMENT? My father is David Gold, a successful businessman in his own right. I think it was a sign of the times that when I was a teenager, my father didn’t really talk about his business and what he was doing, and I don’t think he ever imagined me going into business because I was a girl.

In those days, it was boys who followed in their father’s footsteps. But I was always incredibly hard working, and I was keen to have financial independence – and I was very ambitious and creative. I certainly didn't expect to go into the line of business that I did go into; and I think that is the case with many entrepreneurs. We tend to stumble across our opportunities. YOU ENDED UP GOING INTO ONE OF THE FAMILY BUSINESSES – ANN SUMMERS. HOW DID YOU FIND THIS? The environment was very male dominated, and in the stores, the typical customer was from the raincoat brigade; and only 10% of our customers then were women. It was not somewhere where women would want to shop, but what I identified was that women did want to be empowered in the bedroom and I could see the opportunities to grow the brand and the business. SO HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THIS? I remember going to a party and women at the party were asking me – ‘have you ever thought of doing any Ann Summers parties?’ and I just thought it was a great idea. I lived in Biggin Hill at the time, and I remember holding a party with the products that we had and switching on the toys and passing them around, and the customers came alive. They were nervous, but curious, inquisitive, and excited all at the same time. And I could tell very early on there was something there. It was just about creating a very femalefriendly environment, where women felt comfortable, and introducing the parties played a pivotal role in changing and growing the business.

View the interview here 10

WHEN YOU WERE GROWING THE BUSINESS, DID YOU HAVE TO FIGHT AGAINST THE NOTION THAT YOU WERE GIVEN THE BUSINESS BECAUSE OF WHO YOUR FATHER WAS? I admire my father so much and he's been a great mentor to me, but his fame didn't come until much later and Ann Summers was a much smaller business then: there were just four stores when I joined the business. It was going in a different direction to what I thought it should, and it was great to have the confidence and backing from him to make a success of it.

February/March 2022

JACQUELINE GOLD CBE

I was determined to grow the business and regardless of who my father was, I had to make it a success in my own way. I had a lot of pushbacks from other senior members on the board and I remember going to my first board meeting to talk about some of the ideas I had. There must have been about six grey-suited middle-aged men sitting around the table. When I talked about my idea, one board member stood up, threw his pen down on the table and said ‘this isn't going to work is it? Women aren't even interested in sex.’ THIS MUST HAVE MADE YOU EVEN MORE DETERMINED? Well, my conclusion was that this said a lot more about his sex life than it did about my idea. They did agree to invest though. I used to drive to the Strand Palace Hotel in my mustard-coloured Mini, and talk about my ideas to people that had replied to our adverts, and it just grew and grew – and people saw the vision and how it was going to be successful. It all started with those eight women at the party though, and in less than a year, I had 500 sales ambassadors and more stores opening.

Cont. 

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COVER STORY WOULD YOU SAY THAT WOMEN ARE MORE EMPOWERED NOW IN BUSINESS AND LIFE? Women are more empowered, and I think Ann Summers has played a big part in that, and it is something I am very proud of. There is no doubt that women are making a lot of decisions themselves, both in business and in life. YOU ARE KNOWN FOR YOUR RESILIENCE, HAVING BEEN THROUGH MANY SETBACKS. CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT? I've overcome several challenges in my life and resilience is one of my key characteristics. I lost my son at eight months old; I have had breast cancer; and I've been poisoned by my nanny. I've been arrested twice, and I've received a bullet through the post. These are just a few examples of what I have been through, and they were all

extremely difficult to deal with. If you can find some positivity in the obstacles life throws at you, you can survive them, and I think this is what resilience is; and you need it in life and in business. Unless you can say ‘there must be something positive in what is happening and something helpful about this experience’, I just don't think you could survive it.

"WOMEN ARE MORE EMPOWERED, AND I THINK ANN SUMMERS HAS PLAYED A BIG PART IN THAT, AND IT IS SOMETHING I AM VERY PROUD OF. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WOMEN ARE MAKING A LOT OF DECISIONS THEMSELVES."

DO YOU BELIEVE THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION IS ABLE TO COPE AS WELL AS THE OLDER GENERATION DID AND HAS THAT LEVEL OF RESILIENCE? I think you must be a certain type of person to cope with them in the way that I have done, and I don't think that is a generation thing. I think that's more of a mindset thing, and it is about having the self-belief that you can get through this. The younger generation have different challenges that we had. Social media is a big challenge for young people and so is having to keep up with what your peers are doing and how instant everything is. There are positives to social media though, but I think it can impact young people's wellbeing and their outlook on life. I WANT TO TAKE YOU BACK TO MARCH 2020 – IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR YOU WHEN YOUR SHOPS WERE CLOSED DUE TO THE PANDEMIC? I remember sitting on my coffee table and staring at the TV. I was shellshocked and couldn’t believe it was really happening. No retailer has ever had to close their stores like this, and we were faced with closing over 100 of our shops and it was heartbreaking. It was my baby, and this is what I had built for the last 40 years, and I couldn’t stop thinking about our 1,000 colleagues and what we were going to do. I'm good in a crisis though, and I just thought ‘let's put a plan together and let’s be optimistic’ – and that is what we did, together with my awesome team. WHO INSPIRES YOU IN BUSINESS? I'm going to say Anita Roddick. The reason I choose her is because I think she was the first person to have a purpose in business. What I mean by that was a mission and a successful brand built around it. I think successful businesses today are those that have a purpose, and she had a purpose. She put a stake firmly in the ground and she really owned her space; and while she's not with us anymore, The Body Shop is still very relevant today. I also admire Sara Blakely, who founded Spanx and recently sold it for a huge amount of money. I think she's very inspirational. My third choice probably would be Steven Bartlett. I think for the younger generation, to have somebody so relevant and engaging is great.

February/March 2022

JACQUELINE GOLD CBE

IF YOU WERE TO START YOUR BUSINESS TODAY AGAIN AND YOU WERE 18, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WOULD END UP DOING? Well, I hope it would be the same, because I've loved every minute of my journey. But if it wasn't, I would still like to be working in something that had female empowerment at its core. This is something that I always gravitate towards because I feel so passionate about that.

Being able to adjust to your environment and adapt is something that I feel is important too. For female entrepreneurs, it is also about self-belief. If you ever doubt yourself, keep a list of all your achievements and read them back to yourself before you go into an environment that might give you a wobble.

In my own business, I had the opportunity to empower women in the bedroom and, later in my career, I realised that there was an opportunity to empower women in the boardroom too.

TO EMPOWER WOMEN IN THE BEDROOM AND,

DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS? No, not many. I do wish I would have networked more but it can be difficult for women, and when I was starting out, they were very male-dominated. I would say, a lot of it is about the preparation that you do beforehand. It's about understanding who's going to be there, making sure you pick the right events, identifying the key people that you want to meet up with, and perhaps engaging them with them on social media beforehand.

AN OPPORTUNITY TO EMPOWER WOMEN IN THE

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS? Whatever business you go into, make sure it has a purpose that is authentic; and you will need to have a clear point of difference that sets you apart from your competition. You can’t be a 'me-too' product or service, otherwise you won’t survive, unless it is something truly innovative.

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"IN MY OWN BUSINESS, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY LATER IN MY CAREER, I REALISED THAT THERE WAS BOARDROOM TOO." WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE? I think the key with retail is to be agile. And I think those companies that have been agile during the pandemic have proved that they can adjust to different environments, and retailers do have to adapt very quickly. I think that we are very well-positioned to respond to those types of things, and I want the legacy of Ann Summers to be built around this and I want it to be applicable to the younger generation coming through. Underpinning this agility, will always be sexual empowerment for every woman. That is our legacy. 

FEATURE

this is a positive environment for dealmaking Following a busy year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 2021, Business Leader looks at what is driving this growth and what the future holds for the sector. In this feature, experts operating in the space also explain what leaders need to know about changes in legislation, run the rule over international investment into the UK, and also share their tips for what you need to know when preparing to sell your business; and what it is really like to go through the process. WHAT WERE THE KEY TRENDS THAT SHAPED 2021 M&A ACTIVITY? Mark Clephan, Head of North Corporate Finance at EY: “2021 began in a flurry, as private business owners raced to complete deals before the Chancellors Budget and potential Capital Gains Tax change – although this did not materialise. The remainder of the year saw high prices, together with elevated levels of activity, leading to many advisers being sold out, record levels of IPOs, and overseas trade and private equity activity. Key trends including sustainability and ESG, have become an increasingly important aspect of dealmaking.” Jim Shaw, CEO of Shaw & Co: “In terms of 2021, the market was certainly volatile, with plenty of activity driven, unsurprisingly, by the pandemic, which

has seen so many businesses having to transform their whole business models. The technology sector continued to be a fertile space for acquisitions, as larger companies sought to plug the gaps in their offering that had been exposed over the last 18 months. Furthermore, with debt remaining extraordinarily cheap, larger corporates themselves had a huge incentive to acquire good businesses of all sizes, as they quickly tried to adapt their business models to the changing market.” Ivan Sedgwick, Investment Director at LGB & C: “Global M&A had its biggest year ever at $5.7tn, vs $3-4tn between 20142020. The big drivers were TMT ($1.8tn, double the previous peak) of which tech alone was over $1tn; healthcare (up 67%) plus a resumption of activity in traditional sectors as we got used to Covid-19. “Though they garnered headlines, SPACs were a little over 10% of activity but peaked in Q1 and were almost entirely a

US phenomenon so not the major driver. However, private equity was important, with buyouts at a new high of 27% of all M&A activity from 20% in 2020.”

"2021 BEGAN IN A FLURRY, AS PRIVATE BUSINESS OWNERS RACED TO COMPLETE DEALS BEFORE THE CHANCELLORS BUDGET AND POTENTIAL CAPITAL GAINS TAX CHANGE – ALTHOUGH THIS DID NOT MATERIALISE." Mark Clephan

Ewan MacKinnon, Partner at Maven Capital Partners: “Covid-19 has continued to exert influence, sustaining the focus on tech-enabled companies that we saw

February/March 2022

M&A

(L-R) Mark Clephan Head of North Corporate Finance, EY Jim Shaw CEO Shaw & Co Ivan Sedgwick Investments Director LGB Ewan MacKinnon Partner Maven Capital Partner

"IN GENERAL, THE PANDEMIC DID NOT DENT M&A ACTIVITY AND IF ANYTHING, THERE APPEARS TO BE A PENT-UP DEMAND. WE JUST NEED THE CHANCELLOR TO BE FAIR ON CAPITAL GAINS TAX, LEST WE SEE SCORES OF UK BUSINESS BEING RUN BY ENTREPRENEURS SAT ON BEACHES THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY."

in 2020, and many corporates used M&A in 2021 to acquire technological capabilities they did not previously have. “Aside from this, there has been a significant increase in the use of SPACs and heightened focus on ESG considerations among both investors and investee companies, as the business community drives towards its net-zero goal.” WHAT ARE YOUR PROJECTIONS FOR M&A ACTIVITY IN 2022 AND BEYOND? Fraser Thorne, Chief Executive at Edison Group: “Given the record year we have had over the last 12 months, we don’t expect to see an increase in the number of deals we secure in 2022. However, we are likely to see other sectors apart from technology and healthcare move to the forefront.” Mark Clephan: “External macro factors which could significantly influence the deals market remain, including Covid-19 and ongoing global supply chain strains. They are likely to reduce confidence in certain sectors, impacting M&A activity. “Recently we have seen evidence of a shift to a new cycle of dealmaking, following the immediate reaction to the pandemic, into a more considered phase as companies review all areas of their business strategy and look to get fit for the future.”

Jim Shaw

Jim Shaw: “In general, this is a positive environment for dealmaking in the right sectors, and will remain so for the next twelve months at least; with interest rates expected to stay low and the corporates keen to invest balance sheet funds, and private equity dry powder being eagerly invested against fixed fund timelines. “In general, the pandemic did not dent M&A activity and if anything, there appears to be a pent-up demand. We just need the Chancellor to be fair on Capital Gains Tax, lest we see scores of UK business being run by entrepreneurs sat on beaches thousands of miles away.” Ivan Sedgwick: “Cheap money does not guarantee a continuation of the boom. Liquidity is like air: there is the same amount whether the wind is blowing or

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not. If we are faced with uncertainties – whether from increasing energy prices, conflict in Eastern Europe or the South China Sea, or a rise in interest rates – we could certainly see a slowdown of activity. Managements can always delay bidding, even if bankers try to persuade them that their potential targets will be lost forever.” Ewan MacKinnon: “There will be a buoyancy about 2022, with plenty of private equity firepower waiting to be deployed. Moreover, as we hopefully emerge from the pandemic this year, the UK’s economic fundamentals should keep improving, which will encourage more activity. At the same time, companies will need to address ongoing issues such as supply chain shortages, labour shortages, and wage inflation.” WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A BUSINESS LEADER LOOKING TO SALE THEIR BUSINESS? HOW CAN THEY BEST PREPARE FOR SALE? Jim Shaw: “The most important thing is never, ever, sell your business without seeking the advice of a qualified, experienced, corporate finance advisor. I know, you would expect me to say that but there is too much on the line to be learning on the job or entrusting anyone other than absolute expert. If you do then you will certainly regret it. I can think of several recent deals where we have doubled (or more) an initial, unadvised, offer. Cont. 

FEATURE “If you have a good business and are looking to sell then you must be confident, assured and patient enough to decline that first offer. One of the greatest tools at your disposal is the chance to create a ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ amongst potential buyers, persuading them that this is a huge opportunity that simply cannot be missed. “A good advisor will start by packaging up your business and making it as attractive as possible to a range of potential buyers. This takes a level of analysis and real marketing skill which few advisors possess.” Ewan MacKinnon: “Prepare, prepare, prepare. You will need to start getting your house in order months before starting the sales process, and this should include succession planning if you intend to leave following the sale. “Expertise is essential. A strong financial controller within the company will be able to analyse the historics and assemble the financial projections that buyers want to see. In addition, a good corporate finance advisor can help secure the best price for your business, while a good corporate lawyer will handle the M&A negotiations competently.” AND HOW STRESSFUL IS THE PROCESS? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE IT TO SOMEBODY THAT HASN’T BEEN THROUGH IT?

foresight. Like a good game of chess, you have to be able to think four or five or more moves ahead.

IS THERE ANY PENDING LEGISLATION OR TAX CHANGES THAT MAY IMPACT THE MARKET?

"To be able to do that takes a huge amount of deal experience; if you find yourself reacting to what is in front of you without fully understanding the consequences of your next move, you are likely to come up short against an experienced player.”

Jim Shaw: “There was huge relief that the Chancellor did not hit wealth creators and SME owner-managers by increasing Capital Gains Tax. I still believe that CGT needs a complete overhaul. It seems extraordinary that those who speculate on property when the underlying asset is highly unlikely to lose value, pay the same tax as an SME business owner taking real risk who has spent years building a successful business and providing jobs for a local community. The levels of risk and effort and vastly different.”

Ewan MacKinnon: “Having been through it twice myself, I know first-hand that the process can be stressful, which is perhaps unsurprising given that you essentially end up working two jobs for the duration of the sales process. Preparing all the information a buyer could want, while also running a successful business, requires incredibly hard work. But preparing well will mitigate the stress and should deliver a very positive outcome.”

"EXPERTISE IS ESSENTIAL. A STRONG FINANCIAL CONTROLLER WITHIN THE COMPANY WILL BE ABLE TO ANALYSE THE HISTORICS AND ASSEMBLE THE FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS THAT BUYERS WANT TO SEE." Ewan MacKinnon

Ewan MacKinnon: “This time of year, always breeds worries that the upcoming Budget will include a change to CGT, leading to a flurry of activity as deals race to completion ahead of 5th April. However, there is no sign of anything on the horizon this year that would be particularly troubling in this regard.” WHAT IS DRIVING THE INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN UK BUSINESSES? Jim Shaw: “The 2016 drop in the Pound, due to Brexit, has undoubtedly made UK assets much more desirable. Perhaps most importantly, however, over the last decade the UK has really established itself as an innovator in technology which is bound to garner eager interest from international tech companies.

Jim Shaw: “Sometimes negotiations get tense. A big part of our job as financial advisers is being the barrier that absorbs that emotion and keeps a deal on track. For an owner-manager in particular, deal negotiations can quickly feel personal. Removing yourself from this is one of many significant benefits of appointing a professional advisor to negotiate your deal. “Business has changed over the years so even ‘fraught’ negotiations are nothing like the big public company hostile takeovers of yore. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of hard work and hard data involved in securing a sale, but it’s also an art, a craft if you will. The reality is that each deal, business, and owner is different. “Deal craft also involves focussing on the common goals between parties, in order to find a way through any impasse. Understanding the points that really matter and the points on which compromise can be reached takes experience and

February/March 2022

M&A “Brexit is also driving interest in that international companies are opening offices in the UK – and vice versa – to ensure that trading links are maintained.”

COMMENT Simon Tombs Managing Partner Monahans

Ivan Sedgwick: “The UK as one of the poorest performing markets of the last few years has of course attracted attention. US companies remain comfortable with the legal system, the regulatory environment, and the language. There is good technology and R&D even if mainstream manufacturing is a shadow of its former self and there are few barriers to entry. So far, however, the activity has tended to be in larger rather than smaller companies.”

"THE UK WILL ALWAYS HOLD A SPECIAL INTEREST FOR INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, GIVEN OUR FLEXIBLE RECRUITMENT LAWS, SOLID LEGAL STRUCTURE AND RELATIVELY STABLE POLITICAL OUTLOOK." Fraser Thorne

Ewan MacKinnon: “Quite simply, the UK has some of the world’s best and most innovative growth businesses. Combine this with its improving economic fundamentals and the relative stability achieved by the successful vaccine rollout, and the appeal of the UK is obvious.” Fraser Thorne: “The UK will always hold a special interest for international investment, given our flexible recruitment laws, solid legal structure and relatively stable political outlook. On top of this, valuation of UK companies still lags that of US peers by some margin.” 

STAYING CONNECTED IN 2022 A month into the new year and it feels as though there is a bright spot on the horizon. Though some restrictions and guidance remain in place in parts of the UK, we are certainly in a better place compared to January 2021. You can feel it in the atmosphere; there’s a sense of urgency, a hunger to move onwards and upwards. Despite a cautious 2021, I’m immensely proud of what MHA Monahans was able to achieve. We onboarded 420 new clients throughout the year, expanding our services among our communities. We grew our overall headcount by 10%, and made new connections through knowledge sharing, with our post-pandemic recovery hub now receiving an average of 525 daily visits. This connection and learning through shared experiences is something I’m keen to continue into this year. It’s something I believe MHA Monahans is particularly good at – networking and client relationship building has always been a key focus – but postpandemic we have several new avenues to explore. The world has changed fundamentally in the past two years and despite spending a lot of time in physical isolation, we’ve found new ways to stay connected, and rediscovered the importance of doing so. I recently shared some of our upcoming business goals, which you can read over on the Business Leader website, none of which would be possible without the dedication, professionalism, and engagement of our team. Their expertise drives our business forward, and I look forward to sharing more of that with you in 2022.

For more information on the service, please get in touch on 01225 472800 or visit www.monahans.co.uk

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www.monahans.co.uk 17

FEATURE

rise of the spac company:

what are they? and are they set to dominate the UK ipo market? A growing trend within the global M&A industry has been the increased interest around Special Purpose Acquisition Companies – also known as SPACs. In short, they are organisations that have no commercial operations, and they are formed purely to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) with the aim of acquiring or merging with an established business. Over the past few years, they have become increasingly popular in the USA, and have started spreading across the globe. But how will they impact global markets in the years ahead? Business Leader investigates. According to a report by White&Case and Mergermarket, SPAC IPOs last year reached a value in excess of $172.2bn from 679 listings around the world. This was an increase from 248 in 2020. Although SPACs were initially introduced in 1993 and described as ‘the poor man’s private equity funds’, and have suffered from negative publicity over the past three decades – they have grown in number and value recently to record levels. Will the growth trend continue, or will the ‘blank check boom’ come to an end? WHY HAS THERE BEEN AN INCREASE IN POPULARITY? After an inauspicious start to life within the economic hotspots of the world, there has been a dramatic switch in investor’s views of SPACs. Imran Anwar, Chief Financial Officer at Epos Now explains the step change within the industry. He comments: "SPACs have

experienced an extremely bright growth in the last few years. This is primarily due to the change in perception towards this route. Once viewed as a last resort for a public listing, due to them appearing aggressive and often requiring significant discounts from market value, SPACs are now seen as a very viable and attractive option for businesses looking to be listed on stock exchanges. This is mainly due to the excess capital available in the markets driving pricing to be more akin to traditional IPO pricing, making this route more appealing to businesses. "Secondly, the profile and nature of businesses trying to obtain a public listing are now very different to those of the past. Previously, traditional businesses would have strong track records of delivery, growth, and often profit embedded for many years, enabling a strong equity story to be shared with investors. However, we are seeing much more nascent businesses wanting to access the public markets, and SPACs offer them a secure route in an uncertain market. "Lastly, many companies are now using SPACs as a way of accessing strategic partners with whom they do not have an existing relationship. This is primarily due to the fact that there is not the same level of disclosure when it comes to SPACs, allowing companies to have control over their messaging, and thus being able to manage relationships with their strategic partners."

Another driver in the growth of SPACs has been its wider availability to new investors. Laura Hoy, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown explains: “SPACs have been popular over the past few years as retail investors look for opportunities to participate in IPOs they’d otherwise be shut out of. The appetite for early-stage investing among average

"MANY COMPANIES ARE NOW USING SPACS AS A WAY OF ACCESSING STRATEGIC PARTNERS WITH WHOM THEY DO NOT HAVE AN EXISTING RELATIONSHIP."

Imran Anwar

February/March 2022

SPAC

investors has been growing, and it’s led some companies to offer customers the opportunity to invest, as we saw when Deliveroo went public.

"New regulations in the UK means we can expect to see more SPAC listings on the LSE, but the frenzy of activity seen in the US in early 2021 is unlikely to repeat.”

“SPACs are another way retail investors can get in on the ground floor of an IPO – but it can be a risky business. While many SPACs offer a general investment theme, like electric vehicles or space travel, there’s no way to know whether they’ll stick to it, or whether they’ll take a company public at all. Buying a SPAC is somewhat of a gamble because investors have no idea what company it will eventually take public.

"SPACS HAVE BEEN POPULAR OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS AS RETAIL INVESTORS LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN IPOS THEY’D OTHERWISE BE SHUT OUT OF."

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Laura Hoy

And as much as the US have been the key region accelerating the acceptance of SPACs, the UK is starting to make its mark. Chris Locke, UK Financial Services Strategy & Transaction Partner at EY, comments: “The perceived benefits of SPACs typically include greater certainty of pricing for the target companies versus a straight IPO, a shorter timeline to list, investor access at an earlier stage in the growth cycle, and attractive returns for the SPAC sponsors themselves. Cont. 

FEATURE separates them from any other type of company. Svetlana Marriott, Partner in KPMG UK’s Capital Markets Advisory Group, explains: “Pros include the factors set out above – it is potentially a quicker process being an M&A transaction, companies can also benefit from the standing and the experience of the SPAC’s sponsors. “Cons from the investor perspective relate to potential dilution from the sponsor, as well as potential reduced level of diligence of the company coming to public markets, compared to an IPO verification exercise. Accelerated access to market can be both a positive and a negative for a target company – in particular, the risk of being subject to public scrutiny and ongoing obligations as a listed business before they are ready. So, preparing for an IPO early will put management in control, provide optionality and is a great way to mitigate any such acceleration risk.” Locke continues: “SPACs are generally seen as a quicker route to listing for target companies when compared to the traditional IPO route. For the target company, they also avoid the need for significant time to be spent on roadshows or investor engagement, and they give pricing certainty before going through the listing process. One of the biggest advantages of a SPAC is its agility – and whilst some would consider the shelf life a disadvantage, it does support a more focussed approach. “For these reasons, SPACs are now beginning to garner more attention here in the UK. This is largely as a result of changes that have been implemented following The Listings Review by Lord Hill in 2021, which aimed to make the city a more competitive and agile location for investment. "The changes have included increasing the number of routes UK IPOs take to get to market, and a revision of the rules to better enable SPACs to take place in the UK, of course with the necessary guardrails in place. “November 2021 saw the first UK SPAC, when venture capital group Hambro Perks sought to raise £150m to fund an acquisition through listing on the London Stock Exchange.”

"SPACS ARE GENERALLY SEEN AS A QUICKER ROUTE TO LISTING FOR TARGET COMPANIES WHEN COMPARED TO THE TRADITIONAL IPO ROUTE. " Chris Locke

DIFFERENCES FROM REGULAR IPOS With more regular IPOs also seeing a surge in popularity in recent years, to a wellestablished and traditional industry, it can be difficult to understand why the sudden interest in SPACs has increased. To get a better grasp on the rise of the SPAC, it is key to understand what

“One downside is that it can require a compressed and challenging timetable to work through the de-SPAC process, and there are concerns around the erosion of value to the sponsors versus the traditional listing. In addition, there can be potential erosion of control of the day-today running of the business. “SPACs also have a limited shelf life of approximately 18 to 24 months. Money is held in trust while a suitable investment is found. This means there can be substantial pressure on the team to deploy finance, especially as time ticks on.” WILL THE POPULARITY CONTINUE? Despite the downsides presented by a SPAC, investors in recent years have warmed to the positives that they can provide. And after the recent rapid growth and success of the companies, many are predicting a bright future.

February/March 2022

SPAC In an industry that can be hard to predict, and after what the world has been through in recent times, what could happen this year and beyond? Locke comments: “Some investors may decide to take a ‘wait and see’ approach to SPACs, certainly in the short term, as they consider the learnings from the US market, where over 600 SPACs raised $145bn in 2021. “After a phenomenally rapid rise in SPACs in the United States, there are pockets of concern around poor share price performance of target businesses post-listing, increasing redemption rates and challenges to forward guidance being provided in the market. This appears to have resulted in a current cooling of appetite for SPACs in the short-term while investors wait to assess the performance of the existing crop of SPACs. “Dependent on the evolving track record in the US, it’s possible there will be more interest in SPACs developing in the UK in the first half of the year, spurring on further activity in the second half, especially if the country emerges from the current pandemic-related challenges and businesses look to make the investment and growth decisions many predict.” Hannah Skingle, Senior Marketing Associate at Beauhurst, provides her predictions for the UK market: “In response to Lord Hill’s UK Listings Review,

the FCA loosened rules on SPACs, most notably allowing them to continue trading after the announcement of a deal (if certain criteria are met). Since then, we’ve seen a number of leading UK businesses list via SPAC, including unicorn companies Babylon and Cazoo, as well as ArQit, LumiraDx and Wejo.” There are several other key differences presented by a SPAC. Skingle continues: “SPACs are often formed by high-profile individuals with plenty of experience and industry knowledge, acting as the main selling point in the vehicle. The sponsors are often the face of the fundraising initiative and will be some of the key decision-makers when it comes to the acquisition. “This focus on business celebrities has certainly contributed to the frenzy of SPAC media attention in the US, where plenty of big names like Shaquille O’Neal and Alex Rodriguez have thrown their hats into the SPAC ring. The celebrity-turned-businessmogul model is simply just not as popular or high-profile in the UK as in the US, but that’s not to say SPACs can’t thrive this side of the pond.” IS THE UK ATTRACTIVE FOR SPACS? Despite the challenges the industry is facing, there is no denying the rise in popularity could continue for years to come. Syed Rahman, of financial crime specialists Rahman Ravelli, assesses the likelihood of the UK attracting SPACs.

"SPACS ARE OFTEN FORMED BY HIGHPROFILE INDIVIDUALS WITH PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE AND INDUSTRY KNOWLEDGE, ACTING AS THE MAIN SELLING POINT IN THE VEHICLE." Hannah Skingle

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He comments: “Nobody likes to miss out on what could be the next big thing. So, when the FCA made substantial changes to its rulebook last year in order to attract a slice of the SPAC action, there were many who thought it could be a game changer. There was, after all, enough support for the move from those looking to sink money into SPACs. “It was easy enough to see both the appeal of SPACs and the aims of those looking to see them become a possibility in the UK. By 2021, SPACs were attracting ever higher levels of investment in the US, prompting envious glances from this side of the Atlantic. But fast forward to early 2022 and the UK has only seen one SPAC so far, with little sign of there being more in the pipeline.” With this in mind, has the UK missed the opportunity and been left behind by its American equivalents? Rahman continues: “So, did the SPAC bubble burst before it could land in the UK? This is doubtful. The obvious enthusiasm for SPACs has not evaporated – and it was never likely to take the form of a stampede the moment the FCA changed its rules. It could be argued that some of the UK’s regulations remain more rigid than those in other countries, but the rise of SPACs in the UK was always likely to gather momentum gradually rather than being a sprint that was over shortly after it began. “Nobody was looking for that to happen and the FCA had stated that it wanted listing standards that would ensure the integrity of this new market. The regulator adopted a more accommodating stance. It dropped the requirement for shares of a listed company to be suspended when a reverse takeover becomes widely known about, and reduced its proposed £200m minimum for SPAC fundraising to £100m (a figure which is similar to that in other countries seeking SPAC investment). But it also protected investors by giving them rights to redeem funds and introduced limits on how long a SPAC would have to complete a deal. “The FCA may have wanted a wellmanaged gold rush, but it did not want to see The City become a SPAC-filled 'Wild West'. While London has not yet become a magnet for SPACs, it is certainly now as appealing as many of its potential rivals.” 

ROUND-UP

The Business Leader Deal Room Business Leader highlights a selection of significant deals that have taken place in the last few months

FINANCIAL SERVICES Tandem Bank has announced it is acquiring consumer lender Oplo in the hope of creating a fairer, greener digital bank for the UK consumer. The combined business will have £1.2bn of total assets – including £230m in green lending, £1bn of funding, and a growing customer base of over 171,000 customers serviced by a UK-based team of 500 people.

TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY Microsoft has entered an agreement to buy video game giant Activision Blizzard for around £50.5bn in an all-cash deal. If the deal is approved by regulators, it is expected to complete in the 2023 financial year, and it would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company in the world by revenue. Activision Blizzard, based in California, was founded in 2008 after a merger of Activision, Inc. and Vivendi Games, and its products include Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Spyro the Dragon.

Software firm Sage Group has announced that it is set to acquire Bristol-based multichannel retail management system Brightpearl for £225m. Sage previously held a 17% stake in the company. Founded in 2007, Brightpearl has operations in the US and the UK and provides a SaaS-based retail operating system.

HEALTHCARE After more than 10 years as part of the Virgin Group, Virgin Care has been acquired by Twenty20 Capital and rebranded HCRG Care Group, bringing together their strengths, capability and expertise in the health and care services sector.

HEALTHCARE Unilever and GlaxoSmithKline are currently battling over GSK’s consumer healthcare business. Unilever has announced it will focus growing its presence in the health, beauty and hygiene sectors. The group plans to make major acquisitions in-line with this initiative as it ramps up disposals of lower-growth parts of the business. Unilever’s most recent £50bn offer to buy the business was rejected.

FOOD & DRINK TLT has advised Brothers Drinks Co. Ltd on its reacquisition of sparkling perry brand, Babycham, following an agreement with the brand’s current owners, Accolade Wines. The family-owned company plans to reinvigorate the brand and to relaunch it in 2022, extending it to a new generation of consumers and sparkling drink fans.

TECHNOLOGY Onecom, the business communications technology and cloud communications specialist, has acquired Russell Telecom Ltd. The transaction, backed by mid-market private equity firm LDC, which is fuelling Onecom’s ambitious growth strategy, brings Russell Telecom’s team and more than 1,500 customers into the Onecom Group.

RETAIL Gifts and gadgets retailer Menkind has completed the acquisition of two well-known brands in the gifting industry – Hawkin’s Bazaar and Stocking Fillers, previously owned by H Grossman Limited. The acquisition, which was made for an undisclosed sum, will provide customers with a larger range to choose from and the benefit of a more seamless customer experience journey.

February/March 2022

CYBER-SECURITY

BUILDING OUT AN EFFECTIVE INDUSTRIAL CYBERSECURITY PROGRAM FOR THE YEAR AHEAD BY ANTHONY ATKINS – ACCOUNT MANAGER, UK & EU

1. People: Have we established a security-conscious culture? Security is the responsibility of all employees, and everyone needs to understand the importance of keeping their organisation safe. As a business leader, you need to ask what are we doing to promote the importance of cybersecurity from the top down? Talking about industrial cybersecurity regularly, providing training, modelling good behaviour and explaining what the organisation is doing to improve security are all great techniques to help nurture an effective cybersecurity conscious culture. According to a recent report from Check Point, organisations were hit with 50 percent more cyberattacks in 2021 than they were in 2020. This significant rise signals a need for organisations to prioritise their cyber defences when allocating budgets and resources for the year ahead. Given that a recent Ponemon Institute report revealed that the average cost of an incident impacting industrial cybersecurity now stands at $3 million, it is far cheaper to prevent an attack than it is to recover from one. Industrial organisations therefore need to be equipped with the right resources, skills and technology to be able to protect their industrial infrastructure effectively. Industrial business leaders therefore need to champion cybersecurity, making it a top priority for employees, while allocating sufficient budgets and resources into programs. But what are the key questions they need to ask to ensure their programs are effective?

2. Process: Where are we weakest? This important question will determine how budgets and resources are allocated. If an organisation identifies multiple weak points, security teams must then prioritise hardening those which have the potential to cause the greatest damage. Weaknesses will differ across organisations and what could be perceived as a major threat to an energy company, could be insignificant to a manufacturer. Understanding weaknesses and taking steps to minimise them through incident response training is a critical element of an effective cybersecurity program. Business leaders also need to understand that weaknesses can change over time, particularly as digital transformation efforts accelerate. This means having regular security updates as and when functions within the organisation change. 3. Technology: What technical mitigations are in place to protect our assets against today’s top threats? Understanding the attack landscape is vital

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as this educates on attacker techniques and threat trends. If there is a surge in ransomware attacks in your industry, organisations should adopt an ‘assume breach mentality’. Business leaders can then work with security teams to allocate budgets for technical defences to harden systems. However, security tools are not just about detecting attacks, sometimes they are used to discover assets. The importance of this has been highlighted by the recent discovery of the Log4Shell vulnerability. In the last few weeks security teams across the world have faced an uphill battle following its discovery, largely because very few organisations can quickly determine which of their assets are vulnerable, which has left a window of opportunity for attackers. This highlights the importance of asset visibility and the ability for organisations to see exactly what devices are on their network, so security updates and other mitigations can be applied quickly. Industrial cybersecurity is no longer an excess of zeal, today it is a necessity. Business leaders therefore must prioritise securing their industrial infrastructure, allocating enough budgets and resources to safeguard their organisation in the ever-expanding attack landscape.

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DEBATE

‘your customer is comparing you to amazon’ how are uk firms managing technology transformation? Businesses up and down the UK are going through a period of technology transformation that is changing the way they interact with their employees and their customers. Business Leader met with leaders from different sectors to find out how their relationship with technology is changing – and what impact the pandemic has had – and see how it is enabling them to meet the rising expectations of their staff and customers. Jim Shaw is the Founder and CEO of Shaw & Co, a firm that advises businesses on mergers and acquisitions. He says that technology has been transformative for his business and that attitudes are changing in his sector, due to the proliferation and adoption of new technology.

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION Matt Edwards is the Managing Director of Candid, a business that advises insurance companies. He says that being mobilefirst in his sector and embracing technology around this, is one of the key trends he is seeing.

He explains: “We need to provide a solution that resonates with the younger generation, because they are searching for products and services on their phones first; and they are finding these products and services via an evergrowing number of platforms. This means we are "WE NEED TO looking for ways to provide advisory services PROVIDE A SOLUTION via digital paths that they can identify with.

He says: “Like many businesses, we’ve seen lots of communication shifting over to video conferencing and that has had benefits, such as expanding our geography and the ability to get more done quicker. On a recent deal we closed, THAT RESONATES WITH THE the client was in Manchester, and I didn’t YOUNGER GENERATION, BECAUSE meet him until two weeks before it was closed. This was a sizeable deal and THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR PRODUCTS pre-pandemic; many people would have AND SERVICES ON THEIR PHONES said you can’t exchange on a contract this big without knowing the person and FIRST; AND THEY ARE FINDING THESE sitting face-to-face with them.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES VIA AN

These new approaches hopefully mean we can move back towards a world where it's not about buying the cheapest insurance product but about buying the insurance product that's most applicable and providing advice to the client.

“This new approach is also allowing us Technology actually forced the EVER-GROWING NUMBER OF to expand internationally and focus on commoditisation of the insurance market, PLATFORMS." more global mergers and acquisition deals which I think personally is a bad thing; too. The world has been opened by leveraging but conversely I think technology will also be Matt Edwards technology. I think what we've seen is probably the driver to change this too, as the pendulum an acceleration of the adoption of technology of five swings back the other way and a more digital savvy or six years, in the space of a few months and it is removing generation scrutinise the purchases they make and are barriers and changing business models.” more discerning about the brands they engage with.”

February/March 2022

TECHNOLOGY

"IT’S CLEAR TO SEE THAT RETAIL IS CHANGING AND THE PANDEMIC HAS ONLY ACCELERATED THIS CHANGE. THE TRADITIONAL HIGH STREET ISN’T BEING REPLACED BY ONLINE AND TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN SOLUTIONS, BUT IT IS CHANGING RAPIDLY." David Hill

Together with using technology to connect with the next generation, there is no doubt that the pandemic has played a huge part in changing how businesses interact with their customers right now too. Take sport as another example – Lisa Knights is the Marketing Director at Bristol Sport, and the events of the last two years have accelerated change at the organisation. She says: “The last couple of years have brought about unprecedented change. We have five sports teams and during the pandemic, our live stream platforms and digital options became the most popular topic of conversation. We launched three live streaming platforms for three of our clubs, and it has made us really look at how out customers consume our content and what we do.” David Hill, Marketing Director at eCommerce fulfilment business Huboo, agrees that the pandemic has had a transformative impact on the sector they operate in and how they invest in technology in the here and now. He says: “It’s clear to see that retail is changing and the pandemic has only accelerated this change. The traditional high street isn’t being replaced by online and technology driven solutions, but it is changing rapidly.

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"In our business we have something called hub iOS, which is our own enhanced operating system. This does everything from integrating with online marketplaces and online stores, to also connecting with a global network of couriers, and that's all done with one easy to use dashboard. What we're finding with eCommerce sellers is that they're looking at multi-channel solutions; and they are not only selling on eBay or Amazon. How we can integrate faster with all of these platforms and embrace technology is going to be central to how we succeed in the future.” MOVE TO THE CLOUD Mark Cullen, who is CEO of Xledger UK, says that it is now much less common for finance and business leaders to think that it is scary to have their finance systems in the cloud and digital transformation is happening at a fast rate. Mark elaborates: “20 years ago our founders had the vision to put finance in the cloud, way before it was popular, and we saw adoption from smaller businesses initially, but we offer a solution to the mid-market and there was more reticence amongst businesses in this space. Cont. 

DEBATE "Many people genuinely thought of putting their finance system in the cloud as quite a scary prospect but even prior to Covid-19 we saw this starting to change, as many businesses embraced digital transformation.

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TECH SOLUTIONS When measuring the technology businesses are implementing, Jim Shaw says it’s also important to analyse your tech stack from both an internal and external position. A company needs to know how the technology is helping to deliver a better experience for both employees and customers.

"The pandemic then accelerated this further, and some companies were finding that they couldn’t access their finance systems effectively because they were on a server in an office. "This has seen huge change and a more technology focused approach to payroll and accounting. What has also changed is that many leaders are now looking for expertise in each area of their business. For example, instead of having a finance system that has a CRM and HR platform, people are looking for more tailored expertise in each area and this is creating huge opportunity and change in the market.” With so much new technology and platforms becoming available, how can business leaders best track performance? Mark says this is something leaders need to invest just as much time and resource into, as they do in the technology itself: “It is one thing spending money on new technology platforms, but it is equally important to invest in measuring its impact too. We have put systems and processes in place that give us feedback and information that we can access at the touch of a button. Technology will only fuel growth in your business if you have this level of scrutiny and I stay very close to the metrics and that often means some Sunday reading.”

He explains: “Much of the debate around digital transformation has rightly been around employee experience but as service providers or consulting businesses, we’re no longer being compared to other businesses like us by our customers, your customer is comparing you to Amazon and the digital experience they receive from them. The expectation of customers has accelerated during the pandemic and if we don’t keep up with that and how our customer expectations are changing, we’re going to fall rapidly behind. My view is as businesses we’re dealing with the internal tech transformation better than the external challenge at the moment, but they need to have parity. “You can start to see clients getting frustrated that there's a document that they don't quite know where it is or they have been sent a document, rather than a link. Not every business or every part of a business can be automated but the challenge is making every touch point and experience feel seamless.”

Stephen Mayers, who is Head of ScaleUp at SETsquared, agrees that these internal and external challenges will be critical to a business’ ability to compete, and says that when it comes creating the next generation of technology and implementing it effectively, the relationship between business "THE EXPECTATION and education needs to be better fostered. OF CUSTOMERS HAS

ACCELERATED DURING THE PANDEMIC AND IF WE DON’T KEEP UP WITH THAT AND HOW OUR CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS ARE CHANGING, WE’RE GOING TO FALL RAPIDLY BEHIND." Jim Shaw

He comments: “The role universities have to play in helping UK businesses really embrace technology and developing innovation is vital, but we only invest around 2% of GDP in research and development and that is really not good enough compared to our peers in Europe, Asia and around the globe. If we want to really tackle this internal and external technology offering and ensure our companies offer an Amazon-level service, we need to ensure our ecosystem is the best it can be. "I think that ensuring the different disciplines work together to tackle not just the technology challenges but some of the big global challenges we face will make a big difference; and we’ll also need to make sure we’re utilising the diversity of talent and intellect that is available.” 

February/March 2022

TECHNOLOGY

uk tech sector has best year ever – but what is driving its

growth?

More money than ever is flowing into the UK tech sector, as it recorded its best year in 2021. New analysis from Dealroom and Adzuna shows that £26bn went into the sector, significantly up from last year’s figure of £11.5bn. The analysis also shows £9bn of all venture capital (VC) invested went to startups and scale-ups outside of London and the South East. However, the data shows that Cambridge is the leading regional tech city in the UK, thanks to its combination of high levels of VC funding, venture capital rounds, advertised tech salaries, number of unicorns (tech companies worth more than $1bn) and futurecorns, according to new analysis for the UK’s Digital Economy Council by Dealroom and the smarter job search engine Adzuna. Manchester was only narrowly beaten by Cambridge to the number two position, and Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are also in the top ten for capital raised, showing how the tech sector has spread across all regions and countries in the UK. The number of jobs in Manchester increased by 164.6% in 2021 and the highest advertised average salaries outside London were in Edinburgh – £58,405. UK TECH CAPTURED MORE THAN A THIRD OF INVESTMENT INTO EUROPE The £26bn raised by UK start-ups and scale-ups was nearly double the figure raised in Germany (£13.5bn) and is more than three times that raised by French companies (£8.6bn). UK tech investment made up 35% of the total £76bn that flowed into the European tech ecosystem this year.

UK venture capital firms have also had a record year and raised £7bn with record-breaking fundraisings from London firms, including Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, 83North and Eight Road Ventures. MORE US INVESTMENT The majority of the money coming into UK tech is from the US, with 38.2% of all funding coming from the States, up from 31.5% last year, with most of it going into fintech and health tech companies. Over 28% of UK venture funding came from domestic capital. MORE UNICORNS CREATED THAN EVER BEFORE – MORE THAN FRANCE AND GERMANY COMBINED More funding means more unicorns, with 29 created this year including the e-commerce platform Depop, car selling platform Motorway, insurance disrupter Marshmallow, and the challenger bank Starling Bank. This takes the UK’s total unicorn figure to 116 meaning 25% of the UK’s total unicorns were created in 2021 alone. The UK has more unicorns than France (31) and Germany (56) combined. RECORD IPO CAPITAL RAISING IN LONDON SINCE 2007 The publication of Lord Hill’s UK Listings Review in March supported a strong year for the London markets, with 118 companies choosing to list in the UK raising over £16.8bn (YTD), the most capital raised since 2007. This made the UK the most active venue globally for IPOs outside the US and Greater China. The London Stock Exchange has also hosted more than twice as many transactions as the next most active European market, with a combined

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£49bn raised through IPOs and FollowOn Issuance. The 37 tech and consumer internet companies that have listed this year achieved a combined market cap of £31bn. The London Stock Exchange has also supported 30 founder-led companies to list this year. Standout performers, such as Oxford Nanopore and Wise, have demonstrated the significant appetite from investors for quoted high-growth companies and this positive momentum is set to continue into 2022. Yoram Wijngaarde, Founder and CEO at Dealroom.co, comments: “The UK tech ecosystem has exploded in the past year, with an increasing number of mega rounds minting new unicorns and futurecorns every day. This is significant because we know from research that employees at $1bn+ companies often go on to found their own start-ups, some of which become unicorns themselves, which helps to shore up the ecosystem and lead to a new generation of global companies.” Gerard Grech, Founding Chief Executive of Tech Nation, comments: “With such a record tech investment year, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the UK is very good at rearing and cultivating start-ups and scale-ups into successful global companies right across the UK.” 

APPOINTMENTS

people

& appointments Business Leader gives a rundown of recent appointments and promotions across various sectors

Keith Morgan CBE ThinCats

FORMER COO AT MICROSOFT NAMED LATEST SENIOR APPOINTMENT AT TEXTHELP Texthelp, a global literacy and accessibility technology firm, has announced that Christine Mullin be the first Chief Operating Officer in the company’s 25-year history. Mullin brings to Texthelp more than two decades of experience in growing and developing technology businesses across multiple roles, including strategy, business development, finance, and customer operations.

BDO LLP APPOINTS NEW PARTNER Accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO LLP, has strengthened its tax expertise with the appointment of a new partner.

THINCATS NAMES KEITH MORGAN CBE AS NEW CHAIR ThinCats, an alternative finance provider to mid-sized SMEs, has announced the appointment of Keith Morgan CBE as its new Chair. Morgan brings a wealth of experience to the SME and alternative finance market, having served as the founding Chief Executive of the British Business Bank, the UK Government’s economic development bank for business. Appointed on its creation in 2013, Morgan developed the Bank to become a major funder of UK businesses, helping deliver over £60bn of support to SMEs through more than one million loans and guarantees before stepping down in 2020.

ALISON JONES APPOINTED AS SMMT PRESIDENT The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) has appointed Stellantis’ Senior Vice President and Country Manager UK, Alison Jones, as its new President. Since being appointed as Senior Vice-President and Country Manager UK in March this year, Jones has been responsible for Peugeot, Citroën, DS Automobiles, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Abarth, Jeep and Alfa Romeo. The appointment to President follows a year-long tenure as Vice-President at the SMMT, where Jones contributed to the organisation’s direction and strategy.

Lisa Oakes joins BDO as a tax partner with a specific focus on the real estate sector. She joins having spent over ten years advising funds and other institutions with real estate investments. Oakes also has experience working with family offices and private capital businesses as well as supporting with business restructuring projects for real estate clients.

SHELL ENERGY APPOINTS JODIE EATON AS NEW CEO Shell’s B2B energy supply arm, Shell Energy UK Ltd, has announced the appointment of Jodie Eaton as CEO. Eaton succeeds Paul Hellings, who stepped down in December. She has more than 30 years’ experience leading commercial, trading and retail energy businesses. Prior to joining Shell Energy in September 2020 as Chief Operating Officer, she held a board member role at npower, led its Business Solutions division, and has also worked for E.ON UK and TXU Energy.

MICHELIN NAMES NEW MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR UK & IRELAND Michelin Tyre plc has appointed John Howe as Managing Director for the UK & Ireland. He will also hold the role of B2C Sales Director. Howe will be based in Stoke-on-Trent and replaces Chris Smith as Managing Director, who recently moved to Michelin’s international headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand, France, to take over the role of Global Marketing Director long distance transportation.

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FEATURE

accessing the talent you need to scale-up For companies who are out of the start-up phase and looking to take their business to the next level, this is a very exciting time. But in the era of the ‘Great Resignation’, increasing demand for flexible working, and inflation rising to its highest level in decades, accessing the talent needed to scale-up can be difficult. For this feature, Business Leader Magazine spoke to several companies about how they are managing to grow during such a testing climate.

HOW ARE COMPANIES FINDING RECRUITING THE TALENT THEY NEED TO GROW? According to Statista, in the three months to November 2021, UK job vacancies reached 1.2 million – a record high. This was half a million more than in the same period in 2020. Not only is this a strong indicator that people are leaving positions in their droves, but it also suggests that companies are finding it difficult to attract new talent. Douglas Dinwiddie, Managing Director of web developer and digital marketing agency White Digital, weighs in on his recruiting experience: “Luckily, we haven't found it too tough to recruit at White Digital. We could make a few assumptions as to why this might be, but I do feel there's a certain amount of serendipity.

February/March 2022

SCALE-UP

“White Digital offers unlimited holidays and flexible working, so I think this may help with recruitment. We also rely heavily on people being independently accountable for their little piece of the puzzle, which I feel is really attractive for the right person.”

“We also use the redwigwam system to fill some of the roles we need. Our chat managers, for example, are redwigwam workers who really understand some of the issues which come in and are brilliantly placed to answer them.

Research from Timewise found that 87% of all full-time employees in the UK either work flexibly already or say that they want flexible working. Therefore, flexible working might well be one of the reasons White Digital has been successful in attracting new talent.

“We offer a referral scheme to anyone who works or hires with us too – so you’ll get paid for recommending people to redwigwam!”

Lorna Davidson, the Founder of recruitment consultancy redwigwam, has also had no trouble when recruiting new staff, and this is thanks to a variety of measures. She commented: “At redwigwam, we’ve seen the size of our own business grow massively over the course of the pandemic. We’ve recruited a whole variety of positions and promoted some roles internally. I like to shape roles to people, allowing them to really use the best of their skills and develop their own careers. We’ve found some fantastic new people through job adverts, but also through recommendations from the team and suppliers.

But according to Bradley Pallister, CTO at service provider Innovolo, there may be another way companies can stand out from the crowd. He commented: “At Innovolo we work hard to maintain a great company culture. This is important for us to provide our teams with their key differentiator: autonomy. Our model allows our clients to remain in the driving seat so they can get on with doing what they do best. “We're growth-oriented and that means we need to attract the best talent possible – no matter what industry or sector they come from. Our recruitment is predominantly project specific. We've got a database of around 5,000 freelancers from all over the world who have passed our

rigorous screening process and we tap into this resource as required. “We look for people who are highly skilled at what they do along with being great team players. However, our success is predicated on attracting very high calibre individuals – so there's no compromise on standards!” Sam Spoors, who is the Founder of talent and resourcing consultancy Talentheads, has developed another method of helping them to find the right talent. She said: “We are proud of our growing team and the level of expertise they have brought into Talentheads. The market has changed, we need to stand out to be able to get the attention of the talent we need. However, we definitely find sharing our story, journey, mission, and values has hooked the right professionals in. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in demand from our partners looking to recruit – we are working on long-term strategies around employer brand and the value proposition to ensure the right candidates are seeing (and engaging) with their opportunities.”

IS IT BETTER TO WORK FROM HOME OR IN THE OFFICE? With almost nine in ten employees seeking some form of flexible working, we were interested to learn how scale-up companies felt about working from home and in the office. “We’re fairly relaxed on working from home,” said Douglas Dinwiddie. “I like having the team in the office as there’s always a fantastic atmosphere. We tend to create a buzz which radiates inspiration.

Lorna Davidson Founder Redwigwam

“However, certain members of the team really enjoy working from home, and that's also fine. The way we are set up means each member of the team has their work to deliver and as long as it's done (and done to a high standard), we don't really worry about whether it happens in or out of the office.” Lorna Davidson discusses her company’s experience: “I remember right at the start

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of the pandemic, the switch to complete remote working just wasn’t a big drama for us. Many of the team worked remotely anyway for much of the week, so we already had all the tools we needed in place. “Our head office in Liverpool has been there throughout, and while I don’t see that changing in the future, there won’t be an expectation for people to do a certain number of days in the office. “For me, it is about allowing people to work where they want to in a way that suits them. It means I am better placed to attract the right talent from wherever they may be in the UK and allow them to work in a way which suits their lifestyle.

Cont. 

FEATURE

“Where does that leave the office then? Well, what we do have now are purposeful office days (I do think sometimes nothing beats a face-to-face meeting). "So, a project team will all meet up for a workshop perhaps. And some of the team do prefer to work in the office for a couple of days a week, so that option is there if they want it.” Sam Spoors believes there is value to be gained from employees having time together. She comments: “We’ve actually just secured offices after being based from our kitchen tables and home offices since the beginning of Covid-19. "We believe it’s important to have some time together to be able to build personal relationships, share ideas and ensure we’re developing and investing in our bond as a team.

“Although communicating and seeing each other by Teams on a daily basis has its perks (flexibility, time efficiency, home-work life balance), we want to grow together and, therefore, the opportunity to be in one physical space a couple of days a week is definitely for us.”

"FOR ME, IT IS ABOUT ALLOWING PEOPLE TO WORK WHERE THEY WANT TO IN A WAY THAT SUITS THEM. IT MEANS I AM BETTER PLACED TO ATTRACT THE RIGHT TALENT FROM WHEREVER THEY MAY BE IN THE UK AND ALLOW THEM TO WORK IN A WAY WHICH SUITS THEIR LIFESTYLE." Lorna Davidson

A study from Microsoft found that working from home reduces creativity, communication, and teamwork. There are also other studies highlighting the potential damage to mental wellbeing caused from the isolation of working from home. Conversely, differing studies have also found that working from home can increase employee performance. As such a complex issue, whether home, office or hybrid working is the most effective form of employment is likely to vary widely amongst companies. But one thing is for sure: in an era where attracting talent is arguably more difficult than it’s ever been, companies looking to scaleup need to find ways to standout. The aforementioned Timewise study also found just 26% of UK job vacancies advertised some form of flexible working, so is this the way to go to bring the surging number of job vacancies down?

HAS THE UK LEAVING THE EU MADE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO ATTRACT TALENT? Brexit has been cited as a reason for last year’s shortage of HGV drivers, along with staff shortages in a plethora of other industries. With Brexit making it more difficult for EU nationals to come to the UK and work, we wanted to learn if scale-up companies had been impacted at all. Bradley Pallister commented: “Not really. We have international clients on our books so, as you can imagine, the UK leaving the EU hasn't had a significant impact on their businesses or on Innovolo's ability to service them.” Talentheads has managed to avoid the wrath of Brexit too, although Sam Spoors says it has affected their talent pool. She said: “No, we have not felt or seen this – for our business or for our partners. The talent pool is definitely not as wide and diverse as it previously was. However, an open mindset on what we need, what we can offer and how we can maximise the talent available to us has allowed ourselves, and our partners, to grow.”

"THE TALENT POOL IS DEFINITELY NOT AS WIDE AND DIVERSE AS IT PREVIOUSLY WAS. HOWEVER, AN OPEN MINDSET ON WHAT WE NEED, WHAT WE CAN OFFER AND HOW WE CAN MAXIMISE THE TALENT AVAILABLE TO US HAS ALLOWED OURSELVES, AND OUR PARTNERS, TO GROW."

Sam Spoors

However, Douglas Dinwiddie said: “It certainly has impacted the recruitment for many businesses, especially in the leisure and hospitality industries, but White Digital hasn’t really been affected just yet.” Conversely, Lorna Davidson explains redwigwam’s experience in the post-Brexit hiring market. She commented: “It’s an interesting question, as we have seen the reduction of EU workers impact some of the roles we are hiring for. We do a lot of work in the warehouse and logistics sector, for example, and it has been more challenging to get some of the people for those roles compared to the same time last year. “That said, we’ve done a fantastic job in recruiting for these roles – we’ve just had to think differently to find the people we need.” Whilst the pandemic has undoubtedly wreaked havoc for companies operating in certain sectors, it is encouraging to learn that there are companies out there who appear to have Brexit-proof recruitment models, at least for the time being anyway.

February/March 2022

SCALE-UP

HOW ARE COMPANIES ADAPTING TO MATCH THE EXPECTATIONS OF POTENTIAL EMPLOYEES? Since the pandemic hit, a change has begun in what employees expect from work. There are people calling for greater work-life balance, others demanding higher salaries in the wake of surging living costs, and others who simply refuse to work in the same way as they did pre-pandemic. So how are scale-ups adapting to the changing expectations of potential employees? Sam Spoors says they are trying to adjust the ways that they used to attract new staff. “It’s all about adapting now - the ‘new norm’ is definitely here,” said Sam. “Potential new employees want to feel individual and appreciated. For many, they want to see their values match with a business over a ‘paycheck’. We’re, therefore, looking at employees based on their skills, experience and fit to our team – and trying to remove the boxes that were historically set out when attracting. “Flexible working, hybrid working, remote working, part-time or condensed hours and also development roles are all now options we consider and encourage our partners to also look at.” Flexibility is also playing a key role for redwigwam. Lorna Davidson said: “Our ethos has always been about flexible working and treating people properly, and that isn’t going to change. “One of the reasons our temporary workforce work for us is they get all the benefits of being fully employed – so holiday pay and access to a pension

scheme, for example – but they get this while working in a totally flexible way. “We are the only business in the UK to pay our staff daily (or they can choose to get paid weekly or monthly), but that means they can work on a Monday and get the money for that shift on the Tuesday.” White Digital is another company where flexibility is valued. Douglas Dinwiddie said: “We were very fortunate (there's that serendipity again) as most of us work on laptops and we use cloud software for the management of the business, so all communications can happen easily, without the need for face-toface meetings. All of this lends itself to flexibility without too many alterations – we are playing into these strengths as much as possible.”

Ultimately, in an ever-changing world, attracting the talent needed to grow a business is not easy, no matter if you’re relying on what’s always worked for you or changing your model to meet new expectations. 

"WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR WAYS TO IMPROVE AND DEVELOP OUR PROPOSITION, BUT WE KNOW THAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT, THEN THE BUSINESS SIDE WILL TAKE CARE OF ITSELF. IT HELPS THAT WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE WHAT WE DO!" Bradley Pallister

For Bradley Pallister, however, there are two key elements that helps Innovolo standout from other businesses. He said: “As we mentioned, it's all about culture and autonomy for us. I know this is quite a cliche, but we're a unique kind of company, so we recognise that our proposition is not something you can simply mirror-image from another business. “Our model requires the implementation of very specific behaviours which are as much driven by how we work, as who we look to recruit. We're always looking for ways to improve and develop our proposition, but we know that if we get it right, then the business side will take care of itself. It helps that we absolutely love what we do!”

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THE UK’S LEADING AWARDS CELEBRATING SCALE-UP BUSINESSES

OPEN FOR ENTRY The Scale-Up Awards are free to enter, and you may enter multiple categories. Entry is open to businesses, entrepreneurs and organisations that are based in the UK and who can demonstrate ‘best in class’ business performance.

ESG and Social Impact Award

Business Leader of the Year

Customer Champion Award

Diversity Champion

E-Commerce Business Award

Employer of the Year

Family Business of the Year

International Business of the Year

Manufacturing Excellence Award

Overall Scale-Up Business Award

Scale-Up Disruptor Award

Scale-Up Entrepreneur of the Year

Sustainability Scale-Up Business of the Year

Technology Scale-Up of the Year

TO ENTER, VISIT SCALEUP-AWARDS.CO.UK Awards Partners

February/March 2022

INDEPENDENT JUDGING PANEL INCLUDES:

Susan Hooper

Mark Nutter

Manjula Lee

John Stapleton

Donna O'Toole

Matt Gubba

Dr Maria Paola Rana

Irene Graham OBE

Touker Suleyman

Douglas Hansen-Luke

Caprice Bourret

Maggie Rodriguez-Piza

Josh Robson

Jackie Fast

Piers Linney

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Guy Rigby

Steve Malkin

Alpesh Patel OBE

ADVERTORIAL

THE FUTURE OF DELIVERIES The ability to get purchases delivered within 15 minutes through an app may seem like the ultimate in service that drives demand, but is that sustainable? Especially given the increasing pressure on delivery businesses and retailers to move to net zero. For companies already struggling to meet current customer demands due to driver deficits and escalating costs, more sustainable operations may seem impossible. How can they investigate new initiatives such as the potential of drones, self-driving robots or electric vehicles when business as usual is a challenge? Andrew Tavener, Head of Marketing, Descartes discusses how to futureproof delivery operations in a world where the future is uncertain. DELIVERY ESSENTIALS & INNOVATION CHALLENGES Consumers transitioned to home delivery extremely quickly through the pandemic. Whilst a lifeline for many retailers, it also created logistical, financial and environmental challenges. The roads are now filled with home delivery vehicles and emissions are rising. With a lack

of customer communication and poor scheduling, expensive redelivery is a frequent occurrence. Empty miles are a financial and environmental problem for anyone involved in home delivery. Consumer demand and expectations for home delivery will remain high. So how do retailers meet the challenge from an economic and environmental perspective? Businesses are trialling new vehicle options in an attempt to cut emissions and increase efficiency. Many are transitioning to Electric Vehicle (EV) fleets whilst others turn towards drones, autonomous delivery robots or peddle power. These innovative options are exciting, but there are concerns such as rising electricity costs, making the decision more complicated. How do you find the right approach that meets current demands and prepares businesses for an uncertain future?

Companies cannot afford to wait for the future to become more defined: they need to meet customer expectations today with the capacity available within their existing fleets. Effective real-time scheduling and routing to optimise available delivery capacity in line with demand is vital. A solution should maximise the performance of the existing fleet but also be adaptable for a future fleets however it is powered. IMMEDIATE CHANGE Companies should take action now, for example, automatically routing EVs into Clean Air Zones or including shorter cycle specific routes for cargo bikes. This maximises the investment and utilisation of the current fleet and any new vehicles being trialled due to the ability to factor in relevant parameters such as electric charging times, range and locations into the routing and scheduling software.

February/March 2022

DESCARTES

Andrew Tavener Head of Marketing Descartes

Telematics can provide insight into the performance of vehicle types and will help inform future fleet strategy, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools will highlight trends in delivery operations. With insight on where deliveries struggle, vehicles are being damaged, or underperforming, fleet managers can gain knowledge of underlying factors impacting performance and emissions to improve contingency planning and inform the mix of vehicles in the future fleet. INSPIRING ACTION Customers look for timeliness and certainty from deliveries and by meeting these expectations, companies can minimise redelivery – a huge financial and environmental overhead. By

providing a choice of dates and times, a customer may opt for a preferable slot, increasing delivery success. Moreover, a solution that can automatically provide an optimised delivery timeslot and/or an option to reschedule can eliminate wasted journeys. Companies can also add greener options with enticing pricing to drive delivery density Finally, there is a growing need for delivery companies to collaborate and use local hubs. It is unnecessary for multiple delivery vehicles to be driving on the same street at the same time. By collaborating, companies can batch deliveries and gain a significant reduction in carbon emissions and improved operational costs. CONCLUSION Businesses are being paralysed thinking about the future and few can predict how this will look. Consumer demand for home delivery is likely to increase,

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presenting more challenges for retailers and logistics providers. Many companies are trying to plan for situations that they are unsure of, while doing nothing to act against existing headaches, adding to today’s instability. The answer is getting a future-proof solution that will be immediately effective, as well as grow and change as the market does. Implementing advanced scheduling and routing software for home delivery operations will maximise efficiency and manage the complexity from having mixed capabilities within a fleet in real-time – crucially, providing benefits that are helpful in the present as well as the future. Businesses must stop letting uncertainty about the future prevent them from doing something relevant now.

For further information, call 01249 477099 or email: info@descartes.com Visit: routinguk.descartes.com

INTERVIEW

‘we want to be the biggest life science recruitment company in the world – and i think we'll make it’

Business Leader recently spoke to David SpencerPercival, the Founder and CEO of Life Science People, a specialist recruiter, about the incredible rise of the company, his blueprint for exponential growth, and the challenges of growing an international brand.

CAN YOU GIVE AN OVERVIEW OF THE COMPANY? We launched in September 2021, just between the lockdowns last year – and since then we've had a phenomenal level of growth. We are now up to 65 members of staff, and we have another 20 joining this month. The business is on course to hit £8m in revenue in its first year, with about £3m worth of fees. In the past, I've had two other recruitment companies that featured in the Sunday Times Fast Track lists, but this one is like a rocket ship when it comes to growth. HOW HAVE YOU ACHIEVED THAT LEVEL OF GROWTH IN SUCH A SHORT SPACE OF TIME? I’ve got a bit of a playbook about how to grow a business quickly. I have done it twice before. I grew my first company from zero to £100m turnover in seven years,

and then did zero to £100m in five years in my last business. So, I've got form when it comes to growth. However, it's also down to the market I am in and not underestimating the power of having the wind behind your sails. We are moving out of a pandemic, with the vaccines and businesses coming back together again. So, there will be a huge uplift in business – everyone is hiring. Life Sciences is incredibly busy working with a lot of biotech start-ups, especially with lots of clinical trials happening at the moment. WHAT SEPARATES YOU FROM OTHER RECRUITERS? Our first USP is that we only do life sciences. Most recruitment companies are involved in a range of industries and are not specialists in certain sectors. Our second USP is that we have hired some experienced life science recruiters for very

specific markets. That has allowed us to win projects incredibly quickly, even though we have no testimonials. That is what has allowed us to get this extraordinary growth. DO YOU THINK THAT APPROACH IS THE FUTURE OF THE RECRUITMENT INDUSTRY? There has been talk for many years of the Uber-isation of the recruitment industry, with all the tech coming in and revolutionising the industry. The problem with technology is that it works in some sectors, but it is difficult to apply in others. AI could read a CV and match it to a job, but when it comes to putting human beings together, an awful lot can go wrong. It is not like you're making a part for a vehicle; you build into it and then sell it. It is about finding the correct candidate for the role within a specific company. Recruitment is a very emotive thing to be

February/March 2022

DAVID SPENCER-PERCIVAL

doing, which is difficult for technology to replicate. HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOUR AREA OF RECRUITMENT? I am incredibly fortunate to be in life sciences, as the pandemic has not had a negative impact. Cont. 

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"OUR FIRST USP IS THAT WE ONLY DO LIFE SCIENCES. MOST RECRUITMENT COMPANIES ARE INVOLVED IN A RANGE OF INDUSTRIES AND ARE NOT SPECIALISTS IN CERTAIN SECTORS. OUR SECOND USP IS THAT WE HAVE HIRED SOME EXPERIENCED LIFE SCIENCE RECRUITERS FOR VERY SPECIFIC MARKETS."

INTERVIEW There are many clinical trials going on, a lot of new technology coming into the life sciences sector, and new innovations coming to market all the time. The level of new tech doesn't really stop. Our market didn't slow down – if anything, we got busier. HOW DO YOU BUILD A FAST-GROWING COMPANY? Well, you need a lot of money. Funding is absolutely critical, because it costs a lot of money to start and grow a business at a fast pace. You find nice offices, as I'm not a big fan of working from home in a sales environment. You then get a couple of headhunters to scope the market to see who's the best in the industry. You then go and hunt them and offer them fantastic packages and shares in a well-funded start-up. Then, once you have your core team of 10 to 15 people, you are going to find a finance team and operations team to cover your HR and facilities, etc. You then launch with an academy of graduates with trainers and scale fast. And you run these academies every quarter, which allows you to get to 100 people relatively quickly from the start-up phase. You can then scale to 500 or 1000 people. It's a machine really. I have now used the exact same method three times and achieved exponential growth each time.

DAVID SPENCER-PERCIVAL WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY IN THE YEAR AHEAD? When we set the business up, there were an awful lot of people looking for a job. Now, every company I know in the world is hiring right now. So, the war for talent is the biggest problem, not the war for business. We are in a candidatedriven market. The world's changed – the graduates that we're hiring now want different things compared to the graduates I was hiring 10 or 20 years ago. They are much more interested in wider societal issues around what your business is doing to promote diversity or help the environment, for example. They want to know about the culture of the business rather than how much money they can get paid. WHAT CURRENT JOB ROLES WITHIN LIFE SCIENCES ARE THE MOST POPULAR? The technology roles within the medical devices industry have been very popular. Due to what has happened in recent years, I think the biotech start-up sector has been incredibly busy. Anything to do with clinical trials has led to a growth in recruitment opportunities, and as a result, we are in high demand at the moment. WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHALLENGES OF GROWING AN INTERNATIONAL BRAND? There are many, but culture is the main challenge to maintain across a global

team. In my last business, we had 15 offices across six continents. For example, America and Asia are culturally vastly different places to run a business. The people that you hire are different, they operate with different priorities really. Also, managing people across time zones is incredibly complicated. We had an office in Calgary, an office in Perth – and the sun never sets on your business – and yet you still need to set and develop a culture. WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS NOW? It used to be money and then it was recognition and success. Now, I just want to build a great business where people are happy working in it. I just love it, and I certainly don't do it for the money anymore. I already have a bathroom full of accolades and awards – even from the Queen, which was a real honour – but I certainly don't do it for all that anymore. WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR STARTING A BUSINESS TODAY? The problem when starting your own business is that everybody has an opinion. I have never read a single business book in my life, I left school at 16 with no qualifications – I go with my instincts. And I am also incredibly single-minded. I don't listen to the noise around me, because when you're trying to build and run a business, there can be only one person running a business. You can't run a business with a group of people moving in all different directions. You must have a single-minded visionary at the front. When it gets bigger, you build a board and get more people involved with decision-making, but you must be able to make decisions and stick by them. WHAT ARE THE FUTURE PLANS FOR LIFE SCIENCE PEOPLE? We want to be the biggest life science recruitment company in the world, and I think we'll make it. So, we are just building our fiefdom here, and we are trying to hire the best minds in the industry and keep building our company. We are opening in Los Angeles and in Boston next year, and then we are opening offices in Switzerland and Germany, which are obviously big pharmaceutical areas. Following this, we will probably head out to Asia. That is my goal for the next five to seven years. I am 50 now, so I think this could be my last rodeo. 

February/March 2022

COMPANIES SET TO TAKE 2022 BY STORM

top 32

companies set to take 2022 by storm With a new year, comes new opportunities, and in this edition of Business Leader Magazine, we are profiling those companies and entrepreneurs who are set to dominate 2022. Whether they are established businesses or emerging forces within their sector, these are the names you need to keep an eye on for the year ahead. HOW HAVE THE TOP 32 BEEN CHOSEN? For each edition, we ask our readership to provide suggestions for our lists. However, if you feel there are others that deserve to be included on this list, then please email editor@businessleader.co.uk and they will be included in the digital version on www.businessleader.co.uk. This list is in no particular order.

Business Leader - Inspire • Inform • Connect

TOP 32

sarah dawson JOII PET CARE (VET-AI) Research and development company Vet-AI recently launched an app – Joii Pet Care – to tackle the rising costs of vet care. Joii Pet Care offers pet owners remote consultations with real vets and nurses via their smartphones. Designed to make pet care accessible and affordable for everyone, Joii is an artificial intelligence app revolutionising the UK and global vet market. Built by a team of experts with cutting edge, bespoke technology, Joii allows pet parents to diagnose and receive recommended treatment for their pets from the comfort of their home, 24/7. During 2021, Joii’s platform reached a record 200,000 pet registrations and the team delivered more than one million minutes of virtual pet care.

julian b. mensah VOLTRIC Voltric has grown their electric vehicle subscription business hugely in 2021, landing manufacturers from Renault to Tesla, but they will be expanding from four brands to over fifteen manufacturers in 2022, beginning with the Kia e-Niro. Voltric’s vision, beyond just electric cars, is set to make huge strides in 2022. They are integrating all forms of mobility into one solution, creating a true MaaS (mobility-as-a-service) platform. This will allow users to have a range of travel options from electric cars, bikes, scooters, and public transport all in one place. Voltric will be undergoing a further funding round to expand on their MaaS proposition this year.

sebastian siemiatkowski KLARNA Over the past 16 years, Swedish fintech firm Klarna has risen to become the highest valued firm in Europe within its industry. With headquarters in Stockholm and Berlin, and more than 4,000 members of staff, the company now has a value of more than $31bn. The company’s core services focus on payment solutions for e-commerce firms across the world – primarily their Buy Now Pay Later facility. Klarna will likely launch their hotly-anticipated IPO in London this year, despite CEO Seb Siemiatowski trying to squash the growing speculation around its future.

paul brown MHI International multi-carrier delivery specialists MHI are looking ahead to another successful year, building on the recent growth of 54% turnover in 2021. The business trajectory enabled the expansion of the team by 50%, creating new jobs at all levels to ensure clients receive the robust host of service offerings they have come to expect. The business continued its investment strategy through inhouse software and R&D teams, which has led to partnerships with eCommerce platforms and distribution hubs globally. A continued drive for excellence, through applied technology and MHI’s flexible pricing structures, is fundamental to the client offering that is delivering growth into 2022.

February/March 2022

COMPANIES SET TO TAKE 2022 BY STORM

vanessa jacobs THE RESTORY Founded in 2017 by Jacobs, The Restory is a fast-growth business based in London, which has created a whole new category by combining the art of craft with the power of technology. As the official global partner for Farfetch, Harrods, Selfridges, Browns Fashion and Harvey Nichols, last year they announced major brand partnerships with Manolo Blahnik and Nicholas Kirkwood. Their ambition is to power aftercare for the global fashion industry worth over $200bn, becoming a key driver for circular fashion. The Restory has seen 200% growth year-onyear since inception, has completed over 50,000 services for clients in the UK and internationally, and has raised £3m to date.

george rawlings & matt mcneill love THURSDAY Innovative dating app, Thursday, has disrupted its sector following a £2.5m funding round in June last year. Offering an alternative to Tinder, Hinge and Bumble, the app is only available to use on a Thursday, and was created to ‘tackle dating app fatigue’. The funding will be used to expand to more metropolitan cities, after its successful launches in London and New York City. They have already had success in Dublin, Cardiff, and Glasgow – with more to follow in 2022.

Vanessa Jacobs The Restory

rachael flanagan MRS BUCKÉT Flanagan is the Founder and Managing Director of the specialist commercial cleaning company. She started the business aged 18 with a mop and a bucket and 1,000 flyers that she spent her last £20 on. 16 years on, Mrs Buckét turns over £4.5m and employs 250 members of staff across Wales and the South West. The company’s 55% year-on-year growth was aided by a major rebrand a year ago, designed to push the company into new territories. The company has acquired 46 new clients and 58 new sites since October 2020, including the prestigious Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bus, and national haulage company, Owens. Flanagan has laid out ambitious plans to increase turnover to £12m by 2025.

Cont. 

Business Leader - Inspire • Inform • Connect

TOP 32

Nick Barthram, Beth Pope, Ian Bates & Sarah Platt Firehaus

joanna swash MONEYPENNY Outsourced answering service Moneypenny is building on its solid foundation, and 2022 will be another year of strong growth, with outsourcing on the rise and call volumes already up by 10% year-on-year in the first weeks of January as companies navigate hybrid working. Moneypenny has seen that, with many employees working from home for extended periods, businesses have reconsidered the need to have their reception and admin staff in-house, and especially as Moneypenny’s technology integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Teams, which can transfer calls through to mobile, office or laptops, meaning staff can work anywhere. Moneypenny has over 1,000 staff globally and currently handles over 20 million calls and live chats for 21,000 businesses. The company has grown rapidly in the last five years, from £19m revenue to a projected £60m this year.

Joanna Swash Moneypenny

February/March 2022

COMPANIES SET TO TAKE 2022 BY STORM

nick barthram, beth pope, ian bates & sarah platt FIREHAUS The Bristol-based brand consultancy works with scale-up companies across the UK to establish them as leaders within their respective industries. They define organisations' underlying strategy, positioning and purpose, create compelling brand identities and narratives, and show how those can be activated through external and internal brand behaviour. They are independent, focussed, and collaborative, and have helped a range of businesses to make the leap from attracting early adopters to much wider audiences, using brand as the catalyst.

grant harris KEEP IT SIMPLE (KITS) KITS is an ethical company established in 2015 from a core of technical, hands-on consultants and engineers looking to provide the highest value IT support and transformation services to public and private sector clients. KITS delivers significant reductions in both the numbers of specialists and overall costs required to provide the IT support demanded by 24/7 businesses. The company was recently sold to AIM-listed Panoply Holdings, enabling it to expand its contract reach and bid for larger projects across the public and commercial sectors.

roger hartshorn GARNALEX Privately-owned company Garnalex has pioneered a compelling range of aluminium window and door products that are transforming the traditional buying experience of fabricators, installers, and homeowners. Derbyshire entrepreneur Hartshorn gathered a team of fenestration experts to design the Sheerline range from scratch. Unprecedented growth of 400% for Sheerline products over the last year will see further investment in a purpose-built manufacturing facility by 2024 and the installation of a new painting plant over the forthcoming year, along with the introduction of new products to the Sheerline range.

maddy phipps-taylor EVA HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES Founded in 2020, Eva resulted from a meeting of minds between Microtest and PUBLIC. Microtest has been an integral part of the UK primary care digital infrastructure for over 30 years. In PUBLIC – a venture capital firm on a mission to transform public services through technology – they found the perfect partner. With Phipps-Taylor as the new CEO, new investors and a refocused strategy, the company is making significant changes to ensure it can deliver its mission to revolutionise the way the NHS engages and supports citizens to live their healthiest lives.

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jan lever mbe JIGSAW EDUCATION GROUP Jigsaw believes in ‘supporting educators today to empower the adults of tomorrow’ and is on a mission to ensure that young people get the best practice approach to personal, social, health and wellbeing. Jigsaw provides structured, teacher-friendly lesson plans and teaching materials for ages 3-16, all based on sound psychology and with evidenced effectiveness. Founded by Lever, she believes that children’s capacity to learn is in direct correlation with their mental and emotional health and that every child deserves the best chance of making the most of their learning opportunities.

jason faichney BANDANAIR Scotland-based Bandanair has designed an ergonomic, multiuse face mask that offers a first-line shield from air-borne bacteria and viruses, pollen, and pollutants to fine dust, VOCs, and carbon dioxide concentrations. Their masks use a blend of antiviral, virucidal, silver-impregnated, activated carbon filters tested by the Health Protection Agency. Bandanair’s ‘killer fabric’ attracts and neutralises up to 99.86% of viruses. The masks, as yet not widely available in the UK, are not classified as PPE or as medical face masks, but will follow General Product Safety Regulations. Bandanair has been thrust unwittingly into the limelight as companies across the globe, keen to get back to work, clamour for information on protective face masks in a sea of ill-informed rhetoric. Cont. 

TOP 32

Steven Bartlett thirdweb

steven bartlett THIRDWEB Previously featured on Business Leader’s front cover and the latest (and youngest ever) addition to BBC TV show Dragons’ Den, Bartlett is the rising star in British business. Alongside his investments in the Den, he runs popular podcast, The Diary Of A CEO, and is an investor/co-founder/NED/senior leader at companies such as thirdweb, Flight Story, ATAI Life Sciences, Catena Capital and Huel.

dominic von trotha taylor IOV42

Dominic von Trotha Taylor iov24

The London-based firm was recently selected as the only UK company to help shape the future of the EU's blockchain services. iov42, which builds blockchain-based identification tools, was selected ahead of global corporates including EY, Vodafone and Deloitte, to become one of seven companies to secure a contract. More recently, the company has launched an application called Timber Chain, which hopes to prevent deforestation and curtail illegal timber sourcing through the use of blockchain and Internet of Value (IoV).

February/March 2022

COMPANIES SET TO TAKE 2022 BY STORM

simon hombersley

Simon Hombersley Xampla

XAMPLA Xampla is a Cambridge University spin-out that has created the world’s first plant protein material for commercial use, pioneering the replacement of fossil fuel plastics with natural alternatives. Xampla’s material performs like synthetic polymers but decomposes naturally and fully without harming the environment. Recently partnering with Gousto, Xampla deployed the world’s-first edible pea protein packaging solution to wrap stock cubes, preserving their flavour and shelf life without any packaging waste from single-use plastic. Other recent applications of its plantprotein material include helping the fragrance industry to transition away from plastic microcapsules, which are set to be regulated under the ECHA microplastics ban.

jonathan gale

Jonathan Gale Sabio Group

SABIO GROUP Two decades ago, Sabio formed in the UK to help businesses better connect with their customers. Today, they bring together the latest digital CX technologies with market-leading expertise to transform customer experience for global companies across 65 countries. As the lines between the contact centre (CC), artificial intelligence (AI) and customer relationship management (CRM) blur – umbrellaed by customer experience (CX) – these ‘CXaware’ organisations need to sit up and take notice of this convergence and the technologies within the market that can help them manage customer interactions while providing end-to-end customer engagement. As individual components, all of CC, AI, CRM and CX are vitally important. But their integration creates a customer engagement ‘sweet spot’ that not many can offer their customers. This is the area that Sabio is aiming to transform in 2022.

john cheney WORKBOOKS Workbooks delivers cloud-based CRM and marketing automation applications to mid-market firms. Its mission is to help businesses operate more successfully, by working consultatively to address their unique challenges and outcomes to help them grow their revenue, enhance customer experience, reduce operational costs, and improve decision-making. Workbooks was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Reading. The team enables hundreds of customers across the world to get closer to their clients and run their businesses more efficiently. The company has also been rated number one for customer satisfaction by G2 for the past six years, and the company plans on growing its operations this year. Cont. 

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TOP 32

ellie webb CALEÑO The Bristol-based non-alcoholic, tropical drinks brand has emerged as an industry-leader in recent years within this emerging market. The range of distilled spirits is inspired by Webb’s ‘motherland’ of Colombia. The award-winning company was initially created after a night out dancing a couple of years ago, and Webb became frustrated with the lack of adventurous non-alcoholic options. Two months after launching, she landed a listing with major UK retailer Sainsbury’s. The brand is now stocked across the UK and available on Amazon. One of the fastest-growing industries in the UK, Webb’s firm Caleño Drinks is one to look out for.

carrie rose & stephen kenwright RISE AT SEVEN The global creative SEO agency, with offices in the UK and USA, has grown by more than 950% since 2019, and following its international expansion, further growth is on the cards for the company. Rose launched Rise at Seven with business partner and company CCO Kenwright, with a vision of using creativity and unbridled drive to disrupt the search industry in the UK. With offices in Sheffield, London, Manchester, and most recently New York, the goal is now to disrupt the US market in 2022 and beyond. With a roster of US-based clients including IG Group, PrettyLittleThing US, Next Vacay, and plenty more, they have already hit the ground running with an existing US team.

richard taylor LUMI For over 25 years, Lumi has been a leading service provider of annual general meetings (AGMs) across the globe. The company powers the meeting success of all the FTSE 100 and over 5,000 companies worldwide, including the likes of IBM, easyJet and Barclays. When the pandemic hit, Lumi helped businesses pivot their approach to AGMs to deliver virtual or hybrid meetings. Lumi not only replicated the in-person experience but enhanced it, with shareholder engagement and attendance doubling from pre-pandemic levels. Lumi believes 2022 will be the year of the retail shareholder, but the challenge for companies is ensuring that everyone who owns shares is offered the opportunity to help shape the future of a business at an AGM. Lumi is set to lead the way in this in 2022.

manjula lee WORLD WIDE GENERATION (WWG) WWG was the brainchild of Founder Lee. In 2016, one person’s determination to create an organisation that would have no other agenda but to unite governments, businesses, civil society, and citizens for the delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was realised. In an early attempt to be an impact fund manager, Lee realised that the timescales of the process, the number of stakeholders to access and manage, and the lack of standardisation in monitoring and measuring financial and impact performance, made the lifecycle of an SDG investment too complex. This discovery was the eureka moment for Lee to leverage the power of fintech. The company now works with over 50 partners and has 15 distribution partners across the globe.

February/March 2022

COMPANIES SET TO TAKE 2022 BY STORM Ellie Webb Caleño

Emma Lawrence Strolleazi

dave wright

emma lawrence

MYZONE

STROLLEAZI

Created in 2011 by fitness industry expert Wright, Myzone, a global manufacturer of wearable fitness tracking technology, has experienced impressive growth since inception and currently serves over 9,000 facilities in 84 different countries, boasting over two million shipped devices. Designed to engage and motivate people to be more physically active, Myzone is used in many of the largest health clubs around the world and has broken into new markets such as elite sports teams, hospitals, schools, universities, and the corporate sector. After a recent £17.2m funding round, the company is looking to scale its operations.

Strolleazi is set to reinvent the parenting industry with a sustainable, modern-day travel system. The brainchild of fintech banker Emma Lawrence, Strolleazi has won an international design award, ahead of the debut launch of its flagship stroller. The company was created after Lawrence became a mother, where she saw how time-consuming, confusing, and wasteful the children’s travel system industry is. So, she swapped the city for the drawing board and designed a new solution. From cuttingedge safety features and integrated electronic safety systems, to sleek engineering and little feet on the wheels that leave iconic footprints, she is set to disrupt the sector this year.

lorena puica

james ashford

SYD (IAMYIAM)

GOPROPOSAL BY SAGE

Founder and CEO Puica has built a world-leading team of scientists, mathematicians, engineers, clinicians, and experts in science-backed preventive health and customised care, that fast tracks progress towards optimal health and quality of life – from childhood to retirement. The firm’s collective mission is to enhance the health and quality of life of one billion people by 2025. Combining big health data, artificial intelligence, genetics and academic research, syd delivers the world’s first sciencebacked recommender engine for end-to-end personalisation – as well as a full stack product for population health management and individualised outcomes-focused health planning.

GoProposal, a major supplier of accounting and bookkeeping software, was recently acquired by Sage, a global provider of finance, accounting, and payroll solutions to SMEs. Founded by Ashford, GoProposal’s pricing, proposal and engagement letter software enables accountants and bookkeepers to price consistently, increase revenue, sell more confidently, and minimise risk across their entire firm. Grown completely organically and driven by a set of core values, philosophies and strategies, the company has established a strong client base with over 1,100 members in the last few years. Now a part of Sage, the company is looking to grow further in 2022. Cont. 

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TOP 32

COMPANIES SET TO TAKE 2022 BY STORM

scarlett allen-horton

irfan khan

HARPER FOX PARTNERS

MMOB

Runner up on the BBC TV show, The Apprentice in 2019, AllenHorton still ended up receiving investment from Lord Alan Sugar for her recruitment business. Harper Fox Partners offer senior leadership talent, and diverse executive employment solutions for the UK and international engineering and manufacturing industries. They are passionate about diverse and inclusive talent attraction with a pinpoint focus in board composition, C-level, executive and director talent acquisition.

Embedded finance specialist, mmob is leading the way in enabling banks and consumer-facing fintechs to offer complementary services that drive customer engagement and revenues. The company’s open finance partnership platform ensures financial services providers can meet increasing consumer demand for simple, holistic, embedded offerings and multiproduct customer experiences. Through its API, operators of banks and digital financial service providers can connect to mmob’s network of third-party partners using just one line of code and rapidly deploy new services.

gaby amiel & paul grimshaw SENNEN TECH Renewables are forecast to account for 95% of new global energy production over the next five years, but rapid growth brings complexity. Sennen understand the challenges and was established to drive transformation in the renewables industry. They created their own cloud technology for firms who are seeking to put data and automation at the heart of their strategy. For offshore wind farm operators, they have developed a modular solution designed to manage marine coordination, work management and safety control through its platform. For infrastructure funds, its software enables asset managers to streamline reporting, improve data quality and manage risk.

hugo tilmouth & charlie baron THEUP.CO Thes two London entrepreneurs pivoted their mobile phone charging business into a successful mobile order and pay app and hand sanitiser network as the pandemic hit, generating turnover of £1m in a month, and have recently secured £7m to support the expansion of their hospitality app. theUp.co has been upgrading hospitality experiences since 2017, developing new solutions to help consumers order, pay and socialise. The finance will be invested in fuelling expansion across the UK and Europe, new hires and building a new ‘super app’ to launch in 2022.

sara prowse & class of 92 UA92

Sara Prowse (CEO) and Co-Founder Gary Neville UA92

UA92 is a ground-breaking higher education institution co-founded by Manchester United's 'Class of ‘92' and Lancaster University. Founded in 2017, UA92 now has more than 400 students enrolled and revenues in excess of £4m. It is committed to making higher education accessible to all, no matter the background, through its founding principles of accessibility, social mobility, and inclusivity. UA92 gives students a clear route into industry by opening the door to leading businesses. Going into 2022, the higher education facility will continue to grow and work with leading industry names including Microsoft, TalkTalk, KPMG and Manchester United. These partnerships mean that students benefit from mentors, guest lectures and work experience opportunities.

February/March 2022

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FAST TRACK

dreaming of success:

how did this tech-focused mattress retailer become an industry-leader? In each edition of Business Leader Magazine, we profile a UK business that is experiencing exponential growth in a feature called Fast Track. This time, we spoke to Yorkshire-based independent retailer, Mattress Online. The company is one of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses and has seen turnover soar to £37.5m in the past year, thanks to a sales surge during the pandemic. Both turnover and profit have increased by more than 200%, and staff numbers have swelled to more than 70. As a result, Mattress Online is now the largest independent mattress retailer in the UK. Based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the company was founded in 2003 and has grown to become an eCommerce leader within the industry.

INSPIRATION AND INNOVATION When the idea for the company was in its infancy, online retail had not hit the incredible levels it currently enjoys today, but Steve Adams, Co-founder and CEO of Mattress Online, saw a gap in the market, and had learnt from his father’s career choices to create a business he was passionate about and could disrupt the industry. He comments: “I was motivated to become an entrepreneur after watching my father complete a 30-year career that he didn't

February/March 2022

MATTRESS ONLINE

particularly enjoy. After graduating with a politics degree at the University of Luton, I worked in sales and tech-related roles, which never left me feeling truly fulfilled. “I admired my dad's commitment and I saw the value of working hard, but I knew that deep down my drive to succeed was very different. “Then, when I was on holiday in West Yorkshire, I found myself sitting next to my now ex-business partner who sold mattresses and who had an idea to sell mattresses online. He thought it would work. He knew where to source the product. I knew how to sell things online. “We launched the website from my bedroom in 2003. We took orders which were dispatched from a third-party logistics provider in Birmingham. We were one of the first retailers to do next-day delivery. There was no Amazon Prime in those days. Things just fell right for us. We felt we could do something different.” Through its innovative and tech-centric approach to an industry that is traditionally focused on bricks and mortar stores,

Mattress Online saw many digital growth opportunities. Adams comments: “We have created an agile business by approaching everything we do like a tech start-up. We’ve created our own bespoke technical platform, and this gives us an enormous amount of control and flexibility throughout the business. Last year, we processed 128,500 orders from over three million website visitors.” TECH-FOCUSED Although commonplace in today’s retail sector, being one of the first in the mattress industry to embrace technology and innovation gave them an initial advantage over the competition. Adams remarks: “Mattress Online has been a digital-first business from day one in 2003, which means that we approach everything with a tech-first perspective. We’ve also invested heavily in digital technology and skills, keeping conversion rate optimisation, user experience and software development in-house to maintain full control.

“Our entire company is based on technology, and as a business that’s now 18 years old, we are constantly evolving and adopting new tech and anticipating trends.” Alongside its eCommerce platform, the company also currently has a traditional showroom store in Rotherham. The technology that helped the company exponentially grow has also been introduced to its in-store operations. Adams continues: “We’ve integrated our award-winning tech into our store, so customers can benefit from our technology, as well as face-to-face customer service. One example of our market-leading tech is seen in our delivery technology, which is seamless between our offline and online platforms. It is ahead of the game, with full tracking, a two-hour delivery window and a pre-call before delivery. “We proactively share learnings from online to our offline store, all our sales teams are proficient in our online offering, making them a natural extension of our store floor offering. We incorporate online product reviews into the sales process on the shop floor and we’ve amalgamated our online finance offerings to our offline customers, giving them the same payment benefits as our online consumers. “One of our most successful integrations is the seamless support from our instore salespeople online. When one of our online customers telephones our call centre, they have the opportunity to speak to a highly-experienced salesperson based in one of our stores, not a faceless call centre reading from a script.” IMPACT OF COVID-19 No matter what technology is available to retailers, none of them have escaped the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. As it was across many sectors, being flexible and adaptable to the new business environment was key to overcoming the challenges all companies were facing. Adams said: “The pandemic has accelerated online trends within retail. Mattress Online’s agile nature enabled us to continue to innovate, adapt, and stay ahead.

Cont. 

Business Leader - Inspire • Inform • Connect

FAST TRACK "I would say that it is this ability to continually evolve and take advantage of unexpected changes in consumer behaviour, with a data-driven strategy, which ultimately separates us from our competitors. “The past 21 months have been challenging, managing rapid growth and quarantined shift patterns due to the pandemic, but the team has risen to the occasion and gone above and beyond.

MATTRESS ONLINE Adams explains: “We’ve grown the business organically since day one, with a focus on reinvesting our profits into supporting innovation and growing our team. These surging profits enable an aggressive recruitment strategy. Last year, we grew our team by 60%, which included welcoming extremely talented colleagues from across the industry who had lost jobs during the pandemic.

“The pandemic posed an enormous challenge to the entire company, from logistical questions such as how the warehouse staff were going to be segregated to how best to protect jobs in the face of uncertainty. For a company that delivers products directly to customers’ homes, the level of safeguarding, staff training and the internal and external communication during the pandemic has been huge. Our staff responded in the most fantastic way and I’m incredibly proud of them.” The company’s strong financial position made the transition a lot easier for the retailer during the pandemic. “In March 2020, when the first lockdown was announced, we examined how long we could go before we ran out of money. But we experienced a sales lift since all other brick and mortar retailers were closed. Some of our suppliers were in a catch-22 situation where they needed cash to purchase materials, and we were fortunate to be able to pay them in advance for our stock – helping them to keep production going and staff employed. This really strengthened those working relationships. “We saw habits change during the pandemic. Customers of all generations are more comfortable about using the internet these days. The pandemic has been a challenge, but it’s also been a period of significant growth and opportunity.” KEYS TO GROWTH Aside from capitalising on the opportunities presented by the shift in consumer habits, there have been some important decisions that have led to the company’s recent success.

“In recent years, we have continued to grow the business around the solid foundations of our new senior team. The team consists of some of the most talented individuals in the industry, who will be able to help take us to the next level. “We have always seen ourselves as a tech business first and foremost, and this has been reflected in the way in which we have managed our growth. Profits are reinvested into implementing the latest technology available to ensure that we are always one step ahead of our competitors, whilst also ensuring that business decisions are ultimately data-driven at their core.” However, the pandemic has created a challenging time for the retail sector – and only those able to quickly adapt to the ever-evolving situation have survived and thrived. Adams continues: “We put customer service at the heart of our service, taking the time to understand and listen to our customers. We carry out extensive consumer research to find out what does well and more importantly, where we need

to improve. We’ve taken steps to develop strong relationships with manufacturers and suppliers, which alongside our agile business model, is what enabled us to meet the rising demand that we experienced during the pandemic, as consumers were no longer able to buy from brick and mortar stores.” MBO Another challenge faced by many entrepreneurs who start a business together, is what to do when they disagree on the vision for the business. Adams went through this and went through an MBO with his Co-founder. He explains: "My previous business partner, Steve Kelly, was ready to retire. Over the previous 16 years, we’d worked side-by-side, but by 2019, we’d realised that we had differing growth strategies. My vision for Mattress Online was to position us as a tech high-growth business opposed to a mattress and bed retailer. With that came a natural transition which has seen change in culture and values, which in some ways makes the ‘old’ Mattress Online unrecognisable. Steve Kelly and I are in regular contact, and he’s really supportive and proud of where I’m taking the business.” FUTURE PLANS Alongside the company’s plan to grow its sustainability offering, over the next five years, Mattress Online aims to acquire and open ten physical stores across the UK. Adams explains: “I strongly feel there is a resurgence of local commerce, with communities supporting local businesses and moving away from out-of-town retail parks. We are strategically investing in developing a brick and mortar portfolio as well as our online offering. Our strategy is to invest in acquiring good quality independent retailers and overlay our data and technology. “We’ve got strong plans for business growth and maintaining a digital advantage is the key to our success and future.” 

February/March 2022

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FEATURE

what can we expect to see in the cryptocurrency world in 2022? Following a blockbuster year for the cryptocurrency markets across the world, Business Leader explores what the future holds for the industry. With Bitcoin being accepted as legal tender for the first time, controversial celebrity involvement, and new ‘coins’ being introduced last year – 2022 is set to accelerate its acceptance and adoption. However, as it is with any disruptive entity, there are often more questions than answers regarding its potential influence on global economies. Following a tumultuous year, and the increasing influence of high-profile entrepreneurs and investors – most notably Elon Musk – there is set to be more disruption on the horizon. Despite the constant volatility, investors swarmed towards the crypto market in 2021, due to greater access to information, more platforms offering opportunities to invest, and new blockchain protocols, which supported more opportunities in the decentralised financial space (DeFi).

At the start of 2021, the value of the global market was $1.49bn, and Allied Market Research reported that it will rise by a CAGR of around 12.8% each year until 2030. However, with such an erratic marketplace, this estimate could be dwarfed by the final total, should market conditions change – and they will. THE YEAR AHEAD With 2021 being such a breakthrough year for the crypto industry, coupled with the known volatility of the markets, it can be hard to predict what might happen in the weeks ahead, let alone several months.

However, that key theme will remain according to Giles Coghlan, Chief Analyst at HYCM. He comments: “Volatility ruled the markets in 2021, and this year I expect to see more of the same. When markets are risk-averse, we can expect to see selling in the crypto market, especially given the fact that this is a newer currency. The market isn’t mature enough to survive major selling, so we may see some flash crashes throughout the year. “Speaking more generally, we can expect crypto to continue making headlines in the year ahead, and in addition to the continued discussion about crypto’s role, I suspect that there will be more calls for the integration of cryptocurrencies when used for purchases. If Tesla owners aren’t buying their cars with cryptocurrency, then who on earth is? “That being said, I believe Bitcoin and Ethereum have been the winners in the industry in 2021, and they should both remain supported in 2022.” Nigel Green, CEO and Founder of deVere Group continues: “We can expect to see increasing interest and demand from institutional investors who came off the sidelines in a significant way in 2021 and we will see this continue this year. In turn, this will drive retail investors to increase their exposure to cryptocurrencies, which will help fuel mass adoption. “I also expect to see cryptocurrencies that are involved with fintech development, such as Ether, Solana and Cardano, are likely to do particularly well in 2022.” Another niche market within the crypto space over the past year has been the rise of ‘meme coins’. However, these might just be a short-lived fad.

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CRYPTOCURRENCY

crypto, especially given its lack of historical correlation to other asset classes. “Finally, DeFi will find greater mainstream adoption, allowing the unbanked and SMEs to access financial services. DeFi products will become more sophisticated and centralised exchanges will help to expand access.” APPEALING TO TRADITIONAL INVESTORS It has often been this unregulated, ‘Wild West’ approach that has failed to appeal to more traditional investors, who instead look to invest in companies and the stock market. But is this starting to change as crypto is rapidly becoming more mainstream? Alpesh Patel OBE, Founder and CEO at Praefinium Partners, provides his analysis. He comments: “In 2022, we will see more coins, more people making a lot of money very quickly, and more people losing a lot more quickly. There will be more coins linked to the Metaverse, DeFi and NFTs – and every fad you can imagine. Basically, where there is noise there is money to chase it. Is that bad? Well, going to Las Vegas is not bad as long as you know you are in Las Vegas. Alexey Kirienko, CEO of Exante, comments: “Without naming any particular coins, meme coins are the ones most likely to remain out of favour as investors realise some of them have near zero use in reallife applications. Some like Doge might be able to bark louder given Elon Musk’s involvement, but any spikes are likely to be short-lived for this group of cryptos.” And as more cryptocurrencies become available, and the already-established ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to grow – there will be growing calls for regulation and a central bank-type institution to monitor the industry. Could this happen in 2022? Martha Reyes is the Head of Research at digital asset exchange and brokerage platform, Bequant. She comments: “This year we anticipate more regulatory clarity and potentially new legislation to fill in the gaps. The market has become a size that authorities can no longer ignore, and politicians are becoming more knowledgeable, with some supporting digital assets. Clarity should be a positive for the industry and could attract

"THERE WILL BE MORE COINS LINKED TO THE METAVERSE, DEFI AND NFTS – AND EVERY FAD YOU CAN IMAGINE. BASICALLY, WHERE THERE IS NOISE THERE IS MONEY TO CHASE IT. IS THAT BAD? GOING TO VEGAS IS NOT BAD AS LONG AS YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN VEGAS." Alpesh Patel OBE

mainstream investors that have been sitting on the sidelines. “In addition to their remit of consumer protection, regulators look at systemic risk. The market cap of digital assets and the total value locked in decentralised finance, while relatively small, is pushing them to act as they can foresee continued growth and integration with traditional finance. Many fund managers, family offices and hedge funds now see the benefit of holding even a relatively small weighting in

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“Equally, are these people buying day one Microsoft? They think they are. Are they wrong? Crypto is like modern art. Some of it will hold value, even though you may think it is worthless junk. Some of it is worthless junk. Is all modern art rubbish? Well, I think Pollock is b*llocks, but some guy in Japan or Saudi Arabia is willing to pay millions for each unit. “With investors today, they don’t know it is just modern art. And like modern art, it causes divided opinions between those who think it is junk and a gamble with no intrinsic value and those who think it is the future of human civilisation. "Volatility does not help. We associate volatility with gambling, of course, and these assets are volatile. And we associate bricks and mortar with safety. So, some of it is a perception problem. Some is reality.”

Cont. 

FEATURE Although there’s a wide range of views over the role crypto will play in the future of business and economies in the years ahead, one of the main detractors for traditional investors taking an interest in the industry is the volatility factor. For example, Bitcoin’s value rose and fell by more than 50% over the year – too risky an investment from investors who may not have as much of a grasp on the industry compared to what they have always known. But is this now changing? Green comments: “Whether it is Bitcoin, or any of the current generation of tokens, or not, cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Meanwhile, financial traditionalists are viewing cryptocurrencies the way traditional stores used to view online retailers such as Amazon. But digital currencies have already forever changed the way the world handles money, makes transactions, does business, and manages assets. The ‘old guard’ is, I believe, finally waking up – as evidenced by Wall Street giants now having crypto operations for their wealthier clients.” Reyes continues: “Some traditional investors see crypto as a bubble. Many have shifted in recent years; particularly successful macro investors and, latterly, venture capitalists have become excited about the space, as demonstrated by record investment levels. Also, the 24/7 nature of the market means traders can run round-the-clock operations in the way they can’t in traditional markets.” WHAT CHANGES ARE NEEDED? Despite the apparent growth in both number and quality of investors into the crypto market, one of the biggest criticisms the industry has faced over recent years has been around the challenges it presents, making it less likely for mass adoption. But what can be introduced to help the industry scale in the UK and around the world? Green said: “What’s needed is a strong regulatory framework to be established

and approved at an international level, as cryptocurrencies are becoming an increasingly mainstream part of the global financial system. This will help protect investors, make the sector itself more robust, tackle cryptocurrency criminality, and reduce the possibility of disrupting global financial stability, as well as offering a potential long-term economic boost to those countries which introduce it.” However, Kirienko disagrees with government involvement: “Any regulation to help protect investor funds and coins from cyber theft is welcome. Otherwise, the less governments meddle in crypto, the better it will be for everyone involved. The whole point of crypto as an asset class is that there is no central authority.” CELEBRITY INFLUENCE One of the main trends and drivers of this interest has been down to the influence of celebrities outside of the traditional investment space. However, much like many other areas of crypto, it is both a benefit and a challenge for those interested in the sector. Coghlan comments: “As with many things in life, this can be a double-edged sword. The higher profile celebrities like Elon Musk add a certain amount of legitimacy to the crypto market. However, this involvement can also cause huge surges in volatility as celebrities back and withdraw their support – we need only look to Elon Musk’s tweets for evidence that this is the case. That said, on net balance, famous investors are good for the long-term crypto market.” But, with celebrity influence and an everevolving market, is this the key to growth? Green said: “Tesla and Space X Founder Elon Musk, Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey, and Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood, amongst many others have all recently advocated for cryptocurrency and talked about its massive future potential. These three alone are some of the most important and forward-thinking business

leaders of our time. What they say matters. The message from mega-influencers is clear: crypto is the inevitable future. “However, investors need to avoid the mass hype and hysteria generated by celebrities. We’ve seen many of these small-scale investors – typically inexperienced, younger people who might not necessarily have the financial resources to be resilient against usually highly speculative and volatile investments – having played a costly game. “If you want the thrill or novelty of shooting for a quick buck driven by social media frenzies, you really should ensure that you have a sound, diversified, long-term plan beforehand. Otherwise, you’re gambling, not investing.” And it is this inexperienced investor that have succumbed to a growing and concerning trend within the industry – the ‘celeb pump and dump’ crypto schemes. Celebrities such as Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather are being sued over allegedly misleading investors to get involved in these cryptocurrency ‘scams’. But what are they?

"SOME TRADITIONAL INVESTORS SEE CRYPTO AS A BUBBLE. MANY HAVE SHIFTED IN RECENT YEARS; PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL MACRO INVESTORS AND, LATTERLY, VENTURE CAPITALISTS HAVE BECOME EXCITED ABOUT THE SPACE, AS DEMONSTRATED BY RECORD INVESTMENT LEVELS." Alpesh Patel OBE

Adam Nasli, Head Analyst at international broker comparison site BrokerChooser stressed: “Pumpand-dump schemes refer to an illegal manipulation technique when an asset’s price is pumped up intentionally by spreading misleading information. When price is increased substantially, the manipulator dumps its shares to the market, causing a significant price drop and leaving other investors left with worthless assets. Pump-and-dump

February/March 2022

CRYPTOCURRENCY

schemes usually target small, barely known assets as the price of these assets can be influenced more easily due to lower trading volume. Also, pump-anddump schemes prefer assets with lower regulation requirements, such as crypto. “Barely known crypto tokens/projects promoted by influencers are most often super risky and end up with big jumps and falls in their prices.

will happen in the future. And in recent months, the industry has struggled. Coghlan explains: “The world is slowly withdrawing from a digitally intensive time, after the initial shock of the pandemic. As Covid-19 eventually moves towards endemic status, will the same enthusiasm for all things digital remain?

"The regulation around this kind of promotion is a grey zone, and the customers should be really careful because the associated risks, like the extremely high volatility, are not highlighted in most cases.”

"This is a question that investors should be asking. Others will be asking whether the concept of Bitcoin as ‘digital gold’ is overhyped. I don’t believe that it is but given that there are thousands of lesser-known cryptocurrencies, we can expect some to fade into the background eventually.”

CHALLENGING TIMES AHEAD? In such a fast-paced market, with constant uncertainty, one of its biggest issues in favour of mass adoption has been that it is almost impossible to predict what

In the United States, efforts are being made to stabilise the market through ‘stablecoins’. These are a type of crypto that derive their value from external assets, such as the US Dollar or the price

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of gold. With the growing calls for a central bank and more regulation, could the future look brighter for the industry? Tammy Da Costa, Analyst at DailyFX continues: “With digital assets now on a downward trajectory, the 2022 outlook appears to be rather pessimistic and the downtrend may still continue for the foreseeable future. "However, central banks are now developing their own digital currencies, which could potentially support prices of more centralised crypto’s, such as Cardano, USDC and other stablecoins. "For the future trajectory of the industry, I believe that the fundamental backdrop and interest rate hikes will continue to be the two primary catalysts for price action, which could see further correction in prices before stabilising." 

CEO IN FOCUS

February/March 2022

KATE BRIGHT

KATE BRIGHT UMBRA INTERNATIONAL As a trained bodyguard and Founder/CEO of secure lifestyle company UMBRA International, Kate has had an interesting career. In her early career, she was a PA to high-net-worth individuals and their families, which is how she came to understand the benefit of robust security and planning. She qualified as an elite bodyguard and protection specialist in 2013, and coupled with her background, this led her to create UMBRA. She spoke to Business Leader about her journey, female entrepreneurship, and what good leadership looks like in a modern company.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER PRIOR TO UMBRA? I left university with a French and Management degree and fell into the world of the personal assistant. In the 15 years that followed, my life was immersed in the world of private and family offices, working for increasingly high-profile and wealthy clients, managing the operations, logistics and lifestyle, underpinned by the security function that I was working alongside. Underestimate any PA at your peril! They are at the right hand of all knowledge – they sit in the position of power behind the throne, and yet the role is still not recognised as the CEO of a business/personal life.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO SET UP UMBRA? For me, the lightbulb moment was undertaking the close protection training. I could see how useful a different approach could be for the modern client in today’s complex world.

It is because of this that UMBRA Select now helps clients hire exceptional personnel – from security to private staffing, we are experts in helping clients find their righthand woman – and we speak and work from a position of deep first-hand experience when we do so.

That was the beginnings of traction in sourcing elite personnel, and from there, friends of former clients would hear through their networks that I was building a methodology that led to the UMBRA Secure Security Concierge that it is today.

In 2013, clients were asking me to work on more client projects and I simply couldn’t divide myself up into small pieces and be in eight places at once. By this point, I had built a network, not only of male but also a few female operatives, where I wasn’t available to leave my day job, and place them in my stead.

Cont. 

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CEO IN FOCUS

"THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR MEN OR WOMEN TO LOOK AT SECURITY AS A CAREER PATH, PARTICULARLY WITHIN CYBER. WE NEED MORE WOMEN TO COME INTO THE PHYSICAL SECURITY INDUSTRY BECAUSE THERE IS DEMAND FOR AN INDUSTRY THAT LOOKS LIKE THE SOCIETY IT PROTECTS." WHAT KIND OF INDIVIDUALS DO YOU WORK WITH? We work with a whole range of clients, from every wealth bracket to every nationality. I particularly enjoy working closely with clients who have built their own businesses and exited, since I am always in a growth mindset. I love seeing how they did it, what they spotted as an opportunity, how they grew and funded it, and what they sacrificed along the way. My greatest professional pleasure is to make all of our clients’ secure lifestyle our priority, enabling them to live an enjoyable yet protected and private life, so they are able to put their wealth to good use. We work with a lot of clients who give incredible amounts of their money away to philanthropy, which is also very inspiring. Most of our international clients will have some sort of UK footprint or need to be here at some stage during a year cycle – whether running businesses based here, having family and children at UK schools or being a resident here. They are all united by their focus on working

with the best people, advice and project management that can keep them safe today and tomorrow. WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF BEING A WOMAN WITHIN THE INDUSTRY? Embrace difference! I’m an Irish/Bavarian grafter who has grown up with, and been surrounded by, professionally incredible male role models and never really thought of the challenges along the way, other than the self-imposed ones where, from time to time, I will realise the significance of what we’ve done. I’ve always faced a ‘no’ – whether based on gender stereotype or any other reason – with finding a workaround, but I like a challenge!

I’ve enjoyed becoming an advocate for the younger generation coming into the industry. There has never been a better time for men or women to look at security as a career path, particularly within cyber. We need more women to come into the physical security industry because there is demand for an industry that looks like the society it protects. Being one of the 5.75% of women in close protection is both a privilege and also a baseline statistic that I want to shift, not least of which because the clients are asking for it. In my TEDx Talk – ‘Can Women Protect Men?’ – I talk about the need for us to think about the bigger picture and encourage more women to break the stereotypical mould and understand why different layered skills are so important to deliver top-quality protection. WHAT MAKES A GOOD LEADER IN BUSINESS? A lot of our clients lead businesses with thousands of employees that are shaping the world we live in today. The traits of a team leader in close protection to the most high-profile business client we work with currently, in my opinion, are the same: authentic, professional, and empathetic. The pandemic has inspired me to look at my own leadership style in more detail and understand how to lead others more effectively. I’ve never really felt like a ‘leader’, which I think keeps my style fairly humble, preferring to encourage a flat open culture, where I take ultimate responsibility, but all ideas are listened to. I am a huge believer in not asking those around you to do things you have not, and cannot do yourself. I like to empower those around me to be intrapreneurs, bring fresh ideas and creativity, and I am always on a mission to hire better and bolder skills around me to keep me on my toes and ensure that I am the least qualified in any room. I think some of the leaders I look to in today’s business world are similarly minded. Knowing my faults,

February/March 2022

KATE BRIGHT

being open about them and working on them didn’t come easily to me, but I now realise it's not a weakness, it's a necessity to prevent things from going wrong. HOW HAS FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EVOLVED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS? When I left university, there was little in the way of visible inspiration. There are now more collective mindsets through endeavours such as The Women's Chapter, Al Johara, and the other networks that I am a part of that support women in business. My experience of entrepreneurship is a little different, in that I don’t consider myself to be one. I find it an uncomfortable word that doesn’t sit well with me.

I’d like to see a world where my nieces and their peers are not ‘female entrepreneurs’ if they choose to develop ideas into something commercial. They are simply entrepreneurs, and we have developed enough pathways for those that choose to take things to the next level, but "WE NEED TO STOP that they understand what is involved in the process of raising capital. LOOKING AT WOMEN AS

A MINORITY GROUP. WE ARE 51% OF THE UK’S POPULATION AT THE LAST CENSUS COUNT, WE ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE ENGINE OF BUSINESS THAT IS POWERING THE ECONOMY."

I’m still baffled as to why in 2022 so little funding goes to women-led businesses, since I seem to be around so many brilliant founders. There is still a disconnect around the networks you need to actually raise investment versus all of the options available to women in business. We need to stop looking at women as a minority group. We are 51% of the UK’s population at the last census count, we are an important part of the engine of business that is powering the economy.

We need to encourage boys and girls from whatever situation they are born into that entrepreneurship is not an elitist concept, and that you can be an intrapreneur in your daily work, if you’re in the right organisation that fits your skills and passion. WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE GOALS FOR THE BUSINESS? Our first global footprint step, outside of the UK, was our Geneva office partnership. I would love to continue the expansion to create the same in the US, Middle East, and other places where our clients are living and working.

We are currently looking at raising investment for more secure lifestyle resources to be available to a wider audience. Finally, I am committed to UMBRA leaving a lasting legacy. 

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FEATURE

FOUR-DAY

WORKING WEEK: FARFETCHED OR FEASIBLE?

The idea of a four-day week is nothing new, and with companies across the UK opening themselves up to more flexible ways of working in recent times, more businesses have been considering whether they should drop down to four working days. However, doing so means changing long-established working practices and for some, change isn’t always a good thing. So, Business Leader investigated if other UK companies had plans to make the change. ATOM BANK MOVES TO A FOUR-DAY WEEK With the pandemic leading to the rise of home/hybrid working, employers across the UK have been re-evaluating what is the best and most productive way for them to conduct business. So, many will feel it’s only a matter of time before discussions of a four-day week become more commonplace. Iceland successfully trialled a four-day working week in a study that lasted from 2015-2019, and included more than 2,500 workers. However, it took two years until a large UK company made the change, with retail bank Atom Bank moving to a four-day working week in November 2021. Dr Jonathan Lord, HR expert for the University of Salford Business School, thinks other companies may follow Atom Bank’s move. He comments: “The uptake of this type of policy comes on the back of a review into the UK workplace, which found a four-day working week could become the new norm because of enforced changes during the pandemic. The Chairman of the Flexible Working Taskforce, Peter Cheese, believes the UK should move away from the nine to five culture to embrace flexible and balanced working. “For Atom it does sound like a positive move, although it is only a reduction of three hours work per week and raises the question does this type of policy really support the employee as well as impact positively on the organisation’s performance?” But Charles Cadbury, the CEO and Founder of Say It Now, is hopeful that Atom Bank’s move will prompt companies to discuss making such a change. He says: “Hopefully it will stimulate discussion around working norms. These ‘norms’ have all been tested recently and we’re trying to find our feet again on shifting sands. I don’t believe a one size fits all approach works with all companies; a significant change to working practices relies on maturity of organisational culture, trust of employees and communication of purpose.”

"THE UPTAKE OF THIS TYPE OF POLICY COMES ON THE BACK OF A REVIEW INTO THE UK WORKPLACE, WHICH FOUND A FOUR-DAY WORKING WEEK COULD BECOME THE NEW NORM BECAUSE OF ENFORCED CHANGES DURING THE PANDEMIC." Dr Jonathan Lord

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FOUR DAY WEEK

“It feels easier to comprehend that working less hours and days can produce better quality output for those doing cognitive work, but for those doing physical tasks, the benefit vs cost might be trickier to see.” Lauren Thomas, EMEA Economist at Glassdoor, also agrees. She comments: “In the current working environment, a four-day workweek isn’t possible in every industry. For instance, in some industries that base their hours on when most people work, like education or childcare, a four-day working week is only realistic if the rest of society sees a major shift towards this business model.

VIABILITY Charles' comments bring to light an important consideration of a four-day working week, which is whether such a model would work in every industry. He continues: “This is a question of company output. The studies in Iceland suggested that giving people three days off per week yielded similar or increased efficacy on their four working days. Would this work in manual labour or minimum wage jobs, or is this outcome the preserve of the knowledge worker? I’d suggest it’s the latter.”

Alan Furley, Director at ISL Recruitment, concurs: “I don’t think it’s an option for all. Some of us have enjoyed the chance to work at home, at a co-working space, or on the beach, but for those in industries such as retail or manufacturing, that’s not been so easy, and the same applies for a four-day week. “How will your customers feel if they can’t get a response on a Friday because your workforce has adopted a Monday to Thursday routine? What about when your competition is responding five days a week?

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“In other industries, the practicality of switching to a four-day working week depends on whether the week under discussion is a 32-hour (eight hours per day for four days) or a 40-hour (10 hours per day) work week. Some work, like many skilled or manual labour jobs, would be difficult to accomplish in fewer working hours and would require longer shifts if fewer days were the norm, unless productivity in that industry improves. “Other work, such as roles in tech, could be well-suited to a 32-hour working week, particularly if workers chose to cut time previously spent in unproductive meetings or ‘busy work’.” Cont. 

FEATURE PROS AND CONS OF A FOUR-DAY WORKING WEEK According to new research by Nucleus Commercial Finance, 17% of SME business leaders are considering introducing shorter working hours to improve productivity. However, Lauren Thomas believes productivity can go either way with four-day weeks. “A four-day working week can offer better work-life balance, reduced costs for both the employee and employer, lower attrition and a decreased likelihood of burnout, thanks to more time outside of work, particularly during the daylight hours — which is particularly important in the British winter,” says Lauren.

FOUR DAY WEEK Charles Cadbury believes there are other benefits, but one key consideration is essential for realising them. He says: “On one hand, you would expect reduced absenteeism, increased engagement and performance at work – as long as long-term purpose and KPI’s are well set up and well measured. “On the flip side, as with any employer/ employee engagement, if there is not a clear company vision and articulation of the role to be played to achieve that, no number of employee benefits will get the most out of the individual.”

“Potential cons include longer working hours and an uncertain impact on productivity. Companies who have switched to four-day weeks are more likely to be predisposed to flexible working and their success is not necessarily indicative of the wider workplace.”

“Other advantages include a more equal workplace as those with caring responsibilities may be able to navigate a more flexible working arrangement, improved employee engagement as well as a reduced carbon footprint. “Not all companies will be able to adopt a four-day working week, however, as it could affect customer satisfaction, which many organisations rely upon and have to provide a clear and consistent approach to. “The other issue is that many organisations and their employees confuse the concept with compressed hours. A four-day working week should reflect a notable reduction in working hours, otherwise it can negatively affect productivity and engagement, as it can be viewed as just the same number of hours in a shorter number of days.”

“We also need to be cautious. There’s a danger that good intentions of improving wellbeing via a four-day week leads to increased burnout because people work crazy hours Monday to Thursday only to arrive exhausted on Friday. If businesses can get this right, it should be an immensely powerful retention tool.” THE IMPORTANCE OF PRODUCTIVITY Lauren Thomas believes that employment contracts and productivity have important roles to play. She comments: “Currently, there are no legal barriers to adopting a four-day working week, although many employment contracts would have to be rewritten to adapt to this new norm. The Scottish government has voted to trial a £10m program to help companies make the switch, which other governments could adopt as well.

Dr Lord believes it has its advantages but has some doubts too. He comments: “Stanford University has researched the relationship between hours worked and productivity, which revealed a clear correlation with overworked employees being less productive than employees working a normal working week.

“There’s been policy changes to help adoption of flexible working, and more in this area will help,” says Furley. “Practical assistance on how to change employment contracts, how to calculate updated holiday allowances, and how to treat part-time work – these are all areas that we had to work on as we moved away from a five-day week.

SO, WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FOUR-DAY WEEK IN THE UK? Clearly, there appears to be potential benefits of a four-day working week. But as this working model may be unsuitable for every company, we were curious to learn what would be needed for it to be implemented effectively. Charles Cadbury comments: “A change in attitude from master/servant relationships between employee and employer and working environments where outcomes from each individual are clearly understood. When this is in place, it really doesn’t matter how long, when, where or how people work as long as they do their part to achieve the ultimate goals of the organisation. This is how I think things should be set up.” Furley, however, believes adjustments may aid the adoption of four-day working weeks.

“Finally, companies and employees would need to show they could maintain and even enhance productivity with a four-day working week.” Dr Lord comments: “Iceland’s four-day week trial was deemed successful and led to many workers moving to shorter hours, as the study concluded that productivity remained the same or improved in the majority of workplaces. “This study, however, only targeted public sector workers and still raises the issue of traditional private and voluntary sector organisations being able to practicably implement this type of policy.” Although a shorter or more flexible working week might sound farfetched to some, as home and hybrid working continues, and other companies potentially follow Atom Bank’s lead, are business leaders running out of time to resist re-evaluation of their long-established working practices? 

February/March 2022

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IPOS

IPOs on the horizon With a new year, comes new opportunities for businesses across the UK (and beyond) to kickstart their growth plans for 2022. However, some companies will be making headline news in the year ahead by launching their initial public offering (IPO). Across the globe in 2021, IPOs raised a record $594bn – with companies like Deliveroo, Bumble, Roblox, Coinbase, Robinhood and Rivian all making the headlines. With 2022 rumoured to eclipse last year’s total raised through IPOs, Business Leader has profiled four companies you should keep an eye on.

monzo Speculation is growing that British online neo-bank Monzo will be launching its IPO in London later this year. In 2020, the company reported revenues of £67.2bn, giving it a valuation of more than £2bn – therefore, achieving ‘unicorn’ status. However, company CEO TS Anil did announce last year that he believed the company was undervalued and that Monzo would be worth a lot more following its listing. In December 2021, Monzo raised over £371m funding – increasing its valuation to £3.3bn. No official launch date has been revealed.

starlink Starlink is a part of Elon Musk’s SpaceX business and is known for providing high-speed internet access via its extensive range of satellites, totalling more than 1,000. There have been increased rumours in recent months of an IPO happening this year, after Musk tweeted a cryptic response to speculation that SpaceX would always remain private last summer. He later stated that he would consider taking Starlink public once cash flow becomes ‘more predictable’. Currently, the company has revenues of around $30bn and a reported valuation of more than $42bn.

Instacart Instacart is one of the most popular grocery delivery and pickup services in the US and Canada. The company has built a complex logistics system that includes agreements with more than 400 retailers covering more than 30,000 stores. The network is available to around 85% of households in the US and 80% in Canada, and can be accessed via a website and mobile app. Instacart is valued at $39bn, and at IPO, could be valued at around $50bn. Many experts expect its flotation to take place in early 2022, after it was initially planned for late last year.

Databricks Databricks is a data and AI start-up that has developed software to quickly process big data and prepare it for analysis. The company has a client base of over 5,000 customers, including high-profile clients such as CVS Health, Comcast, Condé Nast, and Nationwide. The company raised $1bn in its latest funding round in February 2021 and is currently valued at $28bn. The company could be valued between $35-50bn if its IPO launches. Experts are comparing its potential launch to Snowflake, who in 2020, launched the largest software IPO in history.

February/March 2022

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