The Informer - April 2019

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Member in the spotlight

The rise of cybercrime

Dirk Jan Dokman, co-founder of CX Company, on the vast potential of the UK market

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How protected is your company’s financial data from the rising number of cybercriminals?

I n f o r m e r Issue 26

April 2019

theclubhouselondon.com

2019

MEMBER SURVEY

Despite economic uncertainty, our members are optimistic and their businesses are growing

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Meet. Work. Grow.

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INTRODUCTION

ADAM BLASKEY FOUNDER & CEO The Clubhouse

W e l come The mornings and evenings are now getting brighter – unquestionably something that is likely to improve the moods of many against a backdrop of economic uncertainty fuelled by the way that our MPs have handled Brexit over recent months. The latest CBI Growth Indicator highlighted the fourth consecutive month of no growth in activity amongst those in the services, manufacturing and retail sectors as economic and consumer confidence has been weakened as a result of Brexit negotiations. However, more recent reports from the Bank of England suggest that growth is expected to have returned in the first quarter as businesses have braced themselves for a no deal and Brexit fatigue set in.

In The Informer this month, we reveal the results of our annual member survey and are very grateful to everyone who contributed. Of our membership base, over 68% are C-Suite

leaders and a further 17% are in senior management, therefore representing 85% of all members of The Clubhouse. 63% of members’ companies have been in business for five years or longer, so we believe that we are equally well positioned to report on the true state of business confidence amongst the 600 companies which are members of The Clubhouse. Despite many members echoing the CBI survey in terms of concerns over the economy, they also mirror the Bank of England’s findings pointing towards growth: 78% feel positive about prospects for their business, 66% have hired additional staff over the past year and 77% expect to hire more people over the coming year. And this is just what we would have hoped to hear from some of the most ambitious, tenacious and visionary business people in the UK. Please turn to page 4 for further details about who

our members are and how they are feeling.

We have some great events coming up after Easter: on Tuesday 30 April, we will be hosting a business growth workshop at The Clubhouse, Bank following which you and your team will leave with a range of tools to help make the right decisions and drive growth when it comes to people, strategy, execution and cash. That evening, at The Clubhouse, St James’s we look forward to welcoming Charlie Bigham as our guest speaker. Charlie is founder of Charlie Bigham’s, one of the UK’s fastest-growing, upmarket food brands, which turns over in excess of £50m per year. Finally, on Wednesday 1 May, join us for our members’ breakfast to get the best brand strategy tips courtesy of members Mimo, who have worked with brands such as Gu and Bombay Sapphire to organisations such as Nestle and ITV.

THE CLUBHOUSE P R O D U C T I V I T Y T I P #26

Whether in calm times or stressful times, think about the team dynamic you want to build over the long term to ensure that how you respond under pressure doesn’t affect morale or motivation.

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ALWAYS BEHAVE THE SAME

DESIGN & ART DIRECTION

Christian Gilliham_christian@cgcreate.co.uk_07951 722265

To partner with The Clubhouse or promote your business in The Informer please email adam@theclubhouselondon.com Copyright. The Clubhouse London Ltd

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2019

MEMBER SURVEY

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

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A recent survey of The Clubhouse members showed that, despite the country’s economic and political uncertainty, when it comes to their own businesses, confidence and positivity persist

ver 165 business leaders who are members of The Clubhouse recently completed a survey to give us a detailed understanding of our membership base, their views, strategies and confidence, their future plans and their changing work force.

Understanding what people at the heart of both fast-growing and established companies perceive and experience in their day-to-day working lives gives us a clear indication of the true business climate we are operating in, beyond the scare-mongering headlines.

Here is an overview of our member demographics, how their businesses are performing and their views on the future: Over 68% of our members are C-Suite leaders and a further 17% senior management; these two groups make up 85% of our members.

70% of our members are aged 40 or older.

39% 50+ 31% 40-50

68% C-Suite

19% 30-40

17% Senior Management

11% Under 30

14% Middle Management 1% Administrative 1/3 of The Clubhouse members are women

63% of our members’ companies have been trading for more than 5 years.

66% of members polled have employed additional staff over the past 12 months.

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YE

46% 1-5

48% of members polled have a negative outlook for the UK economy over the next 12 months while another 32% are unsure about the year ahead.

POSITIVE

NEUTRAL

NEGATIVE

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20%

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9% 26-50

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13% 6-10

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9% 11-25

7% 51-100

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15% 100+

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31% of our members’ companies employ over 25 people

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A

D

IN

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16% 1-2 Years

F . O

21% 2-5 Years

28% 5-10 Years

NO

35% 10+ Years

77% of members polled expect to employ more staff in the next 12 months.

69% of members are yet to see any specific impact from Brexit, claiming the impact so far had been neutral.

Despite this, 78% feel positive about the prospects for their businesses.

7%

32%

78%

69%

48%

24%

Meet. Work. Grow.

16%

6%

MEMBER STRAPLINE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

DIRK JAN DOKMAN CO-FOUNDER CX Company

Lea din g the ch a tb ot con ve rsa t io n Tell us about your company.

CX Company have been innovating and developing enterprise intelligent assistance and chatbot technology for over 14 years.

We operate in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands and deliver our chat bots in 22 languages all over the world.

I am proud to say we handle over four million interactions a day for some of the world’s leading brands, improving customer satisfaction, increasing conversion rates and saving huge amount of costs.

What has been your biggest success?

I have built and sold two business in the past. However, now having CX Company active in four countries and growing, I truly believe that the journey towards success is more interesting than the success itself.

Which projects excite you right now?

Unlike the Netherlands, the UK is often slow to adopt new technologies; however, when you do, you run fast and push the boundaries quicker. So for me, we are working hard to take the vacant market leader position in the UK. This means we are having some brilliant (human) conversations with some incredible brands at a senior level. The potential in the UK is vast, so it is truly exciting.

Probably, best not to mention Brexit at this stage, which as a Dutchman is making interesting watching!

How has being a member of The Clubhouse contributed to the success of your business?

I like to have a very energetic working environment and The Clubhouse definitely creates that. Being in central London is very convenient for me and our team, as I am living in the Netherlands and our team lives across the UK. Our clients and other contacts love to visit us in one of The Clubhouse locations.

Where can members find you?

Every Monday we are downstairs at The Clubhouse, St James’s. If you hear a guy talking English with a strong Dutch accent (which I have failed to get rid of), it is probably me. cxcompany.com

Unlike the Netherlands, the UK is often slow to adopt new technologies; however, when you do, you run fast and push the boundaries quicker. So for me, we are working hard to take the vacant market leader position in the UK

theclubhouselondon.com

QUICK-FIRE ROUND

Favourite place to go in London?

So many favourite places: breakfast at Daylesford, Notting Hill; lunch at the sushi belt at Kulu Kulu (near The Clubhouse, St James’s); dinner at Rambla in Soho. And going to a jazz concert in Ronnie Scotts or a classical performance in Wigmore Hall.

This is what I love about London, a place for every mood.

Who inspires you and why?

Looking at Fynn, my 1½-year-old son, how he looks at the world full of excitement, positivity and curiosity. As adults, we should try to look in the same way at the world we are living in.

Best bit of advice you’ve been given?

Hire people who are smarter than yourself.

If you were on a desert island, what would you bring?

I hope the desert island is big enough to bring my racing bike.

Which super power would you like to have?

Mind reading.

What is the worst business ‘faux-pas’ you’ve committed?

Talking with an Englishman and thinking that the man was really interested when he said “interesting”.

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FUTURE EVENTS

The Clubhouse

The Clubhouse

ST JAMES’S

HOLBORN CIRCUS

An evening with Charlie Bigham, founder of the UK’s fastest-growing upmarket food brand

MEMBERS’ BREAKFAST The top 10 brand strategies to grow your business

TUESDAY 30 APRIL 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm FREE FOR MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS/£25 FOR NON-MEMBERS Inspired by his travels and love of cooking, Charlie set up shop back in 1996 with the sole aim of creating really delicious dishes for foodies that they could pop in the oven and instantly enjoy, putting in all the care and attention you would if you were to cook them yourself. Using top-quality ingredients, Charlie’s goal was to help people steal back some quality time by doing all the prep for them. Despite stiff competition, the eponymous brand has managed to convince consumers to spend an extra £5 on meals compared to own-label supermarket options and today Charlie Bigham’s is the UK’s fastest-growing, upmarket food brand with sales of over £50m.

SA V E T HE DA TE

Charlie Bigham

WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 8:00 am - 9:30 am FREE FOR MEMBERS AND THEIR GUESTS/£25 FOR NON-MEMBERS Growing young businesses can be hard.

Marketing has a key role to play, but the world of marketing is increasingly complex. Who to market to? What to say? How to stand out against the competition? Where to be seen? How much to spend? What to measure? If you’re an ambitious business builder, join us as we share the 10 marketing insights that make the biggest impact on business performance. Mimo Brands will be drawing on their experience of working with over 120 brands – from Gu and Nestle to Bombay Sapphire and ITV – to share the secrets of the perfect brand strategy.

HOW TO BOOK: VISIT THECLUBHOUSELONDON.COM OR ASK AT THE FRONT DESK

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BUSINESS GROWTH WORKSHOP Bring your leadership team for an information-packed, half-day workshop where you will create a road-map to confidently scale your business growth in 2019 and beyond.

Gain the Rockefeller Habits 2.0 tools and strategies you need to align, accelerate and advance your business, and prepare to make the most of the four critical decisions every business leader must get right to maximise their revenue, profit and time. This workshop will teach you the relevant tools for making the right decisions to drive growth in the areas of people, strategy, execution, and cash.

TUESDAY 30 APRIL, 8.30AM-12.30PM THE CLUBHOUSE, BANK

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RESTAURANT

PRIVATE SALE YOU’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER WARDROBE!

BOISDALE

It’s that time of year again. Private Sale is coming to Bicester Village, the luxury shopping destination just one hour from London that is home to more than 160 boutiques including Bally, Belstaff, Dunhill, Hackett, Paul Smith, Tory Burch and more.

As a member of The Clubhouse, you can unlock additional savings of up to 20%* in participating boutiques from 19 April to 6 May 2019.

To receive your unique Private Sale code, simply register at BicesterVillage.com/ private-sale-clubhouse

Boisdale is a family of critically acclaimed, great British restaurants, providing an eclectic environment celebrating the very best of Britain’s heritage through food, drink and music. With sites in Belgravia, Mayfair, Canary Wharf and Bishopsgate, the restaurants have a unique atmosphere in which to enjoy one of the world’s leading whisky collections and exceptional wine.

Also retailing some of the world’s best hand-rolled Cuban and vintage cigars, each Boisdale restaurant features a bespoke humidor. Visit The Clubhouse website’s members area for exclusive benefits.

*Reduction is applied to the Village price 19 APRIL-6 MAY BICESTER VILLAGE, OXFORD, OX26 6WD

Meet. Work. Grow.

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BOISDALE.CO.UK

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CYBERCRIME

The relentless rise of financial cybercrime

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n recent years, political cybercrime has repeatedly made headlines. Yet, amid a series of sensational stories, the media has largely overlooked a simultaneous surge in a potentially far more damaging global threat: financial cybercrime. In the UK, the latest annual Crime Survey for England & Wales recorded 515,000 reported cybercrimes in the year to July 2018 involving “unauthorised access to personal information”.

The total number of attacks may well be substantially higher, given the underreporting of cybercrime.

Businesses and the wider public have not woken up to the danger posed by financial cybercrime. “Unlike a physical disaster, people find it hard to conjure up the image of a cyber attack on their computer,” says Joe Hancock, head of Mishcon de Reya’s cyber-security consulting team. Firstly, it is not true that cybercriminals primarily focus on large multinational companies. In fact, estate agents, convenience stores and a host of other high-street businesses with high transaction volumes are very tempting targets for hackers, as is anyone who shops on the internet or does their banking online. Secondly, it is also untrue that most cybercriminals are highly sophisticated tech wizards. It is easy for a crook to buy do-it-yourself cybercrime toolkits from an international underworld economy.

“Access to software packages that allow

Cyber attacks on companies are soaring and executives must upgrade their tech skills to understand the threat criminals to penetrate corporate networks is readily available on the internet,” says Jason Davison, vice president of IT Service & Security at KLDiscovery. “The emergence of ‘darkweb’ malware market places and cybercrime-as-a-service (CaaS) offerings have greatly increased the ability of even novice hackers to gain access to cybercrime tools.”

In some cases, cybercriminals need

little more than nerve and a plausible phone manner to steal confidential financial data from individuals and businesses, merely needing to dupe them into revealing their bank details by convincing them on the phone that they are speaking to the bank’s anti-fraud department. Chasing the money is often an impossible task for national police forces because of the borderless nature of data.

Within seconds, the original theft can span several national jurisdictions with different regulatory regimes.

For individuals, the rules of defence against cyber attacks are straightforward: devise obscure passwords, change them frequently and hang up if a caller pretends to be a bank’s anti-fraud officer. For companies, the challenge is more complicated. It is not just that routine tasks such as changing unique passwords are often not performed properly when repeated across multiple departments and databases. “Many senior executives I meet need to upgrade their tech skills in order to understand the true threat their businesses face from financial cybercrime,” says Hancock.

“Companies can’t hold their tech departments to account when an attack occurs if they don’t know the right questions to ask.”

The lesson for companies is that cybercriminals exploit human weakness in the boardroom as much as in the home. ● mishcon.com/cyber

In some cases, cybercriminals need little more than nerve and a plausible phone manner to steal confidential financial data from individuals and businesses

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