IoD Annual Convention 2015

It was an enormous honour to have received invites to such a prestigious event as the Institute of Directors 15th Annual Convention. The Director General, Simon Walker, an incredible man, very, very kindly invited us as his personal guests - it became a date in the diary that we've been looking forward to since all summer! 

At this point we had no idea who was on the line up. As soon as we heard that we'd be hearing from Anya Hindmarch, Sir Charlie Mayfield, Lord Mandelson, Lord Lawson, Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE, Matt Brittin, Simon Stevens, Richard Scudamore, David Miliband, Josh Lewsey and Ian Ritchie, it's fair to say that our excitement went up a few notches! 

The event ran all day, with around 1,000 people attending in the glorious Royal Albert Hall.

The topics ranged from evolving business philosophies, the impact of technological change, how banks can regain trust, the future shape of boards, barriers to growth and future risks, and what the next era of growth and innovation will involve. 

The IoD's main mission for the day, was to leave us Directors feeling inspired, revitalised and passionate about our jobs and roles within the business community. IoD - you did just that, in spades!

After Simon's welcome speech, the day was kicked off with a political debate between Lord Lawson and Lord Mandelson: Are we best in or out of the EU!

Following with a different kind of politics was David Miliband, now President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. His organisation's work was not only eye-opening but also very moving. 

As keen rugby fans, we were especially excited to hear what Josh Lewsey, former Rugby World Cup 2003 winner and Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive of the RFU, thought about what rugby and business can learn from each other. The answer - quite a lot!

The final speech before lunch was Matt Brittin from Google. He made us all think when he said: "The 'www.' is what we want, where we want, when we want". 

In between the incredible panels and discussions, we got the lunch box of all lunch boxes! 

The Albert Memorial in Hyde Park was turned into an IoD lunch box central, so uniformed it could have been a commercial! 

Topped up on food and wine, we took full advantage of BMW's showcase! May have climbed into a couple and got carried away...! 

Best of all, we got to spend our lunch break with one of our business dad's, the absolute babe and truly amazing Paul! 

Food and car time over, we couldn't wait to head back in where our favourite conversation of the day was waiting for us - a conversation with the one and only, incredible, amazing, role model, Anya Hindmarch! 

 

Lady Barbara Judge OBE, IoD Chairman spoke passionately about the role of women in the work place, something that both of us could strongly relate to, being in a very female industry!

  

Wrapping up, serial world record breaker and one of the world's greatest explorers Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE, took to the stage. Who knew he was actually a stand up comedian! He had the entire Royal Albert Hall in stitches, recalling his many adventures, with incredible true British dry, sarcastic humour - his talk about 'Business beyond Boundaries' put many things into great perspective - what an honour it was to hear of his many, inspirational and courageous adventures! 

 

All in all, the day left us with a sense of British pride and pride in the people that lead us in terms of business, politics, retail, science and knowledge. We are truly lucky to have such leaders in their industries! Thank you, to Lady Barbara Judge OBE, Simon Walker, Jimmy Mcgloughlin and the whole team at the Institute of Directors and the Royal Albert Hall for such a memorable, and fantastic day. 

Telegraph Festival of Business

We were very privileged to be invited to The Telegraph Festival of Business this morning at London's The Brewery.

Photo: The Brewery

Not only was the venue amazing, the breakfast and lunch spread was mouth waveringly delicious (we may have snuck home a few meals going extra..!), but the main highlight was the incredible speakers: 


Nigel Wilson, CEO Legal & General:

Nigel spoke about increasing the UKs economic productivity through 'slow moving', namely investment. Although we, as Geographers at heart, we didn't exactly agree with one of his answers- developing on the Greenbelt, we did agree that investment is key to improving our economy.

"We need to understand our customers better" 

There was also a great Einstein quote:

"The significant problems that we have created can not be solved at the level of thinking we were at when we created them."

Sir Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis Partnerships:

We were then lucky enough to hear from Charlie Mayfield, who spoke of the benefits of employee ownership underlining that SMEs could benefit most from this.

"Work should be a vector for social mobility"

"Conduct, education & ownership, the CEO of the workplace"

The panel that followed included th founder of Brompton Bicyle, Will Butler- Adams and Julie Kenny of Pyronix. There was an interesting focus on education and how schools can do more to forge links between businesses and students, helping to inspire both parties and help students realise dreams of starting their own businesses.  The general concensus what that schools are too focused on league tables and are reluctant to make the time to bring businesses in to inspire students- let's not forget that some businesses are also 'too busy' to make the time to go and speak. Julie urged businesses to make time to create these links and also highlighted a flaw in our education system- OFSTED focuses on educational progress but not on student destinations and what the student wants to do. It doesn't make sure "children achieve their aims" in terms of a career- which would be a very good measure of sucess and we found rather thought provoking.

We were then lucky enough to hear from an amazing panel in a session titled 'Exporting to the world'.

Thea Green, Founder, NailsInc. :

Thea gave great advice about researching foreign markets- the best way being to spend time in the local area. Thea also advised brands newly exporting to be patient! 

"Patience is the key to expanding globally"

"The best thing about exporting is you get to start again in every country"

Reinvention in every market

Andrew Graham, CEO Graham & Brown:

Andrew highlighted the importance of employing local management as a means of gaining trust and a deeper understanding of the local market place and issues faced. He also underlined the importance of keeping your brand and it's roots strong in your home market- afterall, it's where your business was born for a reason!

"Think global, act local"

Angus Thirwell, Founding Director, Hotel Chocolat:

As well as gifting guests some amazing chocolate, Angus had some interesting export examples to share.  One problem any business faces is whether to enter a competitive market with proven demand or enter into a new market. Angus highlighted differentiation as key to entering a market with successfully established players.  Hotel Chocolat took a risk entering the competitive market of chocolate in Copenhagen, but their unconventional flagship store design and a seriously cool looking cocoa bean roastery, gained them fantastic press coverage and customers love it.

"Create a hub in a market that anchors the brand, then branch out"

Thank you very much to The Telegraph for what was a wonderful event, we look forward to returning next year.