Company Spotlight: Creamer & Sundt

Creamer & Sundt is a bespoke management consultancy based in London and Glasgow. Alistair Creamer is described as “a catalyst, a creative and a bridge-builder”, and Anna Sundt as “a business psychologist, facilitator and artist”.

In their own words, they work with businesses to “bring about change by using the arts to engage people, inspire better ways of working and accelerate learning and development”. They talk about taking art out of the everyday and putting it into the hearts of the organisations they work with.

Creamer & Sundt's clients are varied and come from across multiple sectors, including Unilever, Film London, Buttle UK and Chichester Festival Theatre. Their inspirations, listed on their website, come from far and wide, spanning the full breadth of the creative arts.

They focus on three main areas:

• Connecting – finding your purpose and communication.
• Creating – innovation and culture change.
• Acceleration – team and leadership development.

Connect

Creamer & Sundt apply the mindset of an artist to their ideas about communication. This means bringing your message to life through a mixture of storytelling, visuals and video.

• Focus on communication within your organisation – people want to feel good about company goals, how they are contributing to the company's success and how the company is performing.
• People need to know “why” - what is the purpose behind your business?

“People don't buy what you do. They buy why you do it” - Simon Sinek

Create

The belief that everyone is creative and that companies are more successful when people are creative at work is a core element of their approach to business. They bring this creative approach into businesses in two ways: innovation and culture change.

• When people come to them with a specific challenge, they try to play it back to them and disrupt their thinking, creating the space and environment for them to see that challenge in a fresh way.
• They also have a passion for working brands that are serious about culture – these projects are a long-term investment in people.
• Engaged employees are the best employees; people really living the values are the ones who deliver.

“If you are going to evolve, to survive and thrive, then you too will need to think more creatively. And you'll need to do it faster, too” ― Nick Souter, 'Breakthrough Thinking'

Accelerate

From strategy conferences in Amsterdam to team-building days in Soho, Creamer & Sundt consider their team events to be their signature work.

• They aim to help you get the most out of your budget and time together, pushing the envelope of what can be achieved “off-site” to pull off some truly invigorating team events.
• Creativity is a key quality in modern leadership.
• Creamer & Sundt's leadership programmes are “a journey of discovery” - they work through challenges, design unique learning sessions, and coach both teams and individuals.

“Change will never be this slow again” ― Mark Holden, PHD Media Worldwide

Watch this space for an exclusive interview with director Alistair Creamer.

Click here to see our membership packages or here to subscribe to our mailing list. Leave a comment below to let us know your opinion on this week's business news or if there are any major stories we missed.

Our next event will be at Indigo Blue on 9th November. We hope to see you there!

Business Today

Gender pay gap is widest during workers' 50s, analysis shows

New analysis by the TUC of figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest that while women get paid less than men at every stage of their careers, the gender pay gap is widest during their 50s. Females employees will cumulatively be £85,040 worse off than men over the next decade and when women turn 50, they start to earn £8,504 less than men.

UK construction output falls in August, ONS sees no Brexit link

The Office of National Statistics has said that although British construction output fell unexpectedly in August, led by a decline in infrastructure projects, the weakness did not appear to be linked to the Brexit vote in June. There have been signs that the sector performed better in September, according to a private purchasing managers survey published earlier this month.

Bank governor Mark Carney says inflation will rise

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has said that inflation will rise on products such as food and fuel due to the fall in the value of the pound. He said that sterling’s fall “helps the economy to adjust” but that it was “going to get difficult as we move from no inflation to some inflation”. He also remarked, speaking at a roundtable discussion in Nottingham, that it is not the Bank’s job to target the value of sterling and that they had to "weigh increased inflation against supporting the economy" with low interest rates.

Pound sterling could lose its reserve currency status as Brexit hardens, Standard & Poor’s warns

US rating agency Standard & Poor has warned that the pound might lose its status as one of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) reserve currencies if the UK fails to gain full access to the single market as it negotiates its way out of the EU. They agency stripped Britain of its AAA status immediately following the Brexit vote in June, stating that the leave result would “weaken the predictability, stability, and effectiveness of policymaking in the UK”.

Tesco, Unilever settle prices row after pound's Brexit dive

Tesco, Britain largest retailer, settled a pricing row with Unilever after halting online sales of goods produced by the Anglo-Dutch giant in a dispute caused by the dive in the value of the pound following the Brexit vote in June. The dispute was the first clear sign for consumers of the potential turbulence caused by the vote and the ways in which it could hurt them. Tesco and Unilever stock fell 2.2 and 3.5 percent respectively.

Snapchat heads for possible $25bn flotation

Snap Inc, the owner of social media messaging app Snapchat, has moved a step closer to listing its shares on the stock market after settling on which banks will help with the flotation. Sources close to the deal confirmed that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would underwrite the initial public offering (IPO). The listing, which could happen as soon as next year, would be the largest social media float since Twitter went public in November 2013.

US banks planning exodus from Brexit Britain, says French minister

France’s finance minister, Michel Sapin, has said that some US banks have told him that they will move some of their activities out of Britain to other European countries in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. Sapin said that until now US banks had adopted a wait-and-see approach towards their British investments. He indicated that some bank had already made the decision to move and that France was working on a plan to promote Paris as a future financial capital.

In Other News

- Saudi Arabia set to become world's biggest tech investor with new $100bn SoftBank fund - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/saudi-arabia-softbank-techhology-fund-investor-100-billion-a7361036.html

- VW sales lifted by strong deliveries in China - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37652464

- China inflation relief sends stocks, dollar higher - http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-global-markets-idUKKCN12E027

- London trader accused of causing 2010 crash fights extradition to US - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/14/flash-crash-trader-navinder-singh-sarao-challenges-extradition-to-us

- Verizon says Yahoo data breach could affect deal - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37652461

- U.S. targets corporate tax-reduction strategy with new regulation - http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-inversions-idUKKCN12D2YC

Click here to see our membership packages or here to subscribe to our mailing list. Leave a comment below to let us know your opinion on this week's business news or if there are any major stories we missed.

Our next event will be at Indigo Blue on 9th November. We hope to see you there!

Event: Exit Strategies and Looking to the Future

We held our October event last night in TateHindle’s beautiful and unique headquarters in Smithfield Market. We’d like to say a big thank you to our host for a lovely event in such an inspiring setting and to all our guests.

Topic: Exiting a business.

Our hotseater was concerned with his planned departure from a business he established with a partner over twenty years ago. How should he manage that process? How can I be sure of leaving a business that will continue to thrive? The challenge for the exiting partners was to ensure an effective handover with the right people in place to take the business forward.

The discussion was wide ranging and passionate, covering everything from giving your people space to grow into larger roles, to how to delegate and manage working relationships so that your business continues to succeed after your departure.

Key insights included:

• People may learn better when you give them space to make mistakes – provide them with clear targets and guidance, rather than instruction.
• The ‘parent/child’ relationship needs to change. At the moment, the company is your baby. The aim should be to nurture ambition in those who are taking over so that you make it their baby.
• Create clear functional roles on the Executive Team so that they take responsibility for the future. And do it now!
• Identify the void you will leave and fill it before you go.

If you want to take part in a similar discussion or have an issue you would like to talk about, please join us at a future event or volunteer to be in the hotseat yourself. Please leave a comment below if you have any insights into this month’s topic!

Next Topic!

Join us at our next event, at Indigo Blue on 9th November, or sign up to our mailing list for more information. Our topic on 9th November will be 'Having established demand and support for our product what else should we do to ensure commercial viability?"

Our final event of the year will be at Devereux Chambers on 14th December. If you can’t make either of those dates our schedule for 2017 is already up on the website so take a look.

10 Innovative Apps for Business People

In the modern world, being able to conduct business on-the-go, from your mobile phone or tablet can save valuable time. Take a look at our top picks for innovative apps that will help revitalise and transform the way in which you conduct business.

1. Wolfram Alpha. For easy access to data and data analysis – learn about almost anything, quickly and efficiently. The app is a mobile version of the computational knowledge engine and can be used to look at anything from mathematics to chemistry to data input.

2. TheStreet. Great for financial news. The Street began as an online informational website but has since rolled out apps for Android and iPhone users. The app provides users with access to up-to-date market/financial news, analysis and stock-picking insights from analysts. Aggregating information to provide a multimedia experience with data, articles and videos, the app also gives detailed quotes and analyses of stock.

3. ItSeez3d. For artists, architects and engineers looking to making a great impression with a dynamic, innovative presentation to a client. This app turns your iPad into a mobile 3D scanner. Users can view scans as rotatable 3D figures, upload them to a website which supports 3D model sharing or email them to an organisation which converts them to 3D printable format.

4. Expensify. For creating and distributing expense reports easily and quickly. The app’s intelligent automation helps users to handle their expenses in real time with one click. SmartScan a receipt, and Expensify will code and report the expense for you, before auto-submitting it for approval. The app’s rapid reimbursement system delivers the money back to the employee’s bank account by the end of the day.

5. Square Register. For those with small businesses who want to be able to manage transactions from anywhere. Launched in 2010, Square Register allows you to accept credit cards with a free card reader and free point of sale tools. The funds from swiped payments are deposited into your bank account within 1-2 business days. The app takes a 2.75% cut for all major credit cards with no merchant accounts or hidden fees.

6. Sign Easy. To save time and sign documents on-the-go, safely and legally. Users can import documents from email or the cloud, then sign and fill them in minutes. Then simply email the completed documents or save them back to the cloud. The app works with a multitude of file formats, including PDF, Word, Excel and JPEG.

7. Proven Hiring. For small business owners who want a quick and easy way to find suitable candidates. This is the first app to support job post distribution to all major job boards. You can import existing job descriptions from the Proven website, your email or Dropbox. The app also provides job description templates to get you started.

8. Card Munch. A useful tool for networking, saving space and decluttering. This free app, owned by LinkedIn, turns your business cards into LinkedIn Connections simply by taking a photo. The app has seen well over 1.8 million business cards scanned so far.

9. Own It. For small business owners looking to grow their networks. Own It is a trusted network of small business owners and self-employed entrepreneurs with the goal of supporting each other in growing their businesses.

10. MarketWatch. Provides access to the latest business news, financial data and market information. Users can receive breaking news coverage, market data and market alerts. Recent updates include broader market coverage with interactive graphs that allow you to filter across a variety of date ranges.

Click here to see our membership packages or here to subscribe to our mailing list. Leave a comment below to let us know your favourite apps for business, marketing and finance.

Our next event is today at TateHindle. We hope to see you there!

“Building a Better Working World” - An Interview with Imogen Hudson from Ernst & Young

Imogen Hudson started her working life as an insurance broker, before moving into management consultancy with Ernst & Young or EY 2 years ago. After moving through a number of roles, she found herself seeking a new challenge and was inspired when her brokerage firm worked with a consultancy, so much so that she decided to make a change. We talked to her about the challenges of changing your career, the value of networking in the management consultancy sector and the ideas behind Ernst & Young's “building a better working world” principle.

Tell us a bit about working for Ernst & Young.

Working for a big brand has its challenges and rewards. Having a brand stamp on you and being endorsed by a real global player is both a privilege and a responsibility. The company challenges and stretches staff greatly, and provides a difficult but stimulating environment to work with.  So it’s a balance; there are rewards and intellectual interest on one side, with the inevitable stress on the other.

Why do you do what you do?

I started working with a consultancy that came in to help the brokerage firm I was at and was inspired by them, the culture and the issues they were tackling. I like solving problems, fixing things and understanding how things work. And I guess I like helping people to make their businesses better.

What are your opinions on the value of networking in your sector?

In my specific sector, the biggest value that consultants can give is a third party perspective on a problem. The more perspectives you have, the easier it is to give advice and see a problem on the wider scale. Essentially, I need to be able to think about a problem more broadly, which comes a lot from talking to other people about their industries to broaden my own knowledge. Networking also helps with learning how to talk to a wide range of different people and learning to understand other industries quickly. It also provides me with loads of different reference points so that I can do my job more effectively.

EY talks a lot about 'building a better working world'. How do you feel businesses like EY can best work towards this goal?

That strapline has to fit for EY within a really broad range of business activities, covering the entire breadth of what EY does, such as both the consulting and audit sides, etc. It's about asking how can we make you function better as a business? How can we make your contribution to the world better? Improvement and change never happened without people talking to each other. Making big things happen, making big companies move, change and grow takes a lot of collaboration and understanding on all sides. It's about perspectives – how can we learn from other people to make you as a client better by helping you?

And finally, what was your biggest challenge when changing career paths?

I went from having a small team and responsibility to being stretched, pushed and challenged every single day. The better you get, the more and more you stretch and learn. It doesn't get more comfortable. However, I get to solve some really intricate and complex business problems and work with a broad range of clients on a frequent basis.

Click here to see our membership packages or here to subscribe to our mailing list. Leave a comment below if you have any more questions for Imogen or to share your opinion on the topics we talked about.

Our next event will be this week at TateHindle on 12th October. We hope to see you there!

Business Today

"Flash crash" decimates sterling

Sterling lost a tenth of its value in minutes on Friday, in what traders said was a "flash crash" driven by computer-initiated sell orders. It left the pound at a fresh 31-year-low and heading for its worst week since January 2009. The pound dived about 10 percent from levels around $1.2600 to $1.1378 GBP=D4 in a matter of minutes in thin early Asian trade, although it has since recovered somewhat. The pound has been under pressure for most of this week as worry grows that Britain will opt for a "hard" exit from the European Union.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36721278

Philip Hammond ditches retail sale of taxpayer’s Lloyds Bank stake as £3.6bn share sell-off resumes

Philip Hammond has scrapped plans for a retail sale of the government's remaining stake in Lloyds Bank. He has instead opted for a trading plan which will gradually offload the £3.6bn share over the next year. Mr Hammond said that while he believes that “returning Lloyds to the private sector is in the interests of the bank, taxpayers and the country as a whole”, he had “listened to the experts” and decided that ongoing market volatility meant it was not the right time for a retail offer.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37587876

UK industrial output weakens while trade deficit widens

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) says that industrial production fell by 0.4% between July and August, due in part to a decrease in oil and gas production. Manufacturing, however, rose by 0.2&, although this followed a steep fall in July. Separate figures from the ONS showed that the UK's trade deficit widened in August. The widening deficit comes despite hopes that the weaker pound will boost demand for British goods. Exports rose by just £100m, against expectations of a £4bn increase. Imports, however, rose by £2.6bn in August following a slump in July.

Immigration crackdown could lead to staff shortages, say recruiters

Theresa May hinted at a tougher line on immigration in her speech to the Conservative party conference and Amber Rudd incited a backlash from business leaders over proposals to force companies to disclose how many foreign workers they employ. Tom Hadley, policy director of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), said the government must be mindful that many UK employers were already facing staff shortages. The trade body said that based on a poll of 400 recruitment consultancies, those jobs suffering skills shortages included accountants, care workers, scientists and toolmakers.

US creates 156,000 jobs in September

The US economy only created 156,000 jobs in September, slightly fewer than expected and lower than the 180,000 average for this year. The unemployment rate rose from 4.9% to 5%, although this was apparently due to more people looking for work. The US Department of Labor said that job gains occurred in professional and business services, and in health care.

Business confidence bounces back as firms voice optimism on Britain's future

In a dramatic reversal of sentiment from July, many UK firms are reporting an increase in optimism about their prospects and the wider economy over the next year. According to an index compiled by YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), business confidence rose to 112.4 in September, up from 105 in July and just shy of June's reading of 112.6. Any number below 100 represents a negative outlook, 100 is neutral, while a figure above 100 is considered positive. This is the first time since the Breixt vote that confidence in businesses have returned to its pre-referendum levels.

Oil little changed capping a week of growth post-OPEC week

Oil futures were little changed on Friday, capping a week of price growth supported by the prospect of a crude production cut by OPEC countries even though doubts lingered over the cartel's ability to wipe out a persistent excess of oil. Brent LCOc1 traded at $52.50 at 1410 BST, a cent lower, while U.S. crude oil futures were a cent up at $50.45. Both futures contracts see-sawed during the European trading day with Brent touching $52.84 earlier, two cents below the 2016 high.

In Other News

• Fracking go-ahead: Government approves Cuadrilla plans, overruling Lancashire council – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/10/06/fracking-by-cuadrilla-approved-at-one-lancashire-site-overruling/

• Mark Carney seeks to downplay impression of rift with Theresa May on Bank of England money printing – http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/mark-carney-seeks-to-downplay-talk-of-rift-with-theresa-may-on-money-printing-a7348961.html

• Forget Brussels, Brexit’s toughest battleground is the WTO – http://www.politico.eu/article/forget-brussels-brexits-toughest-battleground-is-the-wto-uk-theresa-may/

Click here to see our membership packages or here to subscribe to our mailing list. Leave a comment below to let us know your opinion on this week's business news or if there are any major stories we missed.

Our next event will be at TateHindle on 12th October. We hope to see you there!

6 Top Tips to Up Your Company's Social Media Game

1. Try to insert a call to action into the bottom of every post. This won't always be possible – the character limit on Twitter is often a barrier to this and you can't put links on Instagram posts – but the more, the better. Link to your blog or website, ask questions and invite comments. This allows you to generate further interest without coming across as a constant salesperson who's more interested in profit than customers.

2. Schedule your updates to post just before or after the hour. This targets business people like marketers, office workers and managers who check their social media just before or after a meeting. Sometimes it's all about the timing.

3. YouTube users should check out this post on the Gleam Marketing Blog explaining how to add a small light-box pop-up to your page, encouraging visitors to subscribe to your channel. All you need to do is add the following text to the end of your YouTube URL whenever you share it:

?sub_confirmation=1

4. Use aggregator apps like Tweetdeck to streamline your social media experience, viewing multiple accounts simultaneously without having to log in to each one separately. This saves time and helps to keep your content consistent.

5. Visuals are important. This might seem obvious but posts on social media that include some kind of visual element, either a photograph or video, tend to have a wider reach and invite active engagement with content. Make sure your visuals are relevant, consistent and prolific.

Think about optimizing your visual content with links – an image or video can act as a 'gateway' to more valuable content, such as your main website or blog. For example, place a link to your website in the description of a YouTube video or the profile section of your Instagram account.

6. Post with empathy. Be kind, polite and acknowledge others. Make sure to interact with your followers and other businesses – your social media accounts do not exist in a vacuum. Social networking is by nature designed to be interactive and it's most effective when you use it as a networking tool, rather than a broadcasting platform. This means letting them know that you're reading their posts by hitting the link button, sending them direct messages or retweeting/reblogging their relevant content.

More Information

20 Social Media Marketing Tips From the Pros – http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-tips-pros/

5 Ways To Cross Promote Social Media Posts – https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/tips-tricks/5-ways-to-cross-promote-social-media-posts

3 Ways to Use Google Analytics to Evaluate Your Audience – http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-ways-to-use-google-analytics-to-evaluate-your-audience/

11 Creative Ways to Use Live Streaming on Snapchat, Facebook Live & More - http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/live-streaming-ideas#sm.001nxq8xi1ccgcowrmv1pdizwmz22

Click here to see our membership packages or here to subscribe to our mailing list. Leave a comment below to let us know your top tips for a successful social media presence.

Our next event will be next week at TateHindle on 12th October. We hope to see you there!