The New Face of Hydrasales: Coming Back Stronger

ometimes we’re present-

Sed with a fresh start and sometimes we make that choice ourselves. For Floyd Marriot at Hydrasales the pandemic offered a mix of both. He saw it as an opportunity to really dig down on the core of his company, bring his team closer together and focus everyone on a communal goal. Out of this came a whole new sense of meaning and some real success stories. I caught up with Floyd, who explained to me the concept behind his rebranding, and how strengthening his team has allowed him to grow the company well-beyond where it was before the pandemic last year.

How have things been since returning from lockdown?

We’re in a great situation right now. I think lockdown forced us to build stronger relationships within the company. We are a relationship business and we needed to value them both differently and better. It has also forced us to be more strategic in our thinking about the coaching and development of the key stakeholders in our business. We created bubbles within the company and kept connected to each other within those bubbles. That’s something we intentionally put time and effort into building and planning and maintaining, so that people would not feel as isolated.

How did the growth happen from there?

After the third-lockdown we layered the business. I looked at different people at different positions within the company, and I brought the senior core group together. At the time we had about 22 people in the office and we identified ten key individuals who would make up our core team. Then, through that, we communicated exactly how we would stay connected and how we would learn and grow and develop in this period. We figured that whenever we re-emerged, we would have a strong base which we could build on quite easily. And it worked. We started training again on 12th April and we are back up now to 27 people.

What about your office space?

We’re physically expanding the office as well because of how rapidly we’re growing. So we’re more than doubling the physical space we are operating out of to keep up with what we’re trying to achieve. Also, we operate in Canary Wharf which is a great location in the best city on the planet, where you have all the big city banks and international invest-

ment bankers. We felt that it was necessary— if we are to compete in this environment—to have a greater sense of our corporate image, in keeping with our ambition to attract the best talent.

So you are developing the image of the company too?

Yes, I want it to reflect our shared vision to grow and expand, with the principle of getting the right people on board. I think the pandemic showed me how committed the team is and now we have become a stronger set of individuals because of it. So, as a group, we rebranded the company to Hydrasales. Do you know what a Hydra is?

You’ll have to tell me.

It is a deep sea worm. Most people are familiar with the Greek mythological monster, Hydra, who, when you cut off one of the heads, it grows back three more. But that is actually based on a real animal; a deep sea worm similar to a starfish or an octopus. So the concept that we came up with together was that Hydra was a symbol of our intention to expand aggressively with each individual becoming their own organism capable of growing and expanding according to whatever potential they have.

And what’s the response been to your rebranding so far?

It has been amazing. I think it has genuinely benefitted our expansion plans. The team has really got behind it because they played a part in choosing how we rebrand. We fashioned this vision together, so people truly feel invested in upholding the standards of the company and keeping pace with that identity. We believe it has created a much more attractive business.

So it sounds like the pandemic has, by necessity, meant you’ve contracted to a core, you’ve made that core much stronger and that’s allowed you an opportunity to grow that maybe couldn’t have happened without that?

I strongly believe so. It has forced us to transform what we do and how we do it, both physically with what the company looks like but also digitally. We have re-engineered our recruitment process to make it available online. The pandemic slowed things down but, instead of just sitting back, we invested heavily and intentionally on up-skilling those members of the team who remained. We learned a lot this last year, and now we feel like we are all carrying the banner together.

How do you see the future for Hydrasales?

I think our situation is amazing right now. We will expand very aggressively over the next quarter, and then over the next twelve to eighteen months we will totally smash the sides of the company with what we are achieving. By August we should have three offices in full operation. Going forward, we’re then looking to expand into America next year and we will also be looking to branch into event sales as well. And since coming back, we’ve had Asma hit all of her criteria and she is now in the process of opening her own office. She has been such a positive part of this reemergence. She has been a true inspiration to everyone at the company because she is someone making true on the story we tell and the opportunity we talk about.

After the first lockdown, Asma, returned to the office with one person on her team, and got to work rebuilding a crew. By the fourth quarter, she had been promoted to Crew Leadership with a team of ten. She managed to retain this team throughout the third lockdown and, since returning to the field, has worked her way to Assistant Ownership. She will open her own office in July.

"I knew it was important to keep all the team together,” Asma tells me, ”and to keep people as busy as possible. I wanted to inspire, educate and develop them. My view was that I don’t have control over the lockdown, however, I do have control over how I develop my team and make them better versions of themselves for when we emerge. Basically, what I was trying to do was replicate myself. I thought, if I can have another person like me, who can sell, or can recruit, train and retain people, my business will grow quicker and faster. So that’s what I did. When we went back into the field, we managed to double the size of the team in a couple of weeks. And we had a lot of promotions because people were so ready and excited and they knew exactly what they were doing. So within the second week, I hit my Assistant Owner criteria and then in the third week I got promoted.

How did you motivate people during this time?

We are all part of a team, but I cannot motivate people with my goal. It needs to be more personal for them. It can be as small as going on holiday with a boyfriend or as big as buying a house, but they need to find their own thing. Everyone is different but we are all part of each other’s goals. If they are hitting their goals, I’m hitting mine too.

How did you motivate people during this time?

I have really strong goals. It’s a really challenging path but if you have strong goals it becomes the easiest game in the town. I am not from this country. I came to this country from Algeria and I just wanted to study my masters in Architecture and go back home to work with my family. In Algeria, there is a culture where the family are so important that it can control your life, so I didn’t want that to happen. I wanted to take control of my own life but I also wanted to change my family’s life at the same time. My goal is to retire my parents. My Dad is quite sick and cannot work anymore so I wanted to help him. I have been very fortunate and I am always grateful for what my parents gave me, so now it’s my turn to give it back. That’s what keeps me going, my family.

So how are plans coming along for your new office?

My office will be here in Canary Wharf and is going to be called Imperium Global Marketing. I am saving right now but my goal is to open on 5th July and promote an Assistant Owner the same day. 5th July is Algerian Independence Day, so on that day I also want to be fully independent.