CORPORATE VIEW
“Did you have a good COVID?” Everyone knows the last 18-months have been difficult, but I was asked a question recently which slightly threw me. Someone I haven’t seen for several years asked, “Did you have a good COVID?”. My initial reaction was a mix of shock and surprise, but it caused me to think through what has happened to Ogilvie Ross during the pandemic. The first time we realised COVID was going to be an issue was a Friday evening at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. A colleague and I were returning from a week-long joint Frankfurt & Amsterdam business trip. Schiphol was completely empty! The following Monday was the planned opening of our new purposebuilt offices, and the UK went into the first lockdown. Within 48 hours, 95% of our longterm client work was cancelled. That certainly focussed the mind! As part of the new office build, we invested in our own video conference room for up to eight people. At the time none of our clients were using video as a communication mode but we felt it was something we might need in the future. Sometimes you just land lucky! Over the following couple of weeks, we were in constant contact with our major UK and European clients. None of us really knew what we should be doing but we agreed that video conferencing and the new-to-us “Zoom” facility might mean some of the work could
be rescheduled and we would keep projects running in some form. Within the first month of lockdown, we created a range of new services aimed at improving how people could pitch and close business over Zoom. We completely revised how we delivered consultancy services to clients and almost all the planned work was back on the books.
engineering business in the morning, switch to briefing sessions with the board of a Finnish investmentbank over lunch with the end of a day spent preparing the CEO of a French pharmaceutical business ahead of a major shareholder event. The increased workload and new market areas meant we had to increase staff numbers.
Prior to the lockdown 90% of our work was carried out in the client’s offices. Often this meant many people traveling to a central location for several days with all the associated flights and hotel costs. As our new model didn’t require travel or accommodation the clients had far more of their budget to spend on delivering services. As a result, our billable time increased, there was no travel disruption, and our consultants had an improved work/ life balance. Additionally, clients asked us to work in new geographical areas which could not normally be achieved with conventional travel plans. Now we can work with the Australian management team for a global
The COVID pandemic continues to cause massive harm and disruption, but it’s also brought opportunities we would never have thought of. Did we have a good COVID? Its not an easy question to ask but the reality is, it forced people to rethink how they do business, and, for Ogilvie Ross, it has brought significant upsides. Welcome to the new global business models. John Ross is managing partner of Ogilvie Ross LLP a specialist consultancy firm providing performance coaching and mentoring to global businesses, governments, charities, and sports bodies.
December 2021/January 2022 BC
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