Wherever she and her entourage pitches up, Taylor Swift brings a boost to the local economy like no other individual in the world
6 Upfront: The top international news stories involving women in business
14 In the Right Direction: Good news stories from around the world
6 Kreston Reeves: The value of understanding your team
16 Community is the new influencer
Pippa Moyle of the City Girl Network on how people are finding better appreciation nearer to home
18 Are you aiming high enough?
There is an ambition cap holding female founders back. Emma Gage suggests ways on how to step it up
PLATINUM
Proportion of companies in South West England with a female director (the highest ranking region in the UK) 44%
If the world were ruled by women then there would be no war. Just a couple of nations not talking with each other.
28 My business isn’t unique ‘So how do I stand out from the crowd?’, asks Niki Hutchinson
23 Honor Barratt
Honor is the Chief Executive Officer at Birchgrove, a developer of laterlife homes
24 Catrina Baker-Bassett
Catrina is Managing Director at digital products experts, Dabapps
30 Move Up or Move On: 10 Secrets to Develop Your Career by Angela
Health & Wellbeing
20 Mind the trap You don’t have to strive for perfection, suggests Laura Tristram
Lane and Sergey Gorbatov.
32 Kellie Miller discusses the works of Kate Richardson
34 Hotel Indigo, Stratford-uponAvon
Dining
36 Mowgli Brighton: A journey through Indian street food
What’s On
38 A brief snapshot of art and culture cross Sussex and Surrey
EDITOR’S NOTE
A warm welcome to another issue of Dynamic, jam-packed for your reading pleasure.
On top of our Taylor Swift Big Story this month, we bring you the second City Girl column in which Pippa discusses the power and influence of community, something that should not be ignored by any business.
Our features include Emma Gage from The Wild Ones asking the question ‘Are you aiming high enough?’ While Niki Hutchinson advises on how to make your business stand out from the crowd. Alison Jones from Kreston Reeves suggests that businesses know their teams – and shares their recent in-depth team exploration.
In Spotlight this month, Catrina Baker-Bassett tells us about her journey to becoming Managing Director of Dabapps - with, initially, very little understanding of software and tech. Honor Barratt shares how she had moved from clueless runner in television to Chief Executive Officer at property developer, Birchgrove.
HEAD OF DESIGN / SUB EDITOR: Alan Wares alan@platinummediagroup.co.uk
‘WORK-LIFE
BALANCE
IS A LIE’
Women should stop striving for work-life balance to avoid living in a constant state of guilt, the ITV presenter Charlene White (above) has said.
“A lot of parents, especially women, are told that we need to think about work-life balance when actually, if we focus too much on that, we consistently live in a state of guilt,” said the Loose Women presenter. “I just do the best I can, every day.”
Her comments came after Thasunda Brown Duckett, the President and Chief Executive of the Fortune 500 financial services company TIAA, said, “work-life balance is a lie” and that she gives her children 30% of her time.
The sentiment was further backed up by Kate Grussing, the Founder and Managing Director of the recruitment firm Sapphire Partners. “Feeding younger women the lie that they can have it all is dangerous.”
NEW APPOINTMENT AT BREWIN DOLPHIN
Charlotte Knowles, head of client relationships at Nybble, has been appointed to Brewin Dolphin’s Female Founders Board.Brewin Dolphin is one of the UK’s largest wealth management firms.
Its Female Founders Club is a platform designed to support and empower female entrepreneurs, bringing together a diverse group of individuals with invaluable experience and expertise in various aspects of entrepreneurship and business. The Board includes CEOs, seasoned professionals, successful founders, corporate advisers and angel investors.
Charlotte said: “I am thrilled and honoured to be asked to join the board and contribute to the support and empowerment of female entrepreneurs. Nybble are strong advocates for women in business, and this role further strengthens Nybble’s commitment to supporting and advancing opportunities for women.”
UPFRONT
THE LATEST BULLETINS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
CITY BANKS SNUB
‘INVEST IN WOMEN’ TASKFORCE
To love what you do and feel like it matters – how could anything be more fun?
Katherine Graham, former publisher, New York Times
The £250m Invest in Women fund, set up by the previous UK government and backed by current Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has been snubbed by several City institutions. The Taskforce is co-chaired by Barclays’ Head of Business Banking Hannah Bernard and Brit entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow.
Only Barclays, asset manager M&G, bank Morgan Stanley, Visa and the British Business Bank have so far pledged support. Among those to say ‘No’ so far to the Invest in Women Taskforce are NatWest, HSBC, Bank of
America and Legal and General. Aviva, which is headed by Amanda Blanc, is yet to commit, it is believed.
It follows research showing female founders attract under 2% of venture capital funding which is often key to get firms growing.
INDY TRACK MARKETS TO SWIFTIES
In a further example of Swiftnomics (see ‘Big Story’ this month), Taylor Swift’s appearance in Indianapolis in early November allowed the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS – and home of the testosterone-themed Indy 500) to market and educate the singer’s fans of about women in racing.
The track is working with racing equipment manufacturer Bell Helmets
❛
and the Women in Motorsports North America (WIMNA) group to create eleven specially designed helmets that correspond to the 11 eras of Swift’s career.
IMS also got the Swift Alert app, which describes itself as “the ultimate app for Swifties,” in on the activation, as it has embedded a graphic showing where the helmets are this weekend.
If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
HSBC ANNOUNCES ITS FIRST CFO
Pam Kaur, formerly HSBC’s chief risk and compliance officer, has been named as the company’s first Chief Financial Officer.
HSBC has undergone a major overhaul by merging some operations and splitting its geographic footprint into East and West under new CEO Georges Elhedery.
Under the revamp, HSBC will combine some of its commercial and investment banking businesses. It also installed a new leadership structure, which would “unleash our full potential and drive success into the future,” Elhedery said in a memo to staff. The group is carving up its operations into four business lines – UK, Hong Kong, corporate and institutional banking, and wealth banking.
NEW WOMEN’S DATA COLLABORATION FOR AXA
AXA UK has announced a new collaboration with Women in Data, a group dedicated to empowering women in data and technology careers, marking a significant move by the insurer to improve diversity within data-focussed roles in insurance and to address the gender gap that persists.
Through the partnership, AXA UK staff will have access to a variety of professional development activities led by Women in Data, such as ‘lunch & learn’ sessions and networking events with members from other partner companies.
AXA UK will also be able to post job openings on the Women in Data job board, helping the company reach a broader, more diverse talent pool.
NUMBER OF TOP UK FEMALE LEADERS SHRINKS
The number of women who hold executive reins in corporate Britain has fallen for the first time in eight years in an “unacceptable” reversal that could delay gender parity for another five generations.
The Pipeline, which analyses gender diversity at senior corporate levels, said the average proportion of women on executive committees at Britain’s 350 biggest, listed companies slipped to 32% in 2024 from a revised 33% last year.
The drop appears small, but Geeta Nargund, the chair of Pipeline, told Reuters it reflected a sharp disconnect with male numbers and urged business leaders and headhunters to use the vast pool of female talent to fill decision-making roles, fix cultures and ensure women can thrive in the workplace. “It is unacceptable that gender representation in business leadership is moving backwards in 2024.” she said.
THE FASTEST GROWING UK BUSINESS LED BY WOMEN
Starling Bank and Beauty Pie have topped a list of the fastestgrowing UK businesses led by women, JP Morgan Private Bank announced in its annual report. It also state that investment in ‘women-powered’ businesses has tripled over the past decade.
Digital bank Starling, which was founded by entrepreneur Anne Boden (right), took the number one spot in this year’s list of 200 firms after doubling sales in 2023 and rapidly expanding staff across the UK. Ms Boden stepped down as chief executive of the bank earlier this year, to allow her to focus on being a large shareholder.
Skincare and beauty retailer Beauty Pie came in at number two, having been launched in 2015 by Soap & Glory founder Marcia Kilgore and securing £126 million in equity investment since, the analysis showed.
By ALISON JONES, Partner at Kreston Reeves
THE VALUE OF UNDERSTANDING YOUR TEAM
There is a lot of uncertainty for businesses at the moment as we await the outcome and digest the implications of both the UK Budget and events that impact globally such as the US election.
It’s a good time for business leaders to stand back and look in depth at their teams
It’s a good time for business leaders to stand back and look in depth at their teams to ensure that they are the right team in the right place, and that they are all working effectively together. Collectively, you need to be ready to react to change.
We recently looked at the different personalities within our team and how best to work and communicate with each other. We used a management training tool which categorised personality traits into four different types –Driver, Expressive, Amiable and Analytical.
This tool used a simple questionnaire to help identify where you sit in terms of these traits. These are also often identified by colours, with Driver being red, Expressive being yellow, Amiable being green and Analytical being blue.
If you were to think of this in terms of animals think of a red bear, an expressive monkey, an amiable dolphin or an analytical owl. I think you can immediately see that each trait has both strengths and weaknesses:
• Red is direct and a leader but can sometimes be strongwilled and domineering and may not always think about other perspectives. They are high achievers who are prepared to take risks.
• Yellow is expressive and spirited and a people person. They are always ready for new challenges but can sometimes come on too strong if they become too enthusiastic. They can be disorganised and come over as a dreamer.
• Green is supportive and dependable, but they can get stuck in a task and they do not like to assert themselves or take risks. They listen and are team players who can bring stability to a team.
To have an effective team, you do, of course, need a mixture of all of these personality types and traits
• Blue is analytical and a thinker but can be too rigid in their thinking and may come over as indecisive as they take more time to assess data. They are perfectionists and definitely not a risk taker.
Each personality also communicates in different ways and it’s useful to understand this in order that you can get the best out of your team.
• Red wants you to focus on the task, look at facts including options rather than feelings. Be businesslike, concise and clear in your communication. Don’t waste their time!
• Yellow wants you to focus on the relationship, and the story and less on the detail. Be willing to talk around the issue and always be enthusiastic!
• Green wants you to be logical with a clear plan with the emphasis of this being a team decision. They don’t want to be rushed and like to listen.
• Blue wants you to be logical and provide facts and evidence to support your tasks. Be prepared to discuss this at length and allow them time to evaluate the data.
To have an effective team, you do, of course, need a mixture of all of these personality types and traits. If you were all drivers then there would be constant conflict as everyone would want to push their own ideas, and if you were all analytical then no one would ever take any risk, and no decisions would ever be made!
There is a lot of training available to help you identify your personality colour, and tool kits to show you and your team how you should flex your own style to get the best out of each other.
As a firm of accountants, we spend a lot of time analysing our clients’ data and so you would have expected that the
majority of us would have been blue. However, I was really surprised at how the team were scattered across all these colours with a few of us sitting on the fence between two traits.
It was also interesting to see how the team moved away from being mostly blue when they first join us. As they progress through their career and their roles both within the team and with our clients’ changes, they move towards the other colours.
Only a small handful are just red, where they are careerdriven and looking for promotion. Interestingly, the two leaders of the team sit on the fence with one being a mixture of blue and red and the other yellow and red, demonstrating that these combinations can complement each other, as we are equally driven to lead the team together.
And if you haven’t already guessed where I sit yet, I am mostly a yellow with lots of red. Having a mixture of these traits equips me to deal with most of the situations I am faced with.
So, take the time to get to know your team better, and understand your strengths and weaknesses. Having a mixed team ensures that together everyone does achieve more, and you will be better prepared to face the changing world.
For more information on how Kreston Reeves works alongside clients to understand their goals and help them achieve their ambitions, please contact Alison Jones, Partner:
Call: +44 (0)33 0124 1399
Email: alison.jones@krestonreeves.com
Visit: www.krestonreeves.com
TAYLOR SWIFT
The phenomenon of ‘Swiftnomics’
American singer/songwriter Taylor Swift is an influential figure in popular culture and the subject of worldwide public interest. She is one of the world’s best-selling music artists with estimated global sales of 200 million records.
Seven of her albums have opened with over one million pre-sales in a week. She has appeared on lists of history’s greatest artists from publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Forbes. She finished last year with the accolade of being named Time ‘Person of the Year 2023’.
Everywhere she goes, her fans are right there – in such numbers, and with such devotion that they often make a sizeable contribution to the local economy of her tour venues.
Dynamic looks at the global phenomenon of ‘Swiftnomics’.
“Her fans are now exclusively streaming ‘Taylor’s Version’ of her tracks, ensuring that she gets the credit and revenue from their streams”
Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13th 1989 in West Reading, Pennsylvania, USA; her parents, Scott and Andrea naming her after legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor. She spent her early years on a Christmas tree farm in Pennsylvania, and her summers at her family’s holiday home in neighbouring New Jersey where she occasionally performed acoustic songs at a local coffee shop.
As a child, she performed in Berks Youth Theatre Academy productions and traveled regularly to New York City for vocal and acting lessons. Her first music love was country music, especially the works of artists such as Shania Twain, Patsy Cline, LeAnn Rimes, and the Dixie Chicks, and she spent weekends as a child performing at local festivals and events.
RECORDING
At the age of 14, her family moved to Nashville, Tennesseehome of country music. Taylor signed with Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records in 2005; Taylor’s father, a stockbroker, purchased a 3% stake in the fledgling record company for $120,000. She soon recorded her first album, entitled ‘Taylor Swift’, writing or co-writing all of the songs.
Released in October 2006, ‘Taylor Swift’ peaked at number five on the US Billboard 200, on which it spent 157 weeks — the longest stay on the chart by any release in the US in the 2000s decade. Taylor became the first female country music artist to write or co-write every track on a platinum-certified (one million sales or downloads) debut album.
She spent the next decade writing and recording a series of million-selling albums, including ‘1989’, ‘Fearless’, ‘Reputation’, ‘Red’ and others. With every album came a growing fanbase, and more praise and accolades.
Taylor Swift left Big Machine after recording Reputation in 2017, signing with Republic Records the next year. On her
departure from Big Machine, she wanted to buy the copyright to her master recordings, but agreeable terms couldn’t be met. They were ultimately sold to a company called Shamrock Holdings, who paid a reported $300m for them.
Despite many attempts to do so, Taylor never bought the rights to the master recordings of that music. Instead, she embarked on a huge project to re-record her own ‘Taylor’s Version’ of her albums in 2021. She has been able to do this because she retained the copyright in the music and the lyrics, which gives her the right to re-record the songs.
Swift has managed her re-recording process so effectively that her fans are now exclusively streaming ‘Taylor’s Version’ of her tracks, ensuring that she gets the credit and revenue from their streams.
+COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
In any song, there are multiple components which are each, separately, protected by copyright:
• the lyrics are protected;
• the music is protected; and
• the combination of the lyrics and the music (the produced song that you stream or hear on the radio) is protected.
The copyright owner can then decide whether to licence or assign their rights to third parties, and that is often tied up in an artist’s recording contract because the company producing the song will want to derive some income from it.
As an example, on Taylor’s original Red album, she released ‘All Too Well’, and it was streamed around 39.4 million times. On Red (Taylor’s Version), she released a longer version of the same song, and this has been streamed around 450 million times – and it’s a ten-minute song.
She has been able to respond in this way because of her global reputation and the unrivalled engagement that she has with her fanbase. It seems unlikely that other artists will be as successful if they try to take the same steps, so ensuring that artists understand what rights they have and, importantly, what they are signing away at the start of their careers is essential.
She has won admiration from so many corners of business – inside and outside of music – for fighting back at the monolithic, often misogynistic music industry. She – as all artists do - wanted control of her creative output, and eventually won that battle, though it took a lot out of her.
Since 2023, Taylor Swift has been on her Eras Tour. The tour is creating all kinds of waves, financial and seismic (literally, in the case of the latter – a recent show in the US was measured at 2.3 by seismologists). It was estimated to have boosted UK spending by almost £1bn in 2024, with more than a million fans seeing her perform live.
She commands large audiences on stage without having to rely on extravagant dance routines. According to V magazine’s Greg Krelenstein, she possesses, “a rare gift of turning a stadium spectacle into an intimate setting”, irrespective of whether she is “plucking a guitar or leading an army of dancers.”
“No woman, with maybe the exception of Dolly Parton, has stuck two fingers up at the industry in such a manner”
Spanning six continents, the tour hit the UK for 15 dates in June and August, with fans spending an average of £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation and other assorted merchandise, according to Barclays. The story is largely the same in her home country.
No woman, with maybe the exception of Dolly Parton, has stuck two fingers up at the industry in such a manner, and sought to wrest complete creative control from faceless suits – without selling themselves short or being a puppet to mediocrity or corporate interests.
SWIFTNOMICS
Her fans – ‘Swifties’ – are crushingly loyal, and she can count several celebrities among them; not least of which, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who appeared in her 2020 music video - ‘The Man’.
While her jump in popularity can be traced back to her 2017 Reputation album, her latest tour has seen the effect of her fanbase go off the charts.
The Eras Tour came on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic during which personal savings of US households hit a record high and the tourism industry suffered significantly. When tickets for the Eras Tour went on sale last year, it crashed websites and led to sold-out hotels in host cities around the world.
While Swift fans aren’t representative of any given national population, they’ve been credited with exemplifying that consumers were willing to spend their pandemic savings on tourism and entertainment despite fears of a potential recession.
“One study showed that the average spend for an Eras Tour attendee is $1,327 (£1,023)”
Eras Tour attendees – averaging around 54,000 fans per concert during the first leg of the US tour – travelled to cities hosting Swift’s concerts and, like their UK counterparts, spent their money on hotels, transportation, food, merchandise and more, again, helping to revive local tourism.
One study showed that the average spend for an Eras Tour attendee in the US is $1,327 (£1,023) – higher than UK fans’ expenditure.
After the singer-songwriter held three concerts in Chicago in June 2023, Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritzker, and leading tourism leaders announced that the state had broken its hotel revenue record thanks in part to Taylor’s visit. Indeed, every host city around the world that has hosted Taylor Swift since her tour started in 2023 has noticed a dramatic spike in its local economy while she is resident. The tourism figures soon return to normal once her entourage has left town.
Swift’s popular success is not just confined to the world of music. Her mere presence at American football games to watch her boyfriend Travis Kelce has been credited with raising NFL viewing figures.
Dr Peter Brooks, chief behavioural scientist at Barclays, said: “When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift –like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the 50s and 60s – supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful.
“For non-fans, £848 may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert, but for Eras Tour ticket-holders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”
FORBES LIST
Swift herself entered the Forbes rich list for the first time in April this year, having attained billionaire status in October 2023, becoming the world’s first musician to achieve the milestone solely based on their songs and performances.
Forbes said there were a record 2,781 billionaires for 2024. The figure is 141 more than last year and 26 more than the previous record set in 2021. It added the elite were richer than ever - with a collective wealth of $14.2tn (£11.3tn).
Taylor entered the rich list after achieving megastar status. She stole the show at this year’s Grammy Awards, becoming the first performer to win the prize for album of the year four times. Her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was also the best-selling vinyl LP of 2023.
PHILANTHROPY
Swift’s philanthropy is legendary. She was noted for her generosity very early in her career, way before the megastardom status she enjoys today. Her largesse is from the heart; not some PR playbook.
The list of beneficiaries is as deep as it is wide. Many charities in Tennessee have received her donations, especially those communities caught in the annual hurricanes and floods which sweep through the deep south at the end of every summer.
In 2015, the international organisation ‘Do Something’ ranked her top of their ‘Gone Good’ List for donations and generosity. During the Eras Tour, Swift donated to food banks at every stop. Her donation to a food bank in Cardiff provided emergency food parcels to 925 people. She donated to the charity after she performed in Cardiff in June. Rachel Biggs, the CEO of Cardiff Foodbank, said they are
When Taylor Swift left her first record label in 2017, she attempted to buy back her own copyright. The company, Big Machine, was prepared to sell, but on terms that only put Taylor back in a harness. She then decided to re-record her albums that she’d recorded with Big Machine. So far, she has re-recorded four, with two to go. Since their re-release, the ‘Taylor’s Versions’ have all outsold and out downloaded the original releases by up to a factor of ten, meaning Taylor Swift gets to keep all of the royalties from her own creative output. Respect the artist.
incredibly grateful to the singer “for shining a light on the global issue of poverty”. The charity said her donation allowed them to buy one and a half articulated lorries full of food.
LEGACY
It’s highly likely that the true extent of her legacy has yet to be known, although there are several chapters written already. She is 35 next month, is on tour, and has – at least her fanbase certainly hope so – several more albums to record, and two of her own albums to re-record.
Her songs, one fan said, reach out on the most mundane level of people’s everyday existences, yet with perfect pitch, grace, and to so many. She is an inspiration to women and girls across so many cultures. Her music, the same Swiftie said, is absolutely brilliant (subjective, but heartfelt). She connects with her fans on so many levels, musically, emotionally, spiritually and - and this is the clincher - personally.
“Her largesse is from the heart; not some PR playbook”
Since the days of MySpace, Taylor Swift has had personal conversations online with people in her fanbase; a discourse that can make that one fan feel like they are the only fan; a special fan. Her approach to managing her brand – and the loyalty that instills – and business ventures provide a fresh lens through which to view economic principles.
And that is her strength.
Her accolades include 14 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, 40 American Music Awards, 39 Billboard Music Awards, and 23 MTV Video Music Awards; she has won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, and the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year a record four times each.
It is now approaching 70 years since ‘Rock & Roll’, or popular music first became known. In this time, no female –certainly not in the English-speaking pop world – has ever had the adoration or power Taylor Swift currently enjoys. Her current popularity is unrivalled; in music terms, she is up there historically with Beatles and Elvis; in social and cultural terms, she has more sway than almost every well-intentioned public icon on the planet.
This sway is not just in the music business, but across so many different cultures and societies. In the history of pop, Madonna may come close to holding this sway, one might postulate. Ish.
But every Swiftie will argue with that.
❛ ❛
When life brings big winds of change that almost blow you over, close your eyes, hang on tight, and believe.”
Lisa Lieberman-Wang
PROTECTING CHILDREN FROM ALGORITHMS
Social media platforms could be required to exclude young people from algorithmic content as part of a new bill aimed at curbing addictive online behaviour. The Safer Phones Bill, now under debate by MPs, has garnered cross-party support. This comes in response to mounting evidence linking social media use among young people with declining mental health.
Labour MP Josh MacAlister, a former social worker who introduced thBill, said, “The evidence is clear – children spending hours doomscrolling causes significant harm. We need social media regulations similar to seatbelt laws for children’s safety.”
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
GOOD NEWS IN THE TREATMENT OF CERVICAL CANCER
A new approach to cervical cancer treatment could reduce the risk of death by 40%, according to University College London (UCL) researchers. Their study found that giving a short chemotherapy course before standard chemoradiation lowered the risk of cancer recurrence by 35%. Lead investigator Dr. Mary McCormack emphasised that the method uses affordable, approved drugs and has already been adopted by some cancer centres, urging its wider implementation.
THE ‘UNIVERSITY OF DYSLEXIC THINKING’ LAUNCHED
WEEKEND EXERCISE
Good news for those who struggle to exercise regularly: a weekend burst of brisk activity can be as beneficial as frequent exercise. A study of nearly 90,000 UK Biobank participants found that “weekend warriors,” who cram workouts into the weekend, enjoy similar health benefits to those exercising throughout the week, lowering their risk of over 200 health conditions, including heart disease.
The world’s first ‘University of Dyslexic Thinking’ has launched online, giving people the chance to explore how dyslexic thinking can be a strength. Research shows that those with dyslexia often score highly in areas like communication, creativity, and problemsolving. The free course, available to all, is designed to develop these skills. Created by the charity Made By Dyslexia and Virgin, it’s hosted by the Open University. Virgin’s founder, Richard Branson, who’s dyslexic, highlighted how these skills are becoming more valuable in today’s AI-driven world.
EMERGENCY ROOMS WILL HAVE DOMESTIC ABUSE SPECIALISTS
From next year, domestic abuse specialists will be embedded in teams responding to 999 emergency calls, the UK government has announced. The new advisers will assess risks in cases involving rape, domestic, and sexual abuse, ensuring appropriate support and protection. This initiative is part of the government’s plan to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
DISEASES ELIMINATED
Pakistan and India have both eliminated trachoma as a public health issue, marking significant milestones in global health. The World Health Organization (WHO) hailed Pakistan’s achievement as “monumental,” with sanitation improvements and antibiotics playing a key role in eradicating the leading infectious cause of blindness. Trachoma is spread through contaminated fingers or flies that contact infected eyes.
India’s success follows a series of health interventions, reducing trachoma-related blindness from 4% in 2005 to 0.008% by 2018. Meanwhile, Brazil has eliminated lymphatic filariasis, a mosquito-borne parasitic disease, through drug distribution, vector control, and surveillance, according to the WHO.
PEACE ADVOCATES AWARDED NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Nihon Hidankyo, an organisation of survivors from Nagasaki and Hiroshima, has won the Nobel Peace Prize for their fierce campaigning to end the threat of nuclear war that so dramatically scarred their lives. Coming at a time when humanity lies more heavily between the crosshairs of the bomb than perhaps any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the award is a powerful reiteration: that a nuclear war cannot be won, and must never be fought.
Founded in 1956, the organisation’s chief activity is sending survivors of the bombings around the world to share testimony and contribute to what Chairman of the Nobel Committee Joergen Watne Frydnes called the “nuclear taboo.”
CANARY WHARF TRANSFORMED
Canary Wharf, London’s iconic financial district, may seem an unlikely spot for a rewilding project, but it has been transformed into an “urban oasis” to enhance biodiversity and improve worker wellbeing. Originally built in the 1980s as a hub for investment bankers, Canary Wharf is also home to wildlife such as wading birds, waterfowl, and eels, thanks to its location along the River Thames. This made it the perfect site for the Eden Dock initiative, which includes floating islands and mossy sculptures designed to bring nature back into the city and create a greener environment for all.
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.”
Bill Waterson
SEA TURTLE NESTS IN GREECE REACH RECORD NUMBERS
The loggerhead turtle, once nearing extinction, has enjoyed a record breeding season on Zakynthos, Greece, reflecting a wider Mediterranean resurgence. This summer, 2,350 Caretta caretta nests were recorded in Zakynthos marine park, Greece’s first protected area. Conservation efforts, including habitat
protection and anti-poaching measures, have contributed to similar population increases across the Mediterranean and Cape Verde. Ecologist Nadia Andreanidou stressed the importance of continued government support to sustain this progress and ensure the species remains safe from future threats.
Pippa Moyle, CEO and Founder of the City Girl Network on how people are finding better appreciation nearer to home
COMMUNITY IS THE NEW INFLUENCER
Influencer: the Marmite of marketing strategies; a $24bn industry with countless statistics proving its effectiveness, with a growing culture of skepticism over the authenticity of influencers themselves. But, change is afoot. As world-renowned marketing teams invest in a hyper-local strategy, Influencers have changed their names to Content Creators, adding ‘building a community’ to their ‘day in the life’ videos.
“When you’re next examining your marketing strategy, consider this: with a community, you’re not just speaking to your target audience, you’re investing in them”
As the stigma of loneliness begins to dissolve, a consumer’s attention is switching from finding para-social relationships with individual influencers to actual relationships in a community. People are no longer afraid to admit they’re looking for connections – you only need to look at the year-on-year rise of engagement within the City Girl Network local communities to spot that.
With that attention shift comes a sharp transfer of trust into community recommendations, and marketing spend
is starting to follow it. Look at Sweaty Betty sponsoring These Girls Run, Vitality sponsoring ParkRun, MPB supporting our very own City Girl Creatives and hundreds of businesses joining the City Girl Network Directory. Our advertisers have found they’ve also attracted and retained talent, just to add a bonus point.
Of course, B2B marketing has long embraced the power of community influence. Loch Associates has had over £100,000 worth of business leads just from my own personal recommendations due to its investment in local business communities like Platinum Business. I became a Xero and SumUp customer because they both sponsor Lewes FC.
. It’s a signal that they share the same values, care about their customer, and will offer the same loyalty that’s expected of them. It’s also reflective of the rise of Corporate Social Responsibility policies, and the call for them to go way beyond a tool for attracting the right talent. 84% of millennials believe it’s vital for a business to make a positive impact on society, beyond just making a profit (Deloitte, 2024).
Communities are part of someone’s identity, influencers represent their interests. It’s why Mrs Hinch, ‘Queen of Cleaning’, has been so effective: she has her mighty Hinch Army. Nearly half a million people share, discuss and evaluate cleaning product recommendations, building genuine relationships with each other and vastly increasing the sales of sponsors like Zoflora as a result.
There will always be a place in society for powerful and influential para-social relationships with individuals like Mrs Hinch; they can be great tools for information, education, entertainment and advocacy. But the Hinch Army community is the real purchasing power and it’s the recommendation economy that they’re really led by.
It’s no surprise that Facebook’s rebrand has local tools and the recommendations at the heart of its technology, recognising the sustainability of community purchasing power.
It’s also no surprise that, in 2024, we’re seeing a shift back to the familiar: emotional connections through local communities. With an anxiety-inducing news cycle of political change, wars, natural disasters, and a cost of living crisis, people are finding more safety, comfort and trust in a collective.
We’ve found that the success of our newly-launched deals and discount app, the Friends Pass, has found success not just through community support, but community engagement. The more you share your experience with a product, the more you want others to experience it too (which, coincidentally, is why I also have Zoflora in my cupboard).
It’s harder to measure the ROI of community marketing over an online individual influencer. A community is a whole ecosystem of individual lives, whose online conversations move to the real world – in offices, on buses, at hairdressers. It goes far beyond the UTM parameters on a YouTube video.
“People don’t just buy from people. They buy from people who invest in the communities they care about”
At least 30% of attendees to our active events are wearing Lululemon and Sweaty Betty as a direct result of them investing in local running groups. A group of London Girls have switched to BarryM Face Calming drops because of their involvement in a recent City Girl Network event. My neighbours have got Vitality Health Insurance because their friends go to Parkrun.
When you’re next examining your marketing strategy, consider this: with a community, you’re not just speaking to your target audience, you’re investing in them. And they, in turn, will invest in you.
There is an ambition cap holding female founders back. Emma Gage suggests ways on how to step it up
ARE YOU AIMING HIGH ENOUGH?
Social conditioning from a young age keeps girls neat and contained. We should be humble and ‘lady-like’, we need to play nicely and create harmony. Do what’s expected with no big surprises.
No one likes a woman who’s too full of herself, right?
So what happens when a woman enters the world of business ownership, where owning your value is critical; where developing a personal brand that’s full of opinion and points of view, is exactly what gets you notoriety, or where bucking the norms of your category and standing alone, is what creates a valuable brand?
services, rather than building a powerful brand and business that’s bigger than the thing they do.
That keeps women stuck for too long in the comfortable weeds of the day-to-day, being the ‘doer’ rather than the CEO or visionary. The place of frustration, dysfunction, burnout and capped ambition.
❛❛ We need a stampede of female-unicorns ready to change the status quo ❜❜
The barriers are real at every level, so it’s not just about mindset. The systemic divides in women’s access to help at every stage – from startup funding* through to platforms for profile building, to being considered by buyers to exit – means that everything feels hard.
It feels antithetical and deeply uncomfortable. It causes many women to opt-out, to dilute the extent of their ambition and to play it safe. They’ll wait to earn their space, rather than just claiming it. They’ll play a safer game of selling their
In my experience, having worked with hundreds of women starting, scaling and exiting businesses, when women curb their own ambition, it’s rarely due to a lack of desire and more often about a lack of belief in their ability to leap across the divide.
And when women keep their ambition on the vision board, rather than on the plan, they take themselves out of the race and everyone loses out. They don’t get to stretch themselves and to realise what they’re capable of, they and their families don’t get to benefit from the rewards and the world doesn’t get the impact of these women’s ideas and influence.
This is why we need a stampede of female-unicorns ready to change the status quo. We won’t get there by playing a quiet, women-only game online, or by waiting on the sidelines until it’s our turn, or until the systemic barriers drop. It has to be something we grab with both hands today – and it requires a completely fresh mindset shift.
Whether you want to create a $billion ‘unicorn’ business or not, ramping up the scale of your ambition changes the energy in your business. If you’d like to join the stampede, here’s a question to consider –
Q. If you were building your business to sell it (and let’s think about a lucrative exit), how would that change things today?
I have some ideas.
You’d probably spend a lot less time worrying about your own credibility, experience and abilities and a lot more time thinking about building a business that’s bigger than you. You might hire, evolve your offering, work out how you could create partnerships and affiliations to augment what you have already. It would put you into challenge solving mode and take you out of self-reflection.
You’d know that being a good version of the rest of your category was no longer going to cut it, so you’d be looking out for a high-value space to own. You’d have to have a point of view on where your category space was headed and how you can leverage that.
You’d be positioning you and your business for a real valuable difference.
You’d obsess over the size and impact of your profile. You’d think bigger than a social media following and you’d be looking to get strategic about what you stand for, how you communicate it and the channels that would do that most credibly. You’d be visible, yes, but with a robust plan behind it.
You’d create assets and intellectual property, because you’d know that when you’re no longer there with your hands on everything, the business would need to run beautifully. You’d make your thinking, your brand positioning and your ideas tangible. You’d be creating valuable assets to sell.
This is the kind of thinking that changes the energy for the founder, as well as the real-world impact of the business. It’s the kind of momentum that demands attention and sits differently amongst its competitive set. It’s the way, as female founders, with credible perspectives and ideas, that we create the stampede.
Who’s in?
*In 2023 female-founded businesses received an average of £763,000 in funding, compared to £4.7 million for a male-led equivalent. In 2022, only 2% of all venture capital funding, went to female-businesses.
Emma Gage is a brand and business strategist for female entrepreneurs and the founder of The Wild Ones, which has a mission to blow the gender-based disruption gap wide open and start a stampede of female unicorns. She helps create disruptive business strategies for women who want to grow unicorn businesses.
www.thewildones.io
❛❛ The barriers are real at every level, so it’s not just about mindset. The systemic divides in women’s access to help at every stage ❜❜
In today’s digital age, it’s easy to be swept up in the ‘Instaperfect’ lifestyles we see online—perfect bodies, perfect homes, perfect careers. By Laura Tristram
MIND THE TRAP
Don’t strive for perfection if you value sanity
The pressure to appear flawless online and in every aspect of our lives is taking a significant toll on our wellbeing. Nearly two million people in the UK are currently on waiting lists for mental health services, with the average wait for support 703 days.
Undoubtedly, the online culture of rising perfectionism is a contributing factor. Perfectionism has escalated by 33% since 1989, according to a University of Bath study of 40,000 students across universities in the UK, US and Canada, as online life pushes expectations towards unattainable standards. But as we strive for these ideals, we must ask, at what cost do they come?
While aiming for excellence can motivate, perfectionism is a dangerous mindset that can lead to severe self-criticism,
burnout, and an inability to appreciate personal achievements. It equates self-worth with productivity and success, often leaving individuals trapped in a cycle of dissatisfaction and mental distress. Understanding the nature of perfectionism and recognising its impact, particularly on women, is crucial for breaking this destructive cycle and fostering a healthier, more balanced approach to life.
WHAT IS PERFECTIONISM?
Perfectionism is characterised by the unceasing pursuit of unrealistic goals, leading to an endless loop of self-criticism. Perfectionists are harsh judges of their performance and often fail to recognise their achievements; there are three main types of perfectionism:
“Perfectionism is a 20-ton shield that we lug around, thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from taking flight.”
– Brené Brown
• Self-Oriented Perfectionism: Individuals set excessively high standards for themselves, becoming their own worst critics. This often results in an inability to complete tasks as they never seem ‘good enough.’
• Socially-Prescribed Perfectionism: The belief that society or specific individuals expect one to meet impossible standards. This form can be particularly damaging, as it fosters a sense of never being able to satisfy external expectations.
• Other-Oriented Perfectionism: Setting unrealistic standards for others, leading to frustration and disappointment when they fail to meet these expectations. This form can damage relationships and hinder effective teamwork.
AT WHAT COST?
People who strive for perfection are often caught in a cycle of self-doubt and insecurity, feeling inadequate despite their accomplishments. This can erode self-esteem, making it difficult to appreciate their worth beyond their achievements. Moreover, societal expectations and media portrayals exacerbate these feelings, presenting an ideal of the ‘perfect woman’ that is impossible to attain.
AVOIDING THE PERFECTIONISM TRAP
To navigate the fine line between striving for excellence and falling into the perfectionism trap, here are five questions to ask yourself when working on a task:
1. Is this goal realistic?
Perfectionists often set unattainably high goals. Ask yourself if your current objective is achievable within the given constraints. If not, adjust your expectations to a more realistic level.
2. Am I prioritising progress over perfection?
Focus on the process and your progress rather than a perfect outcome. Celebrate small wins and recognise that growth often comes from learning through mistakes.
3. What would I say to a friend in this situation?
Perfectionists tend to be overly critical of themselves while being compassionate towards others. Practice extending that same kindness to yourself. Would you judge a friend as harshly as you judge yourself?
4. Is the time and effort I’m investing proportional to the value of this task?
Perfectionists can get caught up in minor details. Consider whether the time and effort you put into a task are justified by its importance. It’s essential to recognise when ‘good enough’ is, indeed, enough.
5. Am I afraid of judgement or failure?
“Don’t let the pursuit of perfection hold you back from living a joyful and fulfilling life”
Fear of criticism often drives perfectionism. Reflect on whether your efforts are driven by a genuine desire to do well or by a fear of how you’ll be perceived. Remember, it’s okay not to be perfect; vulnerability is a part of being human.
BREAKING FREE
Overcoming perfectionism starts with understanding that perfection is an illusion. Embrace the idea that self-worth is not tied to achievements. Practice mindfulness to stay grounded in the present and self-compassion to counteract negative self-talk. If perfectionism overwhelms, seeking professional help can provide tailored strategies and support to develop healthier thinking patterns.
Perfectionism can feel like a relentless pursuit, and it often leads to dissatisfaction and poor mental health. By recognising the different forms of perfectionism and reflecting on how it manifests in our lives, we can begin to challenge these harmful tendencies. Remember, aiming for progress rather than perfection is not a sign of complacency but a step toward a more balanced, fulfilling life. So, the next time you find yourself caught in the perfectionism trap, pause and ask: Is this worth my wellbeing?
Don’t let the pursuit of perfection hold you back from living a joyful and fulfilling life.
Laura Tristram is the Mental Health & Wellbeing Lead at Lumii.life, dedicated to promoting mental wellbeing and breaking the stigma surrounding mental health issues.
In our exclusive Spotlight feature, we highlight women who are doing good things in their community. They’re not always seen but we think they should be
SP OTLIGH T
Honor Barratt
Honor is the Chief Executive Officer at Birchgrove, a developer of later-life homes
Ten years ago, I had a hugely successful career in television. I had worked my way up from a clueless runner, fresh out of university to group Managing Director of a 150-person agency.
My work was super exciting, but at 40 I was a bit restless. Then the private equity firm who’d invested in my company asked me to take a look at one of their struggling portfolios, some later-living developments.
I was instantly hooked and abandoned the vacuous world of TV to throw myself headfirst into tackling the problems surrounding housing for older people. There’s a mad obsession with home ownership in this country. But many older people, especially women who’ve been widowed, don’t have enough left in the tank for another house buy late in life. There’s a massive demand for rental properties suitable for those who are older but want to be part of a buzzing community rather than live in a dreary care home before they need to.
After taking up the role of CEO at Birchgrove, it took a lot of hard graft to get our first development in Sidcup up and running in 2019. We’ve since opened two more developments and have six more in the pipeline, but I’m still really proud of that first property, especially now it’s at full occupancy.
I love challenging the status quo. The look on people’s faces when they visit a development for the first time and find pensioners with FOMO rushing to the bar at opening time or busting it out in the gym is priceless. My mother recently moved into one of our developments and dyed her hair pink to celebrate.
I got to the top in two very male-dominated industries, partly by saying ‘yes’ to everything that came my way. Ironically, my belief in the power of ‘yes’ has sometimes been my downfall. Last year, a planning decision didn’t go our way and I was gobsmacked until a member of my team gave it to me straight. He said people had been scared to tell me a ‘no’ was coming as I only ever wanted to hear yes.
“I love challenging the status quo. My mother recently moved into one of our developments and dyed her hair pink to celebrate”
I’ve since hired two senior team members whose brief is to say ‘no’ when necessary. Unfortunately, they do this more often than I’d like, but hopefully this is making me a better leader!
www.birchgrove.life
SP OTLIGH T
Catrina Baker-Bassett
Catrina is Managing Director at digital products experts, Dabapps
If you’d told me 15 years ago I’d be working in tech, I flat out wouldn’t have believed you. Ten years into my career at DabApps, and holding the role of Managing Director for the past two, I still can’t quite believe it myself sometimes – what a journey it’s been so far.
In 2012, having worked in various marketing, sales and business development roles, I knew I wanted a change and a new challenge. A friend encouraged me to join her at an event for women in tech, and a whole new world of opportunities opened up. I made new connections and interviewed with the founders of DabApps – at the time a team of six looking for their first non-technical hire – someone to help with any and every other aspect of growing a small business. That was my cue to enter stage left; I got the job.
Joining a technical agency with very little understanding of what software actually was posed quite a challenge, and led to a steep learning curve! But I instantly loved it. Working with customers, understanding their world, and coming up with solutions to simplify and automate processes is really rewarding. It’s hugely satisfying to see the results of successful projects which help our customers grow and succeed. Learning about so many different industries is one of the best things about agency life.
I also really enjoyed being surrounded by people who knew so much more than me and wanted to explain in words I could understand, not technical jargon. I loved the culture of the company – the importance of work-life balance, of giving people opportunities to succeed, but with an understanding that we all get things wrong and make mistakes sometimes.
We work hard to maintain these values, and I love being somewhere that places good communication, gender parity and transparency at the same level as the quality of the work we do, our operational processes and our client relationships. We need a diverse and happy team to do our best work.
“I love being somewhere that places good communication, gender parity and transparency at the same level as the quality of the work we do”
“I’m passionate in my belief that a diverse team and equity in the workplace are critical to our business’s success”
Over the past decade, I’ve been able to hone my management skills in the STEM arena and build teams that do great things. My original focus was project and product management and I still really enjoy the work and processes associated with these roles.
This includes figuring out with stakeholders what success looks like for them, how to make experiences better for the people using the software, how to incorporate meaningful AI and other technologies as the landscape changes. I love seeing the end results and being part of a team that wants to deliver exceptional digital products that make life a little better, and solve problems.
I’m passionate in my belief that a diverse team and equity in the workplace are critical to our business’s success and do my best to ensure that we remain true to those elements in our practices and ethos. I’m writing this whilst hosting a codebar workshop at our office in central Brighton, which feels somewhat serendipitous.
Codebar’s goal is ‘to enable minority group members to learn programming in a safe and collaborative environment and expand their career opportunities.’ I think this is the hill I’ll die on.
I’m also on the advisory board for TechNative, a hub for developing new talent, with a focus on closing the skills gap and removing barriers to those currently under-represented in the industry. With my wonderful colleagues at DabApps, I help run work experience programmes every year with local colleges. It is rewarding and hard work in equal measure! I’m about to start mentoring with The Girls’ Network, and can’t wait to see what that experience brings. I’m sure it’ll be as much a learning experience for me as it is for my mentee.
As I reflect on my tenth year at DabApps, I can say that I’m really proud of our team, the work we do and our great reputation. Bring on the next ten years!
www.dabapps.com
CATEGORIES
BUSINESS GROWTH AWARD
BUSINESSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
CEO OF THE YEAR
COMMUNITY HERO AWARD
COMPANY OF THE YEAR
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INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
INSPIRATIONAL AWARD
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SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPION AWARD
FUTURE TALENT OF THE YEAR
BEST NEW BUSINESS AWARD
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AWARD
PROPERTY PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
WOMEN IN TECH AWARD
BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
My business isn’t unique How do I stand out from the
With an estimated 359 million companies worldwide in 2023, a significant increase on 328 million in 2020, it’s highly unlikely that any business started today is going to be unique. So how can you make sure your business stands out, when it would be so easy to blend into a sea of sameness?
The first step is to recognise why you want to stand out. It’s no good simply wanting to be different for the sake of being different. It’s about the desire to be innovative - either in terms of your offerings, delivery or marketing - so that your business is actually doing things differently and creating better outcomes for your customers, whatever those may be.
to after-care. Great after-sales support can turn onetime buyers into lifelong customers and brand advocates. Streamline processes, train staff, promptly resolve any issues and remove friction from the buyer’s journey.
If you want to stay relevant and top of your game (and to stay profitable, you need to aim for this, always), then your business offerings, branding, marketing and processes all need to be reviewed regularly and reimagined accordingly. You need to pay attention to what everybody else in your niche, or selling to a similar customer base, is doing – and do things differently.
“The world needs progressive thinking within all industries, to avoid things standing still”
Innovation can take many forms. It doesn’t (and shouldn’t) be limited purely to technology. In fact, discouraging other forms of innovation is dangerous, the world needs progressive thinking within all industries to avoid things standing still. Innovation is also an important way to protect your business.
If you create something that has Intellectual Property, you can apply to protect it, meaning that nobody else can claim it as theirs. If you’re delivering a service, focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience from pre-purchase
You may even want to niche down further, so that you become THE business servicing one key segment of your industry. Your finger needs to be well and truly on the pulse and you need to keep one eye on the competition as you continuously challenge yourself to do better.
If you’ve compared your offerings and processes and they’re pretty similar to the rest of your industry, possibly through necessity, then there are still ways you can create standout. Take a good look at your branding and marketing activities. Is there a certain aesthetic that’s all too common in your industry? Are you vying for attention in all the same places?
unique the crowd?
By Niki Hutchinson
If the answer is yes, this is great news! You simply need to lean in to what makes your business, your business. Perhaps it’s your values, your backstory or your brand personality that’s different. Dig deep enough and there will likely be several things you could leverage and shine the spotlight on, that are part of your individuality.
“If, once your visual brand has been created, there’s a sniff of familiarity about it, keep working until it’s gone”
Take these things (and there will be some things) and use them to define your brand. This is what makes you unique, even if you’re not yet aware of it. Define your brand values (what you stand for), your brand personality, tone of voice, your brand essence (what’s at the absolute heart of what your business is all about, why it exists), the benefits of working with your business, rather than a competitor, the evidence you have to back this up.
Then take all of this information and use it to decide what a brand like yours could look like visually. Unless you’re a graphic designer, then it’s likely you’ll need professional help at this point.
If, once your visual brand has been created, there’s a sniff of familiarity about it, a hint of ‘I’ve seen that somewhere before’, keep working until it’s gone. This is crucial! You don’t want any of your precious marketing efforts to go to waste, which they will if your brand looks like anyone else’s.
Once you’ve done all of the above, it’s time to use content marketing to showcase your brand personality, not only visually but also tonally. What do you have to say that’s different to everybody else? What interesting things can you share in exciting ways? Create valuable content and think about the different formats you’re going to deliver it in, perhaps a blog, podcast, or regular in-person sessions. By providing value beyond your core offerings, you position your business as an authority in your field.
So while having a unique product or service can be advantageous, it’s not the only path to creating standout out in a competitive market. By focusing on the strategies above, you can differentiate your business based on how you operate, the experience you provide, and the values you embody.
Remember, success often comes not simply from being different, but from making a difference in the lives of your customers - and communicating that difference effectively.
Niki Hutchison is a Marketing Strategist, CEO of Enjoy Marketing® and host of podcast ‘From Overlooked To Fully Booked®’ www.enjoymarketing.agency
FURTHER READING…
10 SECRETS TO DEVELOP YOUR CAREER
Move Up or Move On: 10 Secrets to Develop Your Career by Angela Lane and Sergey Gorbatov.
Angela Lane is a senior executive with more than 30 years of experience leading global Human Resource functions. Sergey Gorbatov, Ph.D., is an accomplished consultant, educator, and thought leader in the field of talent management.
Angela has led transformational change of the talent landscape across a range of Fortune 250 companies. She is a behavioural economist by training, with additional qualifications in industrial law and business administration. Her work has appeared in a range of HR and Business publications. Sergei has more than two decades of experience in prominent roles within multinationals such as AbbVie, PMI, and Shell. Career choices are tough.
The challenge often isn’t the decision itself but the uncertainty about the consequences. Our minds spiral into ‘what ifs?’ turning even simple choices into stressful dilemmas. Many of us also hesitate to seek help, thinking we should have the answers ourselves. This isolation only makes the process
SUCCESSFUL CAREER STRATEGY: AN HR PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO REACH YOUR DREAM JOB (BUSINESS GUIDES ON THE GO) by Sven Sommerlatte Springer (2023)
This book offers a basic methodology as well as practical tools and a variety of case studies that are helpful for the development and implementation of a career strategy. It helps to match talents with aspirations in order to encourage candidates to make courageous career decisions, and offers guidance on how to choose the professional environment that best fits personal preferences. The book is primarily aimed at young professionals who want to develop their career in the most effective way.
harder. Then there’s the complexity – career decisions shape how we’ll spend years of our lives, so the stakes feel high. Often, people lack the self-awareness needed to align choices with personal goals. Add in societal pressures, family obligations, and the need to balance work and personal life, and the weight of each decision can feel overwhelming.
We’ve seen these struggles firsthand. Questions like, “How many times can I say no to relocation?” or “Will I be passed over for promotion if I go part-time?” are common. This is why we advocate for The Long Game approach.
In Move Up or Move On, the authors emphasise that careers are marathons, not sprints. There are times to acceler-
I WISH I’D KNOWN THIS: 6 CAREER-ACCELERATING SECRETS FOR WOMEN LEADERS by Brenda Wensil & Kathryn Heath Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2022)
Uncover the six blind spots that derail women’s career paths and learn strategies to effectively overcome them for an impactful, sustainable career. Professional women are subject to blind spots - obstacles that can minimise career potential, impact, or advancement. Authors and executive coaches Brenda Wensil and Kathryn Heath have spent decades coaching more than 800 women and working with women executives, middle managers, and professionals across industries and age groups. In this book, they outline six challenges women commonly face on their professional journeys.
ate and times to slow down. The key is knowing when each is needed. Strategic planning – not rushed decisions – ensures that your career remains aligned with both personal and professional priorities.
Trade-offs are challenging because they involve deep emotions. We fear missing out while peers progress, or we dread letting others down. This tension makes us feel like we’re sacrificing either our career or personal life. The stress and anxiety often stem from a ‘now or never’ mindset.
But playing the long game means making decisions based on a clear, evolving view of your priorities. You can navigate your career over time, knowing that phases of slowing down and
THE CAREER CHANGE GUIDE: FIVE STEPS TO FINDING YOUR DREAM JOB by Rachel Schofield Michael Joseph (2023)
One of The Telegraph’s best self-help books of 2023. Discover what you really want from work - and how to get there. This practical guide takes the confusion, fear and indecision out of career change. Whether making small adjustments or life-changing moves, it provides simple, achievable steps to turn your dreams into reality. The Career Change Guide will help you investigate your skills as well as discover your drives, interests and inspirations. It will take you on a structured five step journey of Preparing, Reflecting, Imagining & Designing, Taking Action and Keeping Going
“Don’t shortcut your career — play the long game by taking a long-term perspective on your career and balancing immediate needs with future aspirations.”
– S Gorbatov
speeding up are natural. Objectively reviewing your life commitments and how they change allows you to make rational decisions about when to push forward and when to pause.
By embracing the long game, you can build a sustainable career that aligns with your long-term goals and values.
CAREER ON COURSE: 10 STRATEGIES TO TAKE YOUR CAREER FROM ACCIDENTAL TO INTENTIONAL by Scott Jeffrey Miller Baker Books (2024)
Most careers unfold accidentally, haphazardly, and with too much serendipity. That means lost traction, lost years, and lost opportunities. But your career doesn’t have to be that way Career on Course unpacks the 10 steps that will take your career from accidental to intentional. Drawing upon insights and best practices from three decades in professional and leadership development, Scott Jeffrey Miller shares his process for creating a plan that empowers you to take control of your career.
By KELLIE MILLER
MORE THAN WORDS THE WORKS OF KATE RICHARDSON
To connect with the visual arts, you need to set time aside to feel. The messages conveyed can be just whispers. With many distractions and activities vying for our attention in a social media—and technologically dominated era, if we are not still enough in this noisy, demanding world, we can easily miss the sometimes hidden, treasured meanings.
Artist Kate Richardson is mindful of how powerful the medium of art is and how it communicates thoughts, feelings, and experiences that sometimes evade verbal articulation. She flows with her creativity, seamlessly moving between subject matters yet still retaining her signature style, a rare achievement for any artist.
concealed words underneath, often with enlightening content. If you take a moment to contemplate, you might catch the essence of her pieces.
“Through my art, I can explore and convey the depth of my feelings, fears, and aspirations in a way that my words might betray. It allows me to portray my inner world — the struggles, the joys, the confusion — in a tangible form that is often more profound than the limitations of language.”
Kate’s oil paintings are a unique expression of freedom, boundless in imagination
Kate’s oil paintings are a unique expression of freedom, boundless in imagination. With the addition of mixed media, each original piece is uncompromising and unlimited, with inspiration drawn from her home surroundings – windswept trees, dramatic shorelines, colourful fields and angelic beings. Her works are built as many layers, sometimes with
Like many artists, her work has an emotional element that reflects her description of the painting process as simultaneously cathartic, meditative, explorative, and exhilarating.
Her works are unspoken words that invite you into her world, where you can resonate with the art and reflect on your own stories.
Kellie Miller is an artist, curator, critic and gallery owner. www.kelliemillerarts.com
“Ashiel”
“Through my art, I can explore and convey the depth of my feelings, fears, and aspirations in a way that my words might betray”
– Kate Richardson
“Soleil”
“The Sign”
HOTEL INDIGO Stratford-upon-Avon
Tucked inside the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon, Hotel Indigo Stratford is everything a boutique hotel should be – full of character, elegance, and uniquely tailored to its setting. By Tess de Klerk
It is clear that this is a hotel with a story to tell. Standing across from Shakespeare’s final residence, this property is no mere nod to history; it immerses guests in Stratford’s past, while delivering all the comfort of a luxurious contemporary stay. A mere stone’s throw from the River Avon, a short stroll from the world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre, and nestled among the cobbled streets of the old town, the Hotel Indigo Stratford could scarcely be better positioned. You find yourself, quite literally, on Shakespeare’s doorstep, with all of Stratford’s major sights at your fingertips.
Hotel Indigo Stratford offers a wonderful base for anyone visiting Shakespeare’s hometown. The location couldn’t be better for sightseeing
with beams of dark, timeworn wood and heavy fireplaces that make you feel like you’ve stepped back into Elizabethan England. And even though it’s steeped in history, there’s nothing staid about the place – you can feel the care that’s gone into every detail, from the decor to the layout and even the carefully stocked minibar.
The addition of a newer wing to Hotel Indigo Stratford works well. A blend of old and new throughout feels effortlessly done. While history pulses through the older parts of the building, the newer areas are equally inviting, with a contemporary style that’s clean, fresh, and comfortable.
True to the Hotel Indigo brand’s commitment to celebrating the unique character of each location, this property honours its town’s heritage beautifully. The hotel occupies part of the 16th-century Falcon Inn, with the original building dating back to 1624. The Tudor section is filled
If you can, I’d recommend booking a room in the Tudor or Georgian parts of the hotel for that extra layer of historic charm. The rooms here are filled with period details but are also kitted out with the kind of luxuries one expects today –
think Egyptian cotton linens, large rain showers, and spacious bathrooms with a spa-inspired design. Our stay was in the more recent extension, which, while contemporary, still had plenty of thoughtful touches and a chic, cosy feel that made it easy to relax after a day exploring Stratford.
One of the highlights of a stay at Hotel Indigo Stratford is the fabulous breakfast. Served in the historic dining area, it’s a perfect way to start the day, with options ranging from a traditional full English to lighter, healthier options. Ingredients are clearly of high quality, and everything is beautifully prepared, down to the freshly baked pastries and perfectly brewed coffee. It’s well worth lingering a little longer over breakfast here, soaking up the atmosphere of the Tudor dining room while planning your day’s adventures.
The hotel’s gorgeous garden is another feature not to be missed. Set just behind the Tudor building, this peaceful retreat is a real surprise, with blooming flowers, cosy seating areas, and even a trickling water feature. Enjoying a cocktail or two here as the sun sets is one of the true joys of staying at Hotel Indigo. The garden’s relaxed ambience makes it feel like you’re a world away from the lively town centre, and it’s a fantastic spot to unwind before or after an evening out.
Overall, Hotel Indigo Stratford offers a wonderful base for anyone visiting Shakespeare’s hometown. The location couldn’t be better for sightseeing, and the blend of character and comfort makes it a special place to return to each evening. Whether you’re a history enthusiast, a theatre lover, or simply looking for a memorable weekend away, Hotel Indigo Stratford provides a uniquely Stratford experience. It’s the kind of hotel that invites you to slow down, savour the moment, and truly enjoy all that this charming town has to offer.
www.stratford.hotelindigo.com
+ GOOD TO KNOW
Accessible? The hotel has ramp access as well as rooms with roll-in showers, emergency pull cords and handrails.
Family-friendly? Yes, cots are available and they offer extra beds for children. Breakfast is charged at £10 for children under 12 and free for under 4s.
Pet-friendly? No, but service dogs can be accommodated.
Hotel parking is available but will be limited until 9/12/24. Alternative parking is available.
Double Queen Premium room (inc breakfast) starting from £144 pn in November
The Tudor Room
The Georgian Room
The Oak Room
MOWGLI STREET FOOD•BRIGHTON A journey through Indian street food
By Tess de Klerk
Nestled in Dukes Lane, Mowgli Street Food has quickly become a favourite in Brighton, offering an explosion of Indian flavours and a vibrant, laid-back atmosphere. Mowgli was founded by Nisha Katona, a former barrister turned food entrepreneur, who brings her passion for authentic Indian street food to the UK with a unique twist.
THE VISION BEHIND MOWGLI
Nisha Katona’s story is as inspiring as it is integral to Mowgli’s identity. After 20 years in law, she left her career to follow her love for food, driven by a desire to share the bright, authentic dishes of her heritage. Her approach to the restaurant world is far more than just culinary; she’s committed to creating a positive impact in the communities where Mowgli sets up shop. Mowgli has even earned a place on the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list, a recognition of Nisha’s dedication to building a nurturing and supportive work environment.
As Mowgli continues to grow, Nisha’s mission remains clear – to create enriching opportunities in every city her restaurants reach. Each full-time employee represents a sponsored child in need, while every Mowgli location partners with a local charity, donating proceeds
to support their cause. Through The Mowgli Trust, the restaurant has raised over a million pounds for local and international charities, making a meaningful difference with each new branch. For diners, knowing that Mowgli is built on values of community and compassion adds an extra layer to the experience, making each meal into something larger than the sum of its dishes.
ATMOSPHERE
Walking into Mowgli Brighton, you’re greeted by an inviting and lively space, blending modern design with touches inspired by Indian street culture. The décor is playful and comforting, with cosy swings, rustic wooden tables, hanging plants, and fairy lights creating a warm and earthy feel while capturing the essence of an Indian street-side eatery.
FOOD AND DRINK
Mowgli’s menu is all about sharing plates, offering a great way to explore a range of Indian street food flavours without committing to just one dish. A standout starter is the yoghurt chat bombs, crispy shells filled with spiced yoghurt, tamarind, and mint, delivering a perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and cooling flavours. Another must-try is the bhel puri, a popular Mumbai street food that combines puffed rice, vegetables, and chutneys for a crunchy, tangy taste sensation.
For something more substantial, the mother butter chicken is a comforting favourite, with tender chicken in a rich,
As Mowgli continues to grow, Nisha’s mission remains clear – to create enriching opportunities in every city her restaurants reach
creamy tomato-based sauce that’s ideal for scooping up with the soft puri bread. There are many vegetarian options. The aloo ghobi – a spiced blend of potatoes and cauliflower – is sublime. The house lamb curry is another highlight, slowcooked to perfection and packed with deep, bold flavours that keep you coming back for more.
The drinks menu also complements the food well, with refreshing options like the Mowgli gin fizz — a cocktail of gin, elderflower, and lemon that pairs beautifully with the spices in the dishes. For a non-alcoholic choice, the mango lassi is a cool, creamy drink that balances the heat and adds a touch of sweetness to the meal.
SERVICE AND EXPERIENCE
Mowgli servers are eager to offer recommendations, answer questions, and ensure diners enjoy each moment without feeling rushed. The team’s pride in their work creates a genuinely inviting atmosphere.
Mowgli Brighton stands out for its friendly, attentive staff, who add a welcoming warmth to every table
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mowgli brings Brighton a mix of authentic Indian flavours and a deep commitment to community. Founder Nisha Katona’s passion for food and positive impact shines through, making Mowgli more than a meal—it’s a memorable experience for any occasion.
Featuring an array of local, independent traders with a variety of stalls including local and artisan food and drink, and distinctive gifts and stocking fillers. You’ll also find workshops such as chocolate decorating. Younger visitors can enjoy the vintage carousel at the funfair, step into a giant snow globe and meet Santa in his Grotto. Storytelling sessions feature Mistletoe the Elf and the Christmas Tree Fairy who will weave together traditional tales from the North Pole.
November 23rd-24th
LEWES GRAYSON PERRY: A TEMPLE FOR EVERYONE
Explore the meaning of ‘home’ through the work of Grayson Perry, one of Britain’s best-known artists. From textiles and pots to ceramic tiles and woodcuts, ‘Grayson Perry: A Temple for Everyone’ tells stories of home, asking questions about how those stories shape who we are. How does our definition of home affect our sense of identity? What does it mean to be British today?
South of England Showground, Ardingly, RH17 6TL info@seas.org.uk
Until March 2nd 2025 Charleston, Southover Road, Lewes BN7 1AB
WHAT’S ON...
A brief snapshot of art and culture in
the region
MAIDENHEAD
AURIE
STYLA: THE AURATOR TOUR
After a year of performing worldwide, award-winning comedian Aurie Styla is back on tour, with his biggest one to date. Join him as he talks about this wild world, and his journey to make sense of it, in The Aurator! As seen on Deep Fake Neighbour Wars (ITVX), Comedy Central Live, Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club (ITV), Life’s A Pitch (Sky), Don’t Hate The Playaz (ITV), The StandUp Sketch Show (ITV2), Mo Gilligan’s Black British & Funny (C4) & more.
November 30th
Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, Maidenhead, SL6 4PF norden.farm/events/aurie-styla-the-aurator-tour
CRAWLEY
MAKING STUFF HAPPEN
Producer Gathering, in partnership with Marlborough Productions and Creative Crawley, proudly presents Making Stuff Happen, a one-day event that breaks down the mysteries of event planning and what it means to organise public events in the arts. This is your chance to connect with like-minded creatives, get expert advice, and fuel your passion! This is part of The Creative Village, an exciting project by Creative Crawley that aims to empower creative professionals and volunteers in Crawley. This event is open to people who are interested in making stuff happen, volunteers, and creative professionals.
November 9th 2024 Theatre Centre, Crawley allevents.in/crawley/making-stuff-happen-for-creatives-andcurious-minds/100001011326584037
Experience Leonardslee Lights as its gardens become more magical than before! Awash with lights, sound and colour, a fun winter experience for everyone. Come for an incredible winter trail featuring a whole new route, along with impressive installations inspired by our beautiful gardens.
Selected dates: November 22nd – December 30th. Brighton Road, Horsham, RH13 6PP leonardsleegardens.co.uk/lights
NR ARDINGLY GLOW WILD
Sussex’s award-winning lantern trail offers unforgettable “wow moments” for the whole family with a new route, exclusive art installations, and a magical Christmas Eve date. Discover an immersive, interactive trail of hand-crafted lantern displays and bespoke light installations by leading artists, inspired by the hidden world of trees. Create memories under the iconic Christmas tree and be mesmerised by the giant flying owl and life-sized wood dragon, as the gardens are transformed into a wintery wonderland.
November 28th 2024 – January 1st 2025
Wakehurst Place, Nr Ardlingly, RH17 6TN kew.org/wakehurst/whats-on/glow-wild-2024
HOVE JAZZ AT ST ANDREWS PRESENTS
Paul and Vasilis are two of the UK’s finest and most prominent musicians and have collaborated together for over 20 years, so it is a great honour to welcome them both to St Andrews.
The Guardian praised saxophonist Vasilis Xenopoulos as a leading example of European musicians who live and perform in Britain. Paul Edis is one of the most creative musicians in the UK today. With Chris Coull (trumpet) Nigel Thomas (bass) and Angus Bishop (drums)
November 22nd 2024
St Andrew’s Church, CHove, BN3 2AD visitbrighton.com/whats-on/jazz-at-st-andrews-presents-pauledis-and-vasilis-xenopoulos-p2431071
CONCERT FOR UKRAINE
Distinguished Ukrainian International Musicians: Olga Paliy (piano) and Yuliya Shpyg (soprano) perform music by Mozart, Purcell, Scarlatti, Chopin, Poulenc, Kosenko & Ukrainian songs and more. Raising funds for Ukrainian young people’s charities.
November 17th
St Mary’s House And Gardens, Bramber, BN44 3WE stmarysbramber.co.uk
