2025: Another Year Wiser
From our offices in the heart of Covent Garden, it’s hard to ignore the ground rush of Christmas (for which I still need to do my shopping…). And like that, another year has flown by.
This period last year was filled with uncertainty of what President Trump’s second term would bring and what that would mean for us all. For our firm, whilst some uncertainty has continued in the global economy, we reflect on a positive and busy first full year.
We remain grateful to our clients for placing their trust in us for the key changes in their functions. And we reflect with great pride on the myriad projects we have worked on across Europe. In September, we launched our first office in the Middle East, where Lauren Tarbit has done a fantastic job of building our business in UAE. From her experience in market – and our recent trips – it is clear that the region is brimming with ambition. Its commitment to innovation and investment is also increasingly establishing the region as a hub of standard-setting expertise which harnesses AI, technology, data and measurement in ways that older economies are less quick to embrace. It is an exciting time, for sure.
Recent visits to our sister companies in the US, Germany and Hong Kong have not only been fruitful and enjoyable but have also paved the way for ever closer collaboration. And that was in evidence this month with the launch of our inaugural Global Communications & Corporate Affairs Survey. The findings speak to the increased pace of change and volatility that businesses are facing, and the role that Corporate Affairs can play in meeting this need.
We have grown, too. Having successfully brought two businesses together last year, we have enjoyed welcoming new colleagues to the team, and they are already making such a positive impact.
Growth has also been in our lines of work; we launched our IR Report which assessed the changing dynamics the function is facing, and the increased versatility required of the modern IRD. And our organisational design work has grown at pace and undertook our biggest organisational design project to date.
The year ends with strong impetus and we’re proud that the diversity of this year’s searches is echoed by the business that we will take into 2026. And it’s a year that we look forward to with greater clarity, and already with a busy calendar of events. First among those will be Davos (where Jessamyn Katz, Tori Cowley, Christian Löcker and I will be attending) – if you are going and would like to catch up, please let me know.
For now, we hope that you’re able to enjoy a restorative break!
Matthew Wall, Founder and Managing Partner