In this episode, Ian Fitch chats with Ian Mather, so it’s less a tale of two halves, and more the tale of two Ian’s! Sit back and listen to them ‘kicking around’ thoughts on what it really means to pursue a second career. Ian Mather is a retired solicitor and former partner at Mills & Reeves, but decided that retirement wasn’t for him, especially once the job of CEO of Cambridge Football Club presented itself.

Ian specialised in employment law and was an advocate of mediation over expensive litigation throughout his career. With the skills he learnt in how to mediate successfully and to manage his own company and staff, Ian felt he had a sound basis to step in and guide the football club to promotion.

Ian talks about the benefits of having a clear strategy and the importance of communicating this with your teams, especially when you‘re new to a business. Ian looks back to the beginning of lockdown and reflects on how important it was to develop quick decision-making skills; which led to developing the idea of fan bubbles and Cambridge FC being the first club in the UK to welcome back fans.

Ian considers the key to his ongoing success is treating people decently and listening to them. During his first few months with the club, he focused on observation; what was working well and what wasn’t, and he developed his relationships with the team which helped guide them out of a turbulent time.

Ian believes passionately in clubs engaging with their communities by actively taking part in youth groups, adopting sustainable practices, engaging fans and helping out with community work.
The club signed up to Fair Game, a regulatory initiative supported by Government, to make clubs more accountable. This involves closer financial monitoring to avoid closures, and creating a sustainable business model for football clubs. Ian discusses how the current financial model in our national game is broken, and provides insights into why more and more clubs are signing up to Fair Game.

This episode is a fascinating listen for business leaders and football fans alike and provides a great example of how taking risks by transferring your skills and talents to a new role you are passionate about, can be fruitful and fulfilling.

There are no red flags in this episode, only golden boots, so join us in this peek behind the scenes of the beautiful game and learn from a man working to turn its financial credibility around.

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Show notes
Fair Game
Cambridge United FC

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Chances are that your local park is swamped with runners every Saturday morning. Parkrun has become the world’s largest physical activity provider, operating in 23 countries, with 7 million members worldwide and over 2000 weekly events.

This charitable organisation prides itself on being an accessible access point to exercise for everyone. It works with local communities, relying on volunteer participation to make the events happen. You may wonder how these free-to-attend events make money and Nick gives a fascinating answer by discussing what it’s like to say no to giant corporations like Pepsi and navigating the ethics of commercial sponsors, making sure they fit the message and ethos of Parkrun.

As part of government initiatives to improve wellbeing in communities, Parkrun works with local authorities across the world to make these events happen. It’s not just about physical health, they are huge advocates of the mental health benefits that come from volunteering and taking part at their events.
Parkrun’s success comes from the flexibility it offers and its informal arrangements. Organising this many people every week takes serious people skills, especially when your global team consists of only 45 staff! Nick tells us how his retail background gave him the perfect skill set for his role, using his customer service experience to help create the culture and PR strategy at mission-based Parkrun.

Nick reflects on lockdown, and how although the financial future of the business was secure, there was a great deal of uncertainty around events starting again. He talks openly about being caught up in UK bureaucracy as restrictions were being lifted and his involvement in applying pressure to cautious local authorities to reopen events, when the Government had advised that Parkrun should go ahead but had handed down the decision-making to local levels. Nick didn’t want the attention, but with Parkrun’s high profile, it meant that this ‘spat’ was in the spotlight. Nick persevered because he knew it was important for the mental health of so many members, particularly those who access Parkrun, in part, because they can only afford ‘free’.

This is a great peek behind the scenes of a huge, not-for profit organisation, and a fantastic place to pause series 2 of Business Insights Chat for the summer. We will be back with more guests in the autumn!

You can learn more about Parkrun here.

We would love to hear from you, get in touch with us on podcasts@larking-gowen.co.uk.

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and whilst you are there, we would really appreciate a 5* review, as this helps other people find our podcast!

Show notes:

Fish! A remarkable way to boost morale

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This week’s chat is a real eye opener. Engagement with media can be make or break for some businesses – ever wondered what it suggests when you say “no comment”? Experienced journalist, and owner of Mediapro, Maria Veronese lets you in on what the journalist really thinks when you say that, and why it’s always best to try and take control, particularly if you find yourself at the centre of a PR disaster! Mediapro offers media training to help business leaders learn how to talk confidently on the record, sticking to key points, and how to get your point or story across effectively. As Maria explains; “an interview is just a conversation with a purpose”.

As a regular face on BBC Look East, Maria offers insight on the difference between what she calls ‘PR puff’ and an actual news story, and how it’s always important to be transparent. Maria is also passionate about flexible working, particularly for working parents, and those with caring responsibilities, something she embraces in her role on the Board of Directors at the East of England Co-op.

Ian also asks Maria about the approach local news took during lockdown, and she explains how it was so important to help keep communities informed and connected. She also looks back on the stories in her career which were hard to cover, and how these stories can impact the journalist, including the times she covered a catastrophic earthquake in her hometown in New Zealand, and when she covered the Ipswich ‘Suffolk Strangler’, and Soham murders.

Learning how to embrace the media in your business will be key as we move out of lockdown, and into the new normal, which includes the world of 24 hours news, which has been bolstered by the events of the last year. You might find yourself in need of some media training one day, and Maria offers a peek behind the curtain into what you need to consider, and why.

You can learn about Mediapro and their services here

Catch Maria’s ‘Auntie’s Bloomers’ moment, and encounter with the ostriches here!

You can visit the Co-op here

Maria's views are her own, and are not those of the BBC.

We would love to hear from you, get in touch with us on podcasts@larking-gowen.co.uk.

If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and whilst you are there, we would really appreciate a 5* review, as this helps other people find our podcast!

www.larking-gowen.co.uk/lg-insights 

(c) Larking Gowen LLP