Engagement Clarifies Purpose

Between transmission and receipt, a lot can get lost or distorted in a leader’s communications. This can lead to big differences in what employees perceive and what leaders intend. The only way to know is to engage.

That’s why Graham North, Chief Executive Officer at Anstey Horne, has made employee engagement one of the key themes of his leadership, and used it to help articulate the firm’s purpose. Graham is an expert advisor on specialist property issues and a seasoned business leader.  He has been responsible for creating a renewed energy and growth at Anstey Horne, while developing a leadership cadre to drive continued growth. 

Anstey Horne is the leading authority in specialist surveying services including Rights of Light, Party Walls, Neighbourly matters, Building Surveying, Project Management, Cost Consultancy and Fire Consultancy. It traces its London roots back to 1795. The business now employs about 120 people and operates across the UK.

Listen as Graham describes the firm's evolution, purpose, and strategic objectives on this episode of The Purposeful Strategist.

Graham North

Drones Deliver This Company’s Purpose

Windracers, the UK-based manufacturer of self-flying aircraft and avionics, was founded to help humanitarian agencies get essential supplies to remote communities during emergencies and disasters.

The company’s ULTRA MK2 aircraft, a low cost, self-flying, fixed wing cargo plane, will be used by Aviation Sans Frontieres this year to deliver supplies for humanitarian organisations in Africa. With a payload of over 100kg and a range of 1,000 km, ULTRA has flown reconnaissance and resupply in Ukraine, geological and wildlife surveying in Antarctica, parcel delivery off the Scottish and English coasts, wildfire missions, and dropped medical supplies by parachute. 

Windracers believes that the craft is also ideally placed to help achieve its commercial ambition to be “the best value end-to-end cargo drone solution in the market”.

Group Chief Executive Officer Simon Thompson explains how Windracers balances its humanitarian purpose with its commercial objectives, on this episode of The Purposeful Strategist.

As CEO of Windracers Group, Simon focuses on design, product R&D, fundraising, strategic partnerships and global growth of the company. Simon was CEO of Royal Mail and has held senior leadership roles across multiple industries in global companies such as Apple, Honda, HSBC and Motorola.

Windracers was conceived to provide essential logistical support to humanitarian agencies looking to sustain communities through emergencies where transportation links are poor.  Their solution was designed to provide a robust, cost-effective alternative to expensive, crewed aviation for reaching local and remote villages quickly and effectively.

The Windracers system – aircraft, software and operational services - has emerged at the forefront of uncrewed, autonomous aviation and its application and utility for middle-mile logistics is relevant to a wide range of sectors and situations.

Simon Thompson in front of Ultra MK2

Shared Strategy Encourages Employee Autonomy

A business strategy that’s shared and owned by everyone enables employees to make autonomous decisions. And that can create a new generation of leaders in the business.

So says Mark Cuddigan, CEO of This, the UK plant-based food company on a mission “to force animals into retirement.”  To date, the recipe has helped This to grow to be the fourth largest brand in the UK's plant-based category, since it was founded in 2020. The company now almost 8 % of the chilled meat-free market.

Mark explains what drives this purpose-drive B-Corp, and discusses how collaboration within the industry could help advance the linked causes of animal welfare and environmental protection, in the latest episode of The Purposeful Strategist.

Prior to joining THIS, Mark was CEO at Ella's Kitchen for over 12 years. A passionate advocate for business being a force for good, Mark was on the board of B Lab that charity that runs the B Corporation movement for 5 years. Mark is also a NED of the smoothie company Mockingbird and the IT provider Klyk.

Mark Cuddigan

Banking On Purpose

Unity Trust Bank wants to become the bank of choice for socially minded organisations in the UK. Last year the bank exceeded £1 billion of total lending for the first time in its 40-year history.

The bank uses customer deposits only to support organisations that address social, economic and environmental needs and produce measurable results, so what’s behind its success? Chief Executive Officer Colin Fyfe credits the bank’s purpose, which has created real alignment between shareholder, board, executive, and staff.

Learn how on this week’s episode of The Purposeful Strategist. Unity Trust Bank aims to be the bank of choice for all socially-minded organisations in the UK. Through safe, sustainable growth, they support their customers to deliver social, economic or environmental change in their communities while also meeting their commercial needs.

They provide sustainable banking services to businesses that share their principles of acting with integrity and only take deposits or provide finance to organisations where there is an alignment to their values and they can measure impact.

Colin has led financial services firms for 10 years through his roles as Chief Executive Officer at Hinckley & Rugby Building Society and Darlington Building Society. This followed a 29 year banking career with the National Australia Bank Group, with the majority of this time spent at Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank. His experience covered corporate, commercial, private, and retail banking and leadership positions spanning marketing, people, sales, and risk teams across these sectors.

Colin holds a Non-Executive Director position with Ahead Partnership, a purpose-driven business which supports young people to improve their careers outcomes and is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland.

Colin Fyfe

Beer Maker Uses Purpose to Change Pay, Products and Markets

What’s the purpose of a company that makes beer? Paolo Lanzarotti, CEO of Asahi Europe & International, defines his company’s purpose as “creating meaningful connections.”

The phrase is deceptively simple, but the CEO and his team have unpacked the meaning in the words and put them to practical work across this giant beer maker. They are using the purpose to drive hard commercial decisions, engage employees, shape sustainable practices and drive product development, ultimately linking purpose to overall business strategy.

This purpose has changed how people are paid, how products are designed, and even prompted the decision to withdraw from the plastic-bottled beer market in Eastern Europe.

In this episode of The Purposeful Strategist, Paolo describes the five-year journey to uncover the business purpose, and the continuing efforts to put it to work, both inside the business and beyond.

Paolo began his career in ExxonMobil where he worked in several increasingly senior commercial and country leadership roles across Europe, Africa and India. In 2005, he joined SABMiller as Strategic Planning Director for Birra Peroni in Italy. Since then he has worked in a number of strategically important roles including Managing Director of SABMiller businesses in Slovakia, India, and the Czech Republic. Through the transition in ownership from SABMiller, through ABInbev and into Asahi, Paolo has led the business in Central Europe. Since April 2017, he has been the CEO of Asahi’s businesses across Europe and is current CEO of Asahi Europe & International (AEI) which today runs 19 production facilities across 8 European countries, while also developing and managing a number of key export markets globally. Paolo also serves as Vice-President of the Brewers of Europe.

Asahi Europe & International is the international branch of Asahi Group Holdings, a global beverage and food company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan. Building on centuries of European brewing heritage, the business runs 19 production facilities in 9 countries across Europe and North America and is the custodian of some of the best beer brands in the world, including Asahi Super Dry, Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Grolsch and Kozel. Within the Asahi Group, the remit of Asahi Europe and International is also to develop and manage all export markets globally, outside of Japan and Oceania. Covering 90 markets and with over 10,000 passionate colleagues on board, through their shared purpose of Creating Meaningful Connections, the business is well positioned to inspire people around the world to drink better.

Paolo Lanzarotti