Be the Business 2020
At the beginning of 2020 Jacqui was an ambassador for Be the Business. Led by Tony Danker their mission was to help improve UK productivity. An ambitious mission based on face to face support for businesses of all sizes.
As we now know all things changed from March 2020. So, focus quickly changed from productivity to business change and survival. Be the Business formed a peer group of its ambassadors. This allowed the ambassadors to face the new reality.
The ambassadors were brutally honest. Be the Business listened, responded and made sure business voice was heard by government. For many ambassadors, a fall of 80% in turnover was considered a success. By easing of lockdown in July the same ambassadors had pivoted, adapted and were moving forward. Be the Business were now one of the leading partners helping business rebuild for the new normal. Anthony Impey has now taken the reigns and the growing list of partners (CBI , Nat West , Rolls Royce and many more) shows the strength of the movement.
Creating Ideas for Change
We have all had to change. Our business was focused on physical face to face business support. Within days of lockdown this pivoted to online face to face to support. This meant Jacqui was in close touch with businesses looking for direction, our Guilders and with Be the Business. Within weeks patterns were forming. Working closely with the Be the Business team we created online solutions that captured and shared the good ideas coming from businesses of all sizes. Traditional boundaries were shattered and ideas that would have taken months to develop were brought to life in days.
Idea creation is a group activity where the status quo is removed. That’s why peer groups work. The great leveller of COVID was that nobody had the answers. So listening and creativity were unlocked and the enlightened embraced new ideas.
At a glittering online event Be the Business celebrated the years achievements. Jacqui was proud to receive the Ideas Engine of the Year Award. Other recipients were:
And the Award Goes To:
Energiser of the Year : Nigel Whitehead CBE
Ideas Engine of the Year: Jacqui Jackson
Culture Carrier of the Year : Barry Leahy MBE
Culture Champion of the Facebook Group: Danny McKeever
Metrics Pundit of the Year: Baoli Zhao
Lobbyist of the Year: Jurga Zilinskiene MBE
Party Planner of the Year : Helen Tonks
Most Roles held at Be the Business: Richard Baker
Power Duo of the Year : Hannah Barlow & Tom Mathew
Coordinator of the Year: Maxine Piovanelli
2021
Be the Business, its ambassadors and fellows will continue to support the growth of our great businesses. We’ve proven that everything can change. PEST is no longer stable , 2021 is the year of considered change.
Come and join us.
