Chairman's lunch: A summary of the biggest market trends

Ambition’s Chairman and Co-Founder Nick Waterworth hosted an exclusive lunch last month for a group of senior business leaders across professional services to network, share ideas and comment on the latest market trends.

The room was made up of Chief Financial Officers, Finance Directors, Chief Marketing Officers and Marketing Heads, Corporate Finance Partners and Insolvency Practitioners. Together, they work for some of the most respected law firms and accountancy practices in the UK and globally.

Nick provided the guests with an overview of the APAC region, in which Ambition has a significant footprint. He commented on how the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong and more recently the outbreak of the coronavirus across Asia has impacted upon recruitment, and how businesses are identifying candidates against this turbulent social and political backdrop.

As for the UK, the conversation turned to how the professional services sector has been managing and implementing a more flexible working arrangement. Views were shared on how best to attract and retain talent in roles that are more client-facing in nature.

Balancing working from home with business demands generated some particularly insightful commentary. Guests discussed at length how to facilitate a flexible working culture while maintaining clear visibility on output and results.

Adopting a flexible working culture comes with rewards as well as challenges, and a key takeaway from the lunch was the way in which firms are selling their culture to the market – if at all. Attracting talent is one of the biggest challenges facing the professional services industry right now and with more candidates valuing a flexible working environment, the need to promote each policy not as a benefit but as company culture has never been more relevant.

Another important and highly prevalent topic to come out of the lunch was the way in which law firms and accountancy practices are assisting those suffering from mental health. Again, balancing the needs of the individual with the needs of the business provided some excellent conversation, and some excellent ideas and initiatives were shared.

Nick will be back in London later this year and we will be looking to organise another Chairman’s Lunch during his stay. Should you want to be kept informed on the details of our next senior leadership event then please do message events@ambition.co.uk.