Photograph ©Wayne Alphonso Welsh
It has been a year to forget, with tough times for many, which has made this Blog so much harder to write. Where to start?
Firstly, just to say on the personal front, I have had my share of challenges. I have always regarded myself as a glass half full person, indeed a founder member of the 'fall on your feet club', but at times I have found this dreadful pandemic over-whelming and upsetting.
As you may have too, I have missed life's rich tapestry, my friends and family, the buzz of the City, trips abroad for business and fun, the movies and eating out. Not shopping so much. At times I had to stop watching the news, as the death toll climbed and families were ripped apart.
Not all doom and gloom
Yet, it has not been all bad. I don't miss commuting, we had a wonderful summer in the garden, which never looked better, and we now have our gorgeous puppy, Ziggy. We also took great strides forward towards being more sustainable and carbon neutral in 2021.
On the work front, despite missing meeting with clients and partners in person and going to City networking events, we have managed to crack on remarkably smoothly, as have so many. Thanks to the likes of ZOOM and Microsoft Teams.
Indeed, these tech tools have actually made life easier and more productive in some ways. For instance, earlier this year we won our first big new account of 2020,
Novidea, with offices in Israel, the UK and US. At our kick-off meeting, Novidea dialled in from Israel and the UK, and NextGen Comms from Sussex and Bucks. Six of us met for the first time to start the discovery and planning process, and it ran like clock-work.
Supporting our clients' success
I am proud to say that we have had some big successes in helping to raise our clients' profiles, with some great coverage gained, in the insurance, financial and tech press in the UK and internationally, as well as coverage in the Nationals.
Top five news articles in 2020:
- MAPFRE makes €54mil allocation to Covid-19 support (later increased to €200mil): Read news
- Lloyds Bank seeks solution with Previsico to increase insurance customers’ resilience against flood risk: Read news
- Novidea wins Specialist Risk Group account to implement ground-breaking end-to-end broking technology platform: Read news
- InsTech London predicts parametric insurance will plug the insurance protection gap: Read news
- Private Equity firm Tenzing invests in VIPR to support next growth stage: Read news
We have also been very active on social media, and with InsurTech 100 awards, where Novidea was a winner. Our clients made a big impact at leading InsurTech events, such as
InsTech London,
MarketMinds
and
ITC Connect, where they spoke as industry experts to global audiences.
This work, and more, has helped our clients to win more business, attract top talent, gain fruitful partnerships and funding. Indeed, three of our InsurTech clients have raised over £50mil between them, so there's money around for the right businesses with the right profile.
We have also, I am thrilled to say, won new major clients, three in December alone, doubled our turnover and grown our team, a great way to end a dreadful year.
What next?
So, 2021, what's to come? Well for starters, despite the continued negative news on TV, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Covid-19 vaccines have been created, approved and over one million high risk people, including my mother-in-law, have taken it, with many more to follow. It will take time, but all being well we can return to some semblance of normality next year.
Life may never be quite the same again, as we return to a new normal, with more people working from home, but at least we should be able to meet, network and bring some life back to the City we love.
At NextGen Communications, we are focused on the future and we will be looking after our fabulous clients, old and new. We will be adding to our team and our offering, and working hard to deliver outstanding results to build client's brands and tell their stories.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2021, from me and all of the NextGen Communications team...