Category: Candidates

‘Gizza job’ and fresh hope on the horizon

Recent news does not make great reading as the ONS reports that there have been 819,000 job losses in the UK since the start of the pandemic. You can read the article, ‘Hospitality worst affected as unemployment rises again‘ here. It is now a case of when, not if, this number exceeds one million as we head into the critical trading period for most consumer businesses, with significant swathes of the country in tier 3 lockdown. The sectors most significantly hit by unemployment are hospitality and retail, which ultimately supports many of Red Tiger Talent’s clients.

Some of you may not know about this blog’s title ‘Gizza job’ which references a phrase commonly used in 1980’s Liverpool based series Boys from the Blackstuff, a desperate plea from those on the dole. Whilst the current economic downturn is certainly showing a two year high in unemployment rate (at around 5%) it is nowhere near that seen in the early 1980s (when in 1982 it peaked at 13%). 

This current unemployment is disproportionately hitting the working class and younger workers.  Red Tiger Talent contributed in a very small way by taking a decision against a backdrop of zero recruitment revenue, to add a new member to our team with our apprentice Meg in September. We also work with a freelancer to help with marketing strategy and campaigns, an area of business that we could have put on hold to save money. We could see that in order to get through this we needed to invest and to free up some of our time for what we do best.

Take Me Out

It is fair to say that Red Tiger Talent’s recruitment income dropped off a cliff for the last six months as a direct result of the pandemic.  In February 2020, nearly halfway through our financial year, Paul and I reset a stretch target that would have resulted in our best year yet by a country mile.  This was after four years of hard work to firmly establish ourselves as the trusted recruitment partner for clients and candidates in the UK analytics market. Needless to say, we didn’t get anywhere near our original target.

I often refer to our experience in March 2020 as a bit like going on the dating show Take Me Out.  Red Tiger Talent had many lights illuminated (not potential dates, but active roles) and then in an instant they were all switched off as our clients rightly put their recruitment plans on hold. In my mind this included the comedy noise as one by one every opportunity disappeared.

This quieter period was a bit of a godsend, Paul and I could drop down the pace of life a bit, supporting our families through the pandemic, and work-wise we were able to divert time to improving our database, and develop new propositions, notably Training and Coaching; more on that later.

Recruitment freezes are finally thawing

Since November 2020, Red Tiger Talent (recruitment) has never been busier.  We have been inundated with live roles and the pipeline into 2021 looks very healthy.  After a period of inactivity we have a number of new people starting roles in the first quarter of 2021. 

I think the phrase to describe the general sentiment of businesses is ‘cautiously optimistic’ – those of our clients that have had recruitment freezes are now able to recruit for specific roles where there is need.  Businesses are also very conscious of the impact increased workload has on existing teams who are typically having to work remotely.

Being an analytics professional gives me extra cause for optimism – never before have we had such a perfect storm of significant structural changes in the way people shop/eat/play/work in a business world where most are looking to data and analytics to provide the insight needed to emerge on the other side.

We mustn’t underestimate the news of a vaccine rollout has positively impacted on business and consumer sentiment.  This has given renewed optimism that the end of the current restrictions will happen sometime in 2021. 

We are also finding that candidates are more optimistic.  Early in the pandemic, a number of potential candidates had an understandable reluctance to move roles due to the uncertainty in the market.  We are now seeing a number of candidates re-ignite their quest for a fresh challenge as they don’t want to allow this pandemic to stall their career progression any further.

Training to expand your skills

We identified a need for training in Microsoft Excel; this incredible versatile piece of software is used across many departments, but few people have had formal training on the extent of its capabilities. We have now trained over 200 people on Excel for Analytics, from absolute beginners to experts, and every participant has learnt something new.

The feedback speaks for itself and we will be rolling out our 2021 training schedule early next year.

Coaching to stand out from the crowd

To use a sporting analogy, consider you are a runner and your objective is purely to win the race.  If you are the only competitor in the race then you may not require any help in ensuring that you meet your objective of winning. The only chance of you not meeting your objective is if you failed to complete the race.

If you are in a competitive field of 10 runners then surely you would try everything in your power to ensure that you win the race?  Fail to prepare and prepare to fail. The most successful professional athletes have specific coaches for different areas that can impact performance e.g. fitness coach, conditioning coach, mental coach, sprint coach etc.

This is the reason why we created Red Tiger Coaching. Our proven coaching ethos is to support people on their career pathway with timely, cost effective support to ensure they stand out from the crowd at the various stages of the job search process.  If you are interested in finding out more please get in touch.

Steps towards a brighter future

Hopefully this blog has provided you with optimism from both a candidate and hiring managers perspective.

If you are one of the unfortunate people who have been or are likely to be impacted by redundancy then we can offer the following tips:

  1. Don’t panic and take time to reflect – think about your previous career successes and what motivates you.   Defining roles that are likely to trigger these motivations can be beneficial; in the application or interview stage it will be easier to sell yourself, and when you are successful you will find yourself motivated in your role.
  2. Plan and set yourself targets before you execute on your search – it is important that you divide up your daily tasks in order to keep things fresh.  Whilst the end goal is to get a new job, set yourself small weekly/daily/monthly targets along the way e.g. job applications per week, new connections on LinkedIn, identification of new businesses that you would like to work for, refresh your CV.  These ‘marginal’ gains will make a difference in the long run.
  3. Stand out from the crowd – this is a wide topic and worthy of multiple blogs but its everything from the application process (application form, CV, cover letter), the interview process, to unlocking the ‘hidden’ job market (i.e. circumventing those roles that have large amounts of applicants).
  4. Consider using a coach – ‘You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime’ (sorry Eminem!).  Our coaches make a tangible difference and our solutions range from a couple of hours help to a three month transition engagement – speak to us if you are interested in finding out more.

If you or your business are recruiting:

  1. Be prepared to be inundated – with many people chasing relatively few roles you will tend to get a wide diversity and large volume of people applying. Whether they are the right candidates remains to be seen.  Some candidates, in full on panic mode, are adopting the mud-slinging approach – if you throw enough at the wall then something will inevitably stick.  You will receive applications where you really have to question whether the applicant actually read the job specification!
  2. Don’t underestimate the time required – Reviewing CVs can be time consuming, and soul destroying if you have a large pile to review!  Similarly, sitting through a number of interviews which are short of the mark is extremely frustrating.  Think about your filtering process in order to ensure that it’s only a handful of quality candidates that make it to a face to face (or video call in the new world!) stage.
  3. Consider using a specialist agency – Recruiters, like Red Tiger Talent, will help by reducing your workload and providing a selection of vetted, qualified candidates that go straight to interview (blatant plug!).

We’ve written loads of other blogs about many of the subjects discussed here so take a look around for tips on interview techniques and interviewing, updating your LinkedIn profile and How to stand out from the crowd, to name just a few.

We hope that our predictions are correct and that the employment market will continue to improve. And we also hope that you are all ready and raring to embrace that change, whether you are a business or an employee.

We’d love to hear from you even just for a chat to hear how things are going for you. If you would like to talk to us about anything you’ve read here, please give me a call on 07979 756 257 or email steve@redtigerconsulting.co.uk for a no obligation chat about your options and how we might be able to help you.

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We have a number of new roles: November 2020

We are really excited to have a number of new job vacancies available. It’s a good sign that things are looking up.

Head of Logistics Consulting, London Based Consultancy

  • Key senior role responsible for driving forward the logistics consulting practice
  • Logistics and consulting experience a must
  • Great at dealing with all levels of stakeholder, including senior decision maker
  • A strategic thinker, with a range of ideas on how to develop and grow a sustainable consulting practice

Spatial Data Science Engineer, National Grocer (flexible working)

  • Working as part of a respected Analytics and Insight team who develop leading edge spatial applications and data for use across the business
  • Technical skills are a must: ideally strong in SQL, Alteryx, Tableau, ESRI technology (ArcGIS Pro/Server/Online), Snowflake
  • Ideal candidate has a good blend of technical skills and solutions oriented with the ability to translate stakeholder requirements into technical specification
  • Great opportunity to learn new skills and technology as part of a dynamic and growing team

Data Scientist, London Based Consultancy

  • Would suit a data analyst or junior data scientist wishing to take that next step in their career working in a small team within a big location analysis consultancy
  • You would be applying data science to a wide range of verticals, from retail, leisure, automotive and public sector
  • With a strong maths background you must have experience using large amounts of data (SQL), of building predictive models and algorithms (using tools such as Python, R, or Alteryx) and familiar with BI platforms (such as PowerBI or Tableau)
  • Ideally someone with experience of delivering solutions in one of the above verticals

Senior Data Scientist, London Based Boutique Consultancy

  • Requires someone with statistics/modelling background, ideally within customer analytics experience
  • If you like to challenge convention and like to think about new solutions to new problems then you could be ideal for this company
  • Requires someone who is passionate about data, ideally spatial data, and likes the challenge of using a data science toolkit to find solutions to client problems
  • Strong programming skills – in Python or R

Location Planning Associate, London Based Boutique Consultancy

  • Growing consultancy requires an experienced analyst/consultant to work as the link between clients and the delivery team
  • Must have experience of managing analytical projects and client facing activities
  • You must be passionate about the use of location data science in helping drive a range of business decisions
  • The ideal candidate has come from an analytical background, wishes to keep one hand in the technical, whilst also be thinking strategically about other solutions that the client may need
  • Finally you must be a confident communicator in person, on the phone or on video calls.

Senior Insight Analyst, London Based Boutique Consultancy

  • Established small consultancy require someone who is looking to step up from being an analyst and play a big part in the next stage in their own and the company’s growth
  • You must be a high energy analyst with an inquisitive mind, passionate about using data to support a variety of clients in the retail/property/public sector space.
  • Strong skills in Excel, Powerpoint and Word and very good at story telling with data
  • Experience of liaising directly with a range of client contacts is a must

Account Manager, London

  • Primary point of contact for all our clients that licence our GIS solution, as well as our data and BI solutions.
  • Candidate must expertly manage expectations of both clients and internal stakeholders and proactively account plan and develop roadmaps of future opportunities within each client account.
  • Required to be organised, good attention to detail and can multi-task across several requirements at any one time.
  • Proficient in all elements of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel & PowerPoint.

Junior Data Engineer, London

  • Unique opportunity to develop your technical skills, analytical techniques and commercial knowledge.
  • Reporting to the technical lead while working closely with project managers and analysts, supporting them from a technical point of view.
  • Experience with a Business Intelligence platform, a programming language (Python/R/SQL) and ETL tools (e.g Alteryx) needed.
  • Interested in processing spatial data, knowledge of the retail property market and awareness of machine learning techniques.

If you’re interested in any of the above positions, please email Steve Halsall: steve@redtigerconsulting.co.uk or call 07979756257.

Image source:

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Photo by fauxels from Pexels

Data Analyst – Real Estate Investor

We don’t normally share job adverts on our website because we don’t need to. We have a great network of candidates and prefer to just pick up the phone and contact the people we think will be a great fit.

However, we thought we’d buck that trend and share this Data Analyst role in London, because we hope this is a good sign of progress and things getting back to normal in the recruitment market.

Job Spec

  • Salary: £35,000 pa
  • Opening date for applications (9am): 3 June 2020
  • Closing date for applications (5pm): 1 July 2020
  • Benefits: workplace pension; minimum employer contribution; 33 days inclusive of UK bank holidays.
  • Location: Working from home during C-19 pandemic. Post crisis, the role will be based in the London office.

Retail places are undergoing profound structural change. Today’s challenges and tomorrows opportunities require inspirational solutions, grounded in data and experience. Our client’s Research and Analytics team produce proprietary research, putting data at the heart of our decision making, allowing us to anticipate market trends and gain a deep understanding of our retailers, shoppers and centres.  

The Team

This is an opportunity to join a technically accomplished team of Analysts in a wide-ranging role combining technical project work, consultancy services and project management. Data science and analysis is a key role within the business that will build upon and continue to elevate a best-in-class Research & Analytics team that differentiates our client and drives a competitive advantage in the marketplace through market expertise, analysis and insight.

The Research & Analytics team work on a wide variety of projects across the retail, leisure, town planning, alternative use, financing, development and public sectors in the UK. Project work includes consultancy, cross team report creation with a range of outputs for a variety of publican and private sector clients, internal strategic initiatives, portfolio analysis, as well as leading on BI initiatives and the creation of data led processes and solutions across all business teams.

The Role

The successful candidate will be someone with experience of building and using statistical models to examine and provide customer understanding within a retail, property, leisure or high street finance environment.

An excellent knowledge of statistical modelling techniques and awareness of issues affecting high street and consumer led businesses.

The role requires good problem-solving skills and the ability to be pragmatic and apply knowledge of retail and geography to ensure recommendations are practical and in-line with client objectives.

A high degree of client contact will be involved from the outset and therefore candidates should have excellent communication skills, both written and oral, and be comfortable with leading on external projects and managing external communication with a range of contacts.

Your role will include:

• Providing recommendations, bespoke analysis and consultancy services to public and private sector
• Building statistical/mathematical models, using predictive/forecasting techniques and performing in-depth data analysis
• Producing data lead insights which inform asset management, investment, development, town planning and financing strategies and recommendations.
• Developing and implementing BI initiatives across all teams in the business
• Working with AI and big data analytics to provide in depth asset and behavioural insights
• Liaising with external data providers to build big data driven solutions for both internal and external use.

Core Skills, Experience, Knowledge Required

• Educated to at least degree level (2:1 or above) in a subject with high numerical content (e.g. mathematics, applied statistics, operational research, economics, engineering, geography)
• Excellent numeracy skills and a strong scientific approach to drawing conclusions from a variety of evidence.
• An aptitude for quantitative techniques, an analytical approach to completing assignments to agreed deadlines and strong attention to detail. If successful in being offered an interview you should be prepared to provide and talk us succinctly through specific examples of prior projects, you have worked on
• Demonstrable ability to draw key themes from data and construct an argument in a logical and accessible way.
• Demonstrable experience of working with BI software and be prepared to provide examples of reports created.
• Knowledge and genuine interest in the UK retail landscape
• Demonstrable experience of working with market, asset, demographic, financial, retail, location and customer data on projects with both private and public clients. You should be prepared to provide examples
• Good working knowledge of SAS, SPSS or similar statistical package, and/or other programming experience (e.g. VBA, SQL).
• Excellent Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills (advanced level of Excel skill is required)
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to present your findings in a professional, logical and engaging way.
• Excellent written and verbal use of English language
• Excellent time management skills and the ability to prioritise tasks.
• A demonstrable ability to work on a diverse range of ongoing projects.
• Personal skills suited to working within a professional team environment as well as for a range of internal and external clients.

If anyone is interested in this role please contact Steve Halsall at Red Tiger Talent on 07979 756 257 or steve@redtigerconsulting.co.uk.

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Hey, how ya doin’? I’m sorry you couldn’t get through…

It has been an interesting month as a Recruitment Consultant, working without any live assignments. I did have one existing role until a couple of weeks ago, but I advised my client to pause it for now as it is unlikely that candidates will agree to a move during such uncertain times. It’s important that we all adapt to adversity and use this down time wisely.

I just called to say how much I care… 

At Red Tiger Talent we are using the time to speak to a lot of people. Of course, speaking to people is at the heart of successful recruitment, but our diary certainly allows for much more call time. Over the years we have built a very good relationship with a large number of people and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to check in with each and every one of them. Recent conversations tend to focus on checking in with how people are coping and in providing careers coaching and advice. Conversations vary from how people are coping with the isolation, advice on CVs and new skills to learn while in furlough. Most people are now experts in Zoom, Teams or Houseparty. We’ve also discussed what the retail landscape will look like, concerns about being made redundant and ideas on where next in their career. We do feel it is our duty (as well as the duty of our friends, family and work colleagues) to check in with people (both clients and candidates) and ensure they are OK in these very isolating times.

Red Tiger are in a very unique and privileged position in that we speak to a lot of businesses and so have a pretty good handle on the range of measures being taken to ride through this particularly tough time. We are very careful to not breech any client or candidate confidences, but we are in a position to provide clear assurances to concerned individuals that they are not the only ones who are experiencing specific concerns and challenges at this time.

If you do get a call from Paul or I, it is because we want to see how you are doing and are likely to offer a different conversation to the ones you’ve been having with friends, family or colleagues.

Call me, anytime just call me 

One of the more frustrating parts of recruitment is the number of phone messages that I leave that seem to disappear into the ether. Whilst I appreciate that there are a number of reasons for no response, you certainly need a thick skin to be a recruiter. Let me give you an example, over the last week I have made 40 calls to clients and candidates which have been divided up into the following outcomes:

  • Called and spoken to recipient first time – 35% 
  • Left a message and the recipient has replied and we have since spoken – 25% 
  • Called and left a message but, to date, no reply – 40% 

An initial 35% hit rate is quite good – over a third of my calls are being answered and it seems to have been a convenient time to have a chat with someone. I really relish these calls as I am also socially isolated, so I thrive on having a different conversation in comparison to those I typically have with my family (what time’s tea? What we having for tea? Why is the wifi so slow?). In the last week my hit rate rises to 60% of calls resulting in a conversation, if you include the 25% of calls where I left a message and the recipient returned my call. Most Sales Managers would think that 60% is an excellent return on my efforts, but I am not in sales and I currently have nothing to sell.

I understand that we may well be low down people’s priority lists, or that the last thing they want to do is speak to a pushy recruiter, but it is the 40% that I call and hear nothing (there is still time for this number to drop!) that can, at times, be frustrating. This is not a cold call list; it is people that I have more than a traditional ‘functional’ recruiter-candidate relationship with. These are people who I’ve either worked with in some capacity or built up more of a ‘trusted advisor’ relationship with.

Moving, just keep moving 

There still seems to be some movement of people (likely agreed prior to Coronavirus) in the last month or so, driven by a promotion or change of role in their current firm, or a move to another business. These changes instantly make our database out of date. I shouldn’t complain as if there was no movement there would be no need for recruitment. I’m also sad to say that we have started getting inbound enquiries from candidates seeking roles as a result of redundancy – a trend that is likely to gather pace over the next few months.

You’ve got to work hard, if you want anything at all 

The Red Tiger team have not been furloughed and in summary we are dividing our time between three main areas.

  1. Red Tiger Training – Based on feedback from clients and candidates we are busy developing our skills training materials.  Paul is creating an ‘Introduction to Alteryx’ training course and I am repurposing our ‘Excel for Business Analytics‘ training for a wider, remote audience.  These will be launched in the next few weeks – please get in touch if you wish to find out more about either of these courses. 
  2. Red Tiger Consulting – Our Location Analytics Consulting business has certainly taken a back seat over the last year or so, largely due to the rapid growth of our recruitment practice.  We have a wide range of experienced contractors on our books, all available at very competitive rates, so if you have a requirement for short term analytics resource then please get in touch to discuss further.
  3. Red Tiger Talent – Effort on our core activity of recruitment is still our focus.  We are using this downtime as an opportunity to tidy up our extensive contacts and candidate database.  We are also putting the finishing touches to the latest salary survey which will be released in early May.  We will continue with our calls to clients and candidates – hopefully this time we will manage to have a catch up, or if we leave a message please find time to call us back.  Our blogs are also coming thick and fast and we are planning a number of other ways to reach out to clients and candidates in the months ahead. 

PS – Message me if you know the songs that I reference in the sub-headings to each section, no cheating, mind! 

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Coping with redundancy – Last person standing!

(please switch the lights off on the way out!)

This is the final instalment in a series of three blogs tackling the subject of redundancy. Our first blog offered practical advice from an experience coach, Linda Steel. Read: Coping with redundancy: advice from an experienced redundancy and life coach.

The last man standing…

Our second blog was from a candidate whose role had been made redundant and documented their thoughts throughout the process of getting back into employment. Read Redundancy: a first hand account.

This blog is from my own personal perspective and draws on my experiences from over 20 years ago working at the Rank Group where I was one of the last people standing within my department during a round of redundancies.

The Rank Outsider 

Early 1997 marked the year I had my first ever experience with a Recruitment Consultant, and thanks to Linda Steel I moved from DTZ’s property research and started my new role as a Site Location Analyst at the Rank Group – please refer to my blog on How to Win at interviews to hear more about that specific interview process.

I recall meeting with Linda in London and chatting through the role – she had to manage my expectations as I originally wanted to be considered for the senior analyst role which I was clearly under-qualified for. Below is the letter and report that she wrote about me which certainly helped in getting me to interview stage.

Recruiter letter advising that I wasn’t right for the senior role.
Recruiter Report about me from back in 1997!

I joined a 6 strong team known as Site Location Services (SLS), headed up by Andy Thompson (now Chairman of Anytime Fitness UK & Ireland). It was an exciting time – Rank were planning on putting a Leisure World, a unique under-one-roof concept that pulled together a cinema (Odeon) family entertainment centre (Hotshots), Music bar (Jumpin Jaks), Nightclub (Ikon/Diva/Oceana), Casino (Grosvenor) and a Bingo hall (Mecca), into every large town and city in the country. The group were investing in the team, data and technology – critical in providing the insight to make informed location decisions about the concept.

That was until Rank decided to divest its cinema, bar and nightclub businesses and focus on its gaming operations of Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos. Almost overnight the 50 strong property team that had been assembled to a fanfair launch at Odeon Swiss Cottage (addressed by a chain-smoking MD John Garrett with a blatant disregard for the no smoking policy), with a call to action to dominate the UK with Leisure World, had collapsed. Site Location Services would have to reduce its team from 6 to 3 people.

Our Grosvenor Casinos football team. Me front left.
Andy Thompson back row in the middle.

A friend in need 

I recall the nervous anticipation of the outcome of the consultation process on who would remain and who would be let go. There was a lot at stake – this was a new function in Maidenhead (a cost saving exercise known as ‘under one roof’), bringing various disparate head office businesses together. This meant that many people had relocated with their families in order to settle near their new place of work.

The Site Location team had enjoyed a period of 12 months to get to know each other, build the function from scratch, successfully develop a good team ethic and transform the analytical capability that ultimately supported the significant investment decisions of the property function. The six of us were different personalities and experience levels but we all provided something unique to the group. I have personally kept in touch with all members of that team and have made some very good friends (and successful business partners) in the process.

I was one of the ‘lucky’ 3 who would remain in the team – I should have been elated, but I felt like I had also lost out and a certainly element of guilt as I was losing colleagues and good friends. I had to join the other ‘remainers’ to rally round and offer our support to the three who would be leaving. Our support ranged from helping them with CV writing, interview techniques, identifying potential places of employment, and general advice to give them confidence that they would be back in gainful employment in a short space of time.

Capacity Drops, Workload Rises 

Our arrangement of desks in one corner of the open plan office seemed remarkably sparse when our three colleagues left in early 1998. One thing was clear – there would be no let-up in our work schedules, in fact, after a drop of 50% in our delivery capacity, the incoming evaluation requests were not adjusted accordingly. This meant that we were more stretched and less responsive to assess potential sites. It is generally accepted that those who remain are the lucky ones but there is usually a greater burden put on those who remain. We have certainly seen a spike in similar conversations with candidates after a round of redundancy. Redundancy initiatives disrupt the status quo (which can be both positive and negative) and can potentially trigger domino effect changes. It certainly is a good eliminator of complacency or false perceptions about job security!

Is there an end to re-organisation? 

Re-organisation (a posh word for redundancies/cost cutting) is an all too regular occurrence in the working world. Businesses can get too bloated with headcount and may need a re-adjustment, other times it is a change in focus, typically brought about by a change in leadership, that causes the restructure. These changes are sometimes positive (there are always people who are too comfortable in their roles and are not really helping the organisation progress) but often it results in significant knowledge and expertise being lost from the business.

Those that get left behind, some of whom may have been very loyal to the business, can certainly see an erosion of that loyalty, and an increased fear of ‘I might be next’. Re-organisations are usually done in stages and just because you may have survived one round of redundancy it doesn’t always mean you will be immune to future rounds. The converse can also happen where long serving staff, who have come to the end of their usefulness for their current employer (this does happen!), will not actively seek to move in order to get a significant redundancy pay-out further down the line.

Phoenix from the Flames 

The re-organisation at Rank served as a reality check that although as location planning practitioners we may believe that our skills and insights are business critical, the reality is that they are not often seen as such by senior business leaders.

This fear of ‘we might be next’ was certainly one of the drivers behind our decision as the 3 ‘remainers’ at Rank to force our employers to contract out our services back to us in a new entity which would be the start of GeoBusiness Solutions. GeoBusiness Solutions would develop a very credible business throughout the early 2000’s with a number of high profile clients, including Camelot, John Lewis and the Post Office, culminating in a sale of the business in 2005 to MapInfo Corporation. They often say that new business formation peaks during times of recession when circumstances force a change in approach which was certainly the case with us.

Where are they now? 

Sadly, two of the original team of 6 are no longer with us, Ken (we used to call him Captain Birdseye) was the elder statesman of the group who provided necessary skills in CACI’s InSite to the team, and Jon Walker, my long standing friend and business partner who sadly passed away 10 years ago this month. Incidentally, as a mark of respect we are having a collection in his memory and his 3 boys (who were all aged less than 10 years old when he died) have nominated Macmillan Cancer Support as our chosen charity, so if anyone remembers him and would like to make a donation:

Donate to Macmillan Cancer Support

My other Rank colleagues have gone on to have very successful careers elsewhere.   

Nielsen joined CACI in March 1998, enjoyed a very distinguished 19 year career there, and now heads up Geospatial at Deloitte. Colin spent 15 years at Yell Group, nearly 4 years at mobile telco provider Three, and is now an Agile Delivery Manager at CGI where he is looking after significant local government projects.  Andy had a stint as head of Head of Location Planning (where he was a casualty of re-organisation there) and has also been responsible for bringing the 24 hour fitness brand Anytime Fitness to the UK and Ireland, where he is currently chairman. 

There is little doubt that redundancy is part and parcel of today’s work environment and it is never a pleasant experience for all those involved, regardless of whether you are one to leave or stay. Clearly uncertainty is not nice and can cause significant stress and worry but all I can say is that once you are through the other side you will never look back.  All the people I know who have been affected by redundancy have gone on to bigger and better things. 

We’d love to hear your views and experience. What did redundancy mean for you?

Author: Steve Halsall

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