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6 years ago today, Sempre Analytics was born. Happy Birthday Sempre!! ​ In 2011, Sempre started as just Neil and I, with a vision of offering 'better' - a better level of service, a better level of expertise, a better relationship. Six years on and we're thriving. I could talk about financial performance, growth, customer wins etc. which are all important, but we believe where we've really succeeded is achieving what matters, to us; having a great team who work hard for each other and our customers, to make 'better' a reality. Whilst we take our work seriously, we like to think that part of 'better' is to enjoy ourselves and build real friendships between us and with our customers. This year, like last year and the years before, we went away for a couple of days together as a team, to catch up with each other, get to know new faces and enjoy the local cuisine. This years location was Budapest, and the main picture at the top of this article is the team before heading out for dinner. I apologise to Sam, who is too tall for the LinkedIn crop! ​ We have lots of fun on these trips (you can find out more about why we do this in my previous article, "Why having fun at work is a good idea"), but in particular, what we love about these trips is having the opportunity to work in different ways with others. For example, this year we were tasked with exploring the city, looking for clues to solve a riddle. We were put into teams, to compete against each other and against the clock. Along the way, we had to capture a variety of pictures, which also included re-enacting a famous movie scene (see E.T. portrayed by Paul Scales & Tony Drew below). Working under pressure in a different environment, not only helps us bond better as a team, but gets the creative juices going (again, see E.T. portrayed by Paul Scales & Tony Drew above...). An opportunity you don't always get when stuck in an office, or focused on the day to day job. We feel that this has a positive impact on our customers: learning to work with each other in new environments, out of our comfort zones, enables us to work efficiently as a team, and crucially, the bonds we forge mean we know we can rely on each other to get the best outcomes in all situations. Moral of the story? Take your work seriously, but not yourself. Get out of the office together and away from the computer screens. You'll work better as a team, build stronger relationships and have a lot more fun along the way. If you'd like to know more about what makes us, us, then have a peek at our culture book. If you're interested in being part of our next 6 years, and beyond, then feel free to get in touch. This article was originally published on LinkedIn. You can find out more about Sempre on LinkedIn and Twitter.

You may have heard that Sempre recently turned 5, which prompted me to reflect on our growth over the past few years and what has made us, well, us. Two recent Sempre events have really brought this reflection into focus. And it seems that the essence of Sempre largely boils down to something quite simple: having fun. The first event was Sempre’s 5th Birthday party, an invite only shindig at PURL cocktail bar in London to say thank you to our customers for their support and advocacy over the years. The second occasion was the Sempre Annual Away Day in July, which this year was hosted by the fantastic city of Lisbon. Lisbon was a great chance to catch up with the team who've been scattered across the country working with our customers, and a chance to reflect on what we’ve all learnt and look at how we can use it to make us smarter. Most importantly, it's a chance to build our friendships and get to know those who have recently joined - and to enjoy a beer somewhere that actually has a summer. ​These are just some examples of things we do as a team, either with or without our customers. Why do we do this? Why such an emphasis on fun? We do this because we want to build a great business. A business where our brand cannot be copied, or the service replicated. A business where the staff love coming to work, and the customers love working with us. Simon Sinek offers a great insight into “Why”, and if you’ve not watched his TED talk you can see it here. For us this means our business must be driven forwards by a great team, not from the desk of a board member, but by the whole team. By those in front of customers, those innovating for us, those managing the increasingly complex operations of a growing company and those enjoying our success and feeling the pain in equal measure. ​But to have buy in to a common vision and a journey of growth, we need everyone in the team to know how to work together, to want to work together and to be trusted to do so. Which brings me back to the reflection on the fun we’ve had this year. Having fun has become a big part of who we are. Don’t get me wrong: we take our work very seriously, but having fun has created a culture of togetherness. It means we care for each other and so we treat each other like family. This positivity feeds into our business relationships and in turn we become friends with our customers - we genuinely care about their success. The result? We become much greater than the sum of our parts, we’re a truly high performing team, with an unbreakable bond. And it means we don’t just provide a service or a product, we provide an experience. This isn't meant to be a sales pitch, simply a reminder that in times of uncertainty, the focus does not have to solely centre on P&L and Shareholder value. Having fun doesn’t have to cost much relative to the rest of the P&L expense lines, but can have a tremendous impact on talent retention and attraction, not to mention the impact on motivation and brand recognition. If your team is happy and engaged, you can be pretty sure your customers are too. And we all know the value of a happy customer to a business. It’s a simplistic view, but it’s one that works for us. We’re now building for the next 5 years of growth with these themes at the forefront of how we achieve, so we can ensure that the Sempre experience remains the same, if not better. I, for one, would be interested in hearing what fun things your business does. This article was originally published on LinkedIn. You can find out more about Sempre on LinkedIn and Twitter.

We’ve all been witness to a great story being written about a team adapting and changing their game, disrupting an industry that for too long has been dominated by money, greed and ego. Massive congratulations to Leicester City, who have conquered against all the odds (5,000 of them), to reach the pinnacle of domestic football with games to spare. It’s proper Roy of the Rovers stuff, and exactly what football should be about. ​ This football season has seen the rise of a number of clubs disrupting the norm - but what is it that has made Leicester succeed above the others? Pretty much every cliché available is relevant: They've changed the game, proved that you don't need all the money, the star players, the Coach who's 'won it all', the greed or the ego to achieve. There have always been parallels between the sporting and business world, and there are many books written on the infrastructure, the process, the planning and the development behind great teams such as such as the All Blacks, Sky Cycling and the English Rugby team (of 2003). I believe that Leicester's success boils down to some simple philosophies that have been executed extremely well; approaches that can and do transfer into the world of business. Today, there are a number of organisations that are able disrupt the status quo like Leicester; come up against the big boys and win, time and time again. Yet they are smaller, arguably don't have the resources, the customer base or the reach. Aside from possibly better products/services, I see that these types of organisations tend to have common traits: accountability, agility, team spirit and a customer centric focus. Uber is a perfect example, it didn't have the market share, the reach or the resources when it started, yet it dominates now. Their customer experience is so much better than that of the black cab for example. The drivers are accountable for their actions as they are scored, as are the passengers, which is another interesting story altogether. Virgin too, time after time successfully launch into another market with a fresh approach, focused on customer experience. Arguably, other football clubs have these same traits though: this football season has seen the rise of other clubs disrupting the norm, such as Southampton, Watford, Bournemouth and West Ham. But what is it that has made Leicester succeed above the others? None of these have achieved the success Leicester has, yet Leicester didn't spend any more money than the others; their players aren’t necessarily any more talented, or any more experienced. At one point, they were even favourites to get relegated, so why have they been so much better? As far as I see it, it’s because they have worked to a very simple philosophy. Hire Great People and Inspire Great Teamwork. HIRING GREAT PEOPLE By great people I don't mean the biggest stars, those with the most talent, but those who fit the culture or are willing to buy into the culture and work for each other. Sir Clive Woodward summed this up with two types of people, ones he wanted in the team or the squad, Energisers; and Energy Sappers - those that had no place in an Elite England set up. None of the Leicester City team brings an ego or a mind-set that serves only to further their own careers. This means they are all aligned in working towards common goals, and when the going gets tough every one of them displays leadership qualities, and thinks nothing of working for the greater good. When this is true, it breeds trust and becomes much easy to deliver against plans. ​ INSPIRING GREAT TEAMWORK The team starts to self-manage and respect each other, and doesn't rely on upward management decisions to take action For me, there are two areas here: Firstly, empower everyone to be accountable. Bringing in an overbearing, top down structure alienates some and drives wedges between people, as it clearly has at Manchester United with Louis Van Gaal's approach. To truly drive accountability, you need a feedback loop in place, the team needs to be bought into decisions that are made, and the team needs to be part of the decision making process (even if it is to ask, ‘why might this fail?’). Succeed with this, then that team starts to respect each other, self-manage, and doesn't rely on upward management decisions to take action (or shirk the responsibilities), which merely results in an 'us and them mentality'. This was clear at Leicester; the whole team were totally bought into some common tactics: defend relentlessly, hit them fast and hurt them on the break. Whilst probably much simpler than most team’s tactics in the Premier League, it has been devastatingly effective because the team worked as one to deliver on it. When their tactics didn’t work, and were changed, the team adapted quickly, with the same devastating effect (see Leicester’s result against Swansea after losing Jamie Vardy to suspension). The other part of this is quite simply, enable the team to have fun. This drives friendship, togetherness and that unbreakable team spirit that cements accountability in individuals. The Leicester players all talk about working hard, but I can really feel that they want to work hard, it isn't empty words - they are genuine when they talk, humble even, and they want to do it, not for themselves, but for the team. I'd actually say Leicester have taken this a step further, they act like a family. This was never clearer to see than when the team all went to Jamie Vardy's house to celebrate winning the title as Tottenham capitulated to Chelsea. They love being together, and thus they love playing together; it’s clear to see, which makes it infectious. Their fans buy into it and the rest of the country has too, which for me, has helped build their momentum and kept them positive even in their hour of need, (something which Tottenham couldn't achieve). This results in driving a unique culture, which, by the way is something that the competition cannot copy, though they will try in the Premier League (and no doubt waste millions in the process trying to emulate this). Building a great team is something we strive for at Sempre, and it’s been based on these foundations. I'm not saying our story is quite that of the giant killers, Leicester, but a similar philosophy has enabled us to get to where we are today, and build a fantastic platform for the future: one that will be shaped by our team, not by our management decisions. It's not the executive decisions we make, the money we pump in, or individuals overachieving that makes us, it's working collectively to provide an exceptional experience for our colleagues and customers alike and optimise our abilities to be the best we possibly can. These are the observations of a more than slightly jealous Southampton fan, but I would love to hear your views. This article was originally published on LinkedIn.