This interview is a part of the FBCC member series. This time we interviewed Nikke Österback, the founder of our Corporate Member Saari Ltd. 

Saari Ltd is a London-based strategic digital marketing and communications agency. Their services include marketing, advertising, partnerships, social media, digital transformation consultation, and strategic consulting. Other Saari projects relate to brand building, design, and development. Additionally, related legal consulting for digital law and contract services. Saari clients are from all over the world and different sectors. Their amazing client projects are visible on their website, click here to read more.

The name Saari (Finnish for ‘island’) is derived from being “stuck on an island”, the UK being an island culture and for Nikke’s first job in the UK at Island records. Bob Marley’s Survival, which was released by Island Records is the first record he remembers picking up and listening to!

When asked about their company’s culture, Österback describes it as very entrepreneurial and focused on problem-solving. One of our biggest strengths is that we are multicultural and multilingual. ‘This enables Saari to help our customers with a genuine approach that competitors in our class can’t match’.

For Saari Ltd, Covid 19 had little impact with exciting projects being delivered for Finnish and other international clients. Current good examples include strategic work for the largest Nordic hockey brand Tackla and strategic content marketing work for Genelec an awarded Finnish speaker manufacturer. “They are a fantastic team and nice people. They (Genelec) are a good example of a company that just make it work” says Österback.

Like most agencies in South England, everyone at Saari Ltd is currently working from home. For Mr. Österback this has helped combine work and family better than before Covid 19 restrictions started. All in all: ‘the negative impact is minimal since our clients expect us to deliver work online’ … ‘but sales work did suffer because we can’t meet people face-to-face or travel’. Luckily this has not been a big problem since past sales work was already helping grow Saari before the pandemic.

Österback mentions that his number one tip for working from home is to get up early to get ahead of the game to ‘clear the decks’. He also mentions that they can benefit from the time differences between countries, by for example starting an online meeting with their Finnish clients already at 7 in the morning UK time and to be able to wrap up later in the evening with clients from the US west coast. You can work more!

The biggest benefit of being part of the FBCC for Saari Ltd has been the networking and visibility that it provides.

This interview is part of our new FBCC Member Series, where we introduce our member companies to the network. This time we interviewed JP Ruuskanen, a Patent Attorney & Partner at our Corporate Member company Page White and Farrer.

Page White and Farrer is an international firm of patent and trademark attorneys. They help their clients in almost all matters related to intellectual property (IP). The company has offices in England and Germany, but they also handle IP matters through associates in over 100 countries all over the world. The company is over 100 years old and it got its final name in 1937 from previous partners John Oswald Farrer, Charles Melbourne White, and Sidney Elliot Page.

Ruuskanen describes the company’s culture as relaxed and the hierarchy very flat. Everyone in known by their first name. People really enjoy working for the company and many of the employees have been working for the company for over 30 years. This creates a sense of continuity.

At the moment one of the main focuses is Brexit. In 2017 they set up another office in Germany, and one of their current goals is to grow their office there. After the Brexit transition period, some of their functions will move completely to Germany because of regulatory reasons.

For Page White and Farrer, the transition to working from the office to home has been smooth. Even before the pandemic, some employees were working from home some days a week. Additionally, a couple of years ago they went completely paper-free. Ruuskanen says that the hardest part of the pandemic has been not having face-to-face meetings with their clients and some projects would really benefit from that. The business travel has of course all stopped. Before the pandemic, Ruuskanen frequently traveled abroad and within the UK.

When talking about remote working Ruuskanen mentions that his number one tip for working from home is to make sure that you spend time outside. Go for a bike ride or a walk before work. You could also go out during your lunch break. Additionally, technology can sometimes let us down, hence you should always have something you can do if your IT does not work.

The biggest benefit of being part of the FBCC for Page White and Farrer is the networking that it can provide. Being part of the FBCC is an important networking channel among others, and this was especially important when moving to the UK. They enjoy meeting people at the events and have even found long-term acquaintances from there. They feel like networking has brought them a business advantage.

We are proud to introduce our new Corporate Member Sipila Consulting!

Sipila Consulting is a boutique consultancy firm that is focused not just on strategy but on actionable strategy. The company was established for the passion of growth and for the love of building collaborations by Maria Sipila, former Nokia executive and a startup coach. Sipila Consulting helps your company or organization to build global brands in the world of new kinds of marketing where collaborations and agile marketing tools are used. We work directly with your brand or between you and your agency bringing clarity and visual attractiveness in the complex world of marketing. We love to work with new concepts and innovations that need to be launched to the world but have experience in established business as well. Our broad network especially in the Helsinki capital region, London, New York, San Francisco area, Germany and APAC markets makes it possible for your brand to get a quick start and build international collaborations. Whether you are launching a new brand or need strategic advice, Sipila Consulting can help you. Maria is not working alone because Sipila Consulting uses subcontractors as needed and works with the best partners. Sipila Consulting provides personal and confidential professional services for all kinds of companies small and large as well as private and public organizations including NGO’s, municipalities and schools. Because we know how important it is to have joy in learning, we offer ideas to bring you forward in education success. Our work is based on Finnish education principles to inspire learning and wellbeing.

This interview is a part of FBCC member series and was conducted with Mark Dodsworth, who is the Founding Partner, Owner, and the Managing Director of Europartnerships Ltd. 

Europartnerships primarily specializes in supporting the internationalization of SMEs. Most of their clients are SMEs looking to enter new markets, frequently the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. Their key service is to find partners for businesses, for example, sales representatives suchi as agents, distributors, resellers, and end clients or potential strategic alliances. Europartnerships also works for larger companies to organize events, for example, product presentations and awareness-raising events. The company is highly experienced and in fact, they have just had their 20th anniversary, in September 2020.  

There is a story behind the company name. Originally, when Europartnerships was founded in 2000, they were working exclusively within Europe so attaching “euro” to the company name was quite easy and obvious. The “partnerships” part comes from the nature of the business, which is about researching and arranging business partnerships across international frontiers. There were companies with similar names but none with the exact name “Europartnerships”, so the founders of the company quickly registered the name and have had it ever since.  

There are three key things in the company culture from Mark Dodsworth’s point of view. Firstly, the company is quite female-oriented as out of 9 workers, 7 are females. The co-founder of the company was also a woman. Secondly, the company culture is very flat. Even though Mark is the sole shareholder and owner of the company, he thinks that it is all about team effort and it is very important to listen very carefully to the thoughts and opinions of his colleagues. Thirdly, Europartnerships is a multi-cultural company. They have team members from Colombia, Spain, The Netherlands and Germany. In addition, Mark himself is half British and half American so the company is not a typical UK company in this respect.  

Mark says it would be lovely to have something big happening in the near future but, as a result of the current situation, all the big things are unfortunately on stand-by at the moment.  

Europartnerships has some events coming up for whenever it is possible and safe to organize them again. They are planning for instance to organise events for a Finnish company called Solibri at the Finnish Embassies in London and Berlin. Europartnerships also hopes to deliver another event in London, for a Finnish company, VTT. Additionally, Europartnerships has developed a partnership with a consultant in South America. With this partner, Europartneships has obtained a series of sales meetings with tech companies in Costa Rica, Argentina, and Colombia. This is one of the new opportunities that arose during the lockdown and normally they would have not expected to be working there.  

The pandemic has not affected the day to day life at Europartnerships that much. To some degree, their employees were already working remotely before the pandemic, because all their clients are non-British and are based in other countries. Previously, the clients used to travel to the UK for events and meetings, but now all the communication is of course happening online. The company is not using their office at the moment as it is partly closed, and everyone is working from home.  

The biggest difference for Mark is that he is not traveling at all. Normally he would go to Norway, Finland, or Germany at least once a year, but now it is not possible to even plan future travels. Now the only travel, and therefore the big excitement for him, is to be able to travel to London. He comes from his home in Bristol to meetings and has managed to get to London three times since March.  

Mark’s number one tip for working from home is to avoid spending too long a time in front of the screen. If you are lucky enough to live near nature, go for a run or a cycle. Keeping healthy is very important – this includes eating well and keeping your mind active. Do not let the lockdown get you down. Another key is to communicate with people. Most of the time it has to be online via Zoom or similar technology but if you can meet people physically in a safe way and if it is at all possible, you should do that.  

The biggest benefits of being part of the FBCC for Europartnerships are of course networking and making those business connections, as well as other opportunities they get from the FBCC, such as business referrals. Mark points out they have been very pleased to have been able to work with other prominent FBCC members, such as Outokumpu and Digitalist Group. 

This interview is part of our new FBCC Member Series, where we introduce our member companies to the network. This time we interviewed Anne Anttonen, a Career and Business Coach at our Corporate Member company Coach Chi.

Coach Chi provides a holistic coaching approach for women who desire to improve their life, both working and home, in order to achieve a more fulfilling and balanced lifestyle, living in a “flow” state most of the time. At Coach Chi, flow means going forward in life with a flow instead of fighting against anything. It is important to find what is important in life and focus on that. Coach Chi is welcoming and approachable; “working with us is motivating, inspiring, and empowering based on trust”. 

There is a story behind the company’s name. “When you google the word “coach” there are so many pages coming up so I wanted to add something to it. The word Chi means “life energy “ in Eastern cultures (martial art forms) and I discovered it from Eckhart Tolle’s book  ‘ The Power of NOW ‘. Chi also means “Who” in Italian and was often used word during my time in Italy in the late 80’s, 90’s, early 2000 and 2014. Finally, Chi describes a state of “flow”, the word used in sports; as a keen golfer, I have read a lot about “flow” and how to achieve it during my rounds of competitive golf. In summary, Coach Chi is bringing the state of “flow” to the client’s life, instead of fighting against odds.” 

There are two things that play a role in the company culture. “Firstly, being a woman, I was lucky to be born and raised in Finland, and therefore Coach Chi’s culture is democratic, fair, trustworthy, straightforward, and methodological focusing on results. Secondly, I have lived abroad more than half of my life, in 6 different countries, and that has influenced the culture bringing more warmth, compassion, and belief in good.”  

Hence while aiming to achieve goals, Anne considers the client’s individuality to make meaningful progress in finding that eluding “flow” state, the Chi. Everything she does is confidential.  

Coach Chi has two workshops coming soon, focusing on the basics: Vision for the future followed by Identifying the most burning areas in life that need attention in order to achieve a harmonious, firm foundation for work and life in general. Workshops are for 2.5 hrs, usually at the weekend, on Zoom with max 5 people to create intimacy where participants are comfortable to share and learn from each other. Simple concepts, but very powerful if done honestly. “what you put in, you get out” encouraging responsibility for own decisions and actions. You can read more about Coach Chi workshops by clicking here. 

Regarding the pandemic, the day-to-day life at Coach Chi has not changed much. “I have actually coped very well thanks to my healthy daily routines. We had started coaching on Zoom and Skype already last year, and the pandemic has made coaching online even more acceptable. I wanted to have my workshops live, but I have noticed that Zoom -workshops have proofed to be positive online experiences for many, enabling to gather clients together from different geographical locations.” 

The only thing that has changed at Coach Chi is networking. “I have been trying to network online but it is not the same and I do not find it as rewarding as networking live. Now most of my networking is through old contacts.” 

As a coach, Anne sees a lot of people talk about their wellbeing. Her number one tip for everyone working from home is to pace yourself out and have a good daily routine: have time off from screen & finish work at “office hours”, have a daily walk in nature, make sure you get enough rest (sleep hygiene). “A good sleeping pattern is very important, there are great apps for sleeping and I have personally found them very useful. After all, it is all about the simple things.”   

The biggest benefit of being part of the FBCC for Coach Chi has been being able to connect with like-minded people, both Finnish and British and build links with other Nordic Chambers of Commerce members. “I also found the networking events very useful and now that the live events have changed to webinars, I have been participating online. I also found the Nordic Golf Society through you and I have been an active member.” 

This interview is part of our new FBCC Member Series, where we introduce our member companies to the network. This time we interviewed Simon Portman, the Managing Associate at our Corporate Member company Marks & Clerk.

How would you describe your company?

Marks & Clark is a leading firm of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys with offices in the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, and Asia. We’re a “one stop shop” for all your intellectual property needs which means we give advice to clients on applying for patents, registered designs, and trademarks and maintaining a coordinated intellectual property strategy. We also have a legal team that gives advice on commercial contracts and includes an internationally renowned litigation practice.

Our clients range from small start-ups to universities, charities, and big multinational companies. We work in all fields including entertainment, software, electronics, and healthcare, and so forth. We have particular expertise in cutting-edge areas like 3D printing, AI, XR, and 5G.

How did Marks & Clerk get its name?

The firm was founded in the 1880’s and gets its name from the founders George Croydon Marks and Dugald Clerk. So when they started the business Queen Victoria was on the throne and Sherlock Holmes was in Baker Street! Both founders have an interesting background; Marks was a famous engineer and actually a colleague of Thomas Edison. He became a director of companies like Columbia and EMI and was also a politician who was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Marks. Clerk invented the two-stroke gas engine and spent many years developing the technology. So as you can see, they were both very interesting and successful people.

What makes Marks & Clerk special?

The company has a global reach and a breadth and depth of expertise to match all its competitors so we can give clients a top tier service, wherever they are and whatever their technological and commercial requirements. If their technology spans a range of fields, we can pull a team together with all the requisite skills.

However, in my opinion, what really makes us different is the company culture. Lots of organisations have core values but they don’t always translate into action. It’s clear ours do because it is a great place to work. In fact, when I applied here, the first question I was asked was “Are you a nice person?” Luckily, I managed to fool them and they let me in!

What are your plans for the near future?

I spoke last week on licensing 5G at Birmingham Tech Week and the recording will be online soon. I will also be speaking on virtual reality meetings and collaborations at VR Days Europe in November so anyone interested in the XR sector should sign up. In general, we are pretty busy at the moment. Covid-19 has given many of our healthcare clients new challenges to meet and the lockdown has obviously been a shot in the arm for the XR sector.

How has the pandemic affected your working life?

To be honest, it hasn’t that much. We were all set up to work remotely anyway and adapted pretty quickly. I don’t waste time commuting now so probably get more done and, ironically, I am seeing people face to face more than I used to. Thanks to video conferencing, I am interacting with people visually when previously I would have just emailed or phoned them. So I don’t feel isolated. Of course, work-related traveling is currently out of the question but it will come back, and meanwhile, we have honed our viral marketing strategy.

What are your tips for others working remotely?

Maintain a structure in your working day and separate your work life from your personal life. It is also very important to avoid spending too much time staring at your screen. In the office, we used to get up and talk to people, go to the printer, out to lunch. Now, if we’re not careful, we’re stuck in the same position all day gazing into a luminous rectangle. Our bodies weren’t built for that so I would encourage people to get off the laptop and take regular walks and rest the eyes, even if for just a few minutes.

What for you are the biggest benefits of being part of the FBCC?

Membership gives us the scope to widen our network and meet people from various businesses in the United Kingdom and Finland, who we hope will turn into clients and useful contacts. Finland, and the Nordic countries in general, are highly networked, full of innovation, and a great breeding ground for start-up companies. Luckily, Brexit hasn’t deterred Nordic businesses from setting up over here, and nor should it. The regular networking events are also great fun and, with luck, we’ll soon get back to doing them face to face. Meanwhile, I’m still living off winning one of the FBCC’s recent Nordic quizzes on Zoom and consequently suffering from a very un-Scandinavian bout of smugness. Regrettably, we didn’t do so well in the last one.