Tag Archives: people

Celebrating women in tech and marketing (part two)

Picking up from part one, in which we discussed preconceptions of the tech and marketing industry and the women who provide inspirational, we turn our attention to the roles our group play at TLA and the routes they took to get here.

Our groups’ time at TLA ranges from a few months to nine years, with various entry points and roles spanning marketing, development, quality control, account management and project delivery.

One of the longest-serving at the round-table was marketing executive Rachel Hellon, who joined on an apprenticeship five years ago. “I was kept on after my apprenticeship and now look after our content teams, covering written content as well as video for our automotive brand Car Keys. The marketing team is fast-paced and results-orientated. Everyone has a clear idea of our respective areas of expertise and work well together to achieve success.”

That first break in any industry can be like standing at the foot of an impossible mountain, but it’s something we feel passionately about helping people secure at TLA. As well as apprenticeships, we provide three- and six-month internships, work with local universities to provide placements and offer graduate and junior roles.

Opportunity to explore and use new tech

“I’ve been with TLA for five years,” said Shannon Miller, who joined shortly after Rachel and became the company’s first female developer. “I started as a placement while at university and came back after my final year as a junior. I’ve since moved up to a mid-level developer, working predominantly on our internal systems.”

One of Shannon’s standout achievements to date has been building the company’s call centre system, which plays a critical role in the way we function as a business. “There’s plenty of opportunity to explore and use new tech, which is a great part of working here. Plus, I like to learn from other people within the company and there’s a lot of intelligence in the room! It’s great to learn from their experiences and ways of working, so that I can keep progressing.”

Danielle Smith has enjoyed a similar journey, having joined as a junior and move through to mid-level as a support developer. In her own words, her role is to “take the pressure off the project team. Any bugs or support from the contact centre, any smaller projects that support the way we work, I help to ensure they run smoothly.”

She added: “The devs at TLA are always helpful. If you ever need support, they’ll come over and offer advice to help you in your role.”

From left to right: Shannon, Kathy, Alison, Danielle, Emily, Abi, Laurie, Amy, Rachel, Amara, Miki and Shania. Not pictured: Irina and Zoe from our London office.

Building a career

Away from development, Amy Smith joined the business nine years ago as a customer service operative, or ‘CSO’ as the role is more commonly referred to within the business. “I eventually moved from the CSO role into the QC team before moving into my position as account manager. That opportunity to move across departments has allowed me to build my career within the business, rather than moving elsewhere.”

Amy ensures the campaigns we bring on from clients are set up correctly in the CRM and coordinates with the development team to make sure the necessary tech work is completed.

Alongside tech and the contact centre, the QC department is one of the biggest functions within the business. They work alongside other departments to ensure the data we process and send to clients is of the highest possible quality to maximise conversion rates. Simply put, if the quality isn’t there, it doesn’t get sent.

Alison Eustace has recently been promoted into the role of senior quality and compliance executive after three years with the business along with fellow QC teammate Abigail Hanson, who has been with us for 18 months.

Commenting on her new role, Alison said: “Our focus is on improving quality from the ground up. All sorts of tasks are involved, from analysing calls to find a quality level to identifying potential issues that need to be addressed. We’re also working with the tech team to trial a new system for how we process data, which will have a positive impact on the way the QC team works.”

Abigail added: “We are currently going through all of our training documents to ensure everything is up to date and putting together a new coaching plan for the CSOs to help them, as well as call scoring and processing leads.”

Embracing change and opportunity

Changes like the ones Alison refers to are part-and-parcel of a tech-led organisation like ours. It’s even reflected in one of our core values – to embrace change and opportunity and as quality manager Laurie Bloor attests, “there’s been a lot of change during my five years with the business, particularly with the way different departments have embraced new technologies”.

But while technology impacts every role and department within the business, there is lots of variety with the types of roles available. QCs and CSOs aren’t tech roles but they have a huge part to play in making a tech company successful – and the same can be said for other functions within the business, including finance and sales.

Our account managers Zoe Hamilton and Irina Ashakhanova, who’ve been with the business for one and two years, respectively, are also from a non-tech background. The point being that you don’t have to be a marketer or coder to build a successful career within the marketing or tech industry.

As junior project manager Emily Abbey concludes: “The industry is changing so rapidly that we don’t really know what technology we’ll be living and working with in our day-to-day lives in the future, being a part of a technology-led business is very exciting.”

Look out for more content as part of our Celebrating Women in Tech and Marketing series over the coming weeks by following TLA on LinkedIn.

Celebrating women in tech and marketing (part one)

Women remain underrepresented in the UK tech industry. But what does that mean for those already there or starting their career?

There are small signs of progress with the topic becoming front-and-centre for some of the sectors’ biggest companies and an increasing number of female founders and directors being highlighted across business and social media. But it remains an industry that could do more – and needs to do more – to attract, welcome, retrain and progress female professionals.

At TLA, we proudly have a female-to-male split that is above the industry average. But we recognise there is a long way to go to achieve true balance across the business – particularly at a senior level. One of the ways we want to do this is to celebrate the women who work at TLA via our blog and social media channels.

We believe their journeys are worth sharing, particularly with women who might be considering a role or career in the tech or marketing industry. That’s why we arranged an all-female, all-TLA roundtable this month to better understand their experiences.

Taking part in the discussion were marketers Rachel Hellon and Amara Molloy; developers Danielle Smith and Shannon Miller; Miki Parr from the data insights team; account managers Amy Smith, Irina Ashakanova and Zoe Hamilton; project manager Emily Abbey; and Kathy Fleming, Laurie Bloor, Alison Eustace and Abigail Hanson from the quality and compliance department. Their time with TLA and, indeed within the tech industry, ranges from a few months to more than a decade.

Industry preconceptions

We started by asking what preconceptions they each held prior to joining the industry. The overriding and unsurprising view was that it was “male-dominated,” with Danielle highlighting that she was one of only five women on her university course out of 200 people.

Likewise, Shannon and Rachel highlighted that they were the first and only women in their department for a year before others joined. Rachel said: “In IT at high school, you would be one of only a few girls in the class. But you don’t get a true read on the industry until you join it.”

Emily had a similar view. But reassuringly added that she “hadn’t appreciated how strongly the industry is now advocating the empowerment of women”. Meanwhile, Miki admitted that preconceptions of male dominance led to concerns over whether she could make her mark in the industry but added that “once I decided it was what I wanted to do, I wasn’t going to let that stop me.”

Dominance may have been the word chosen to encapsulate preconceptions, but it may not be the right word. The numbers undoubtedly show men outnumber women, but as Amara pointed out, “the women at TLA more than hold their own” within the workplace and play an crucial role in the success we achieve.

Female role models in tech

It’s often cited that one of the challenges for the industry is the lack of profile for female business leaders, and therefore role models, for young women about to embark on careers in tech and marketing.

Not everyone in our group could name a female business leader, for example, but among those mentioned were Jacqueline De Rocas of Tech UK (Alison), information commissioner Elizabeth Denham (Kathy) and Thrive Global’s Arianna Huffington (Emily).

It was Miki’s response, however, that offered the most comprehensive example, highlighting the inspiration and legacy of Grace Hopper.

“Grace was born in New York in 1906 and from a young age was interested in how things work. She got her PhD from Yale in Mathematics and was one of the first programmers of the Harvard Mark I computer. She popularised the term “debugging” when a moth got stuck in a relay within the computer and she commented on getting the thing out. (Fun fact: You can actually see that moth in a museum in America!)

“She also came up with the computer language COBOL. When she coined the idea, her male counterparts told her it wouldn’t work because “…computers can’t speak English…”. She proved them wrong!

USS Hopper

Miki continued: “During WWII, Grace Hopper tried to join the Navy but was rejected because she was too small. But later joined the Navy Reserves and worked her way through the ranks to Rear Admiral.

“She retired from the Navy when she was 60 but was frequently invited to return. She officially stopped all her Naval responsibilities when she was 79, making her the oldest person to ever be in the Navy. She even has a Naval ship named after her – USS Hopper!

She is a true inspiration and one of the reasons I studied Mathematics at university.”

We’ll bring you more insight and, hopefully, inspiration in the next instalment of our women in tech series over the coming weeks. Follow our LinkedIn page for the latest updates.

TLA Book Club: The Barcelona Way. Unlocking the DNA of a Winning Culture.

What can businesses learn from football clubs? Or, more specifically, from FC Barcelona?

The latest contribution to the TLA Book Club comes from head of culture and brand Keith Price. What can we expect from Damian Hughes’ 2018 book The Barcelona Way: Unlocking the DNA of a Winning Culture?

The Barcelona WayIn less than 100 words, what was the book about?

An in-depth look at Pep Guardiola’s tenure as FC Barcelona’s head coach (2008-2012) and the role that culture in the club’s success. The book identifies the five overarching principles of culture development led by Guardiola and draws parallels with the business world, offering practical steps for establishing a high-performance environment.

What were the key takeaways for you?

The book is packed with great takeaways – concepts that are applicable to organisations in any industry. From putting guiding principles in priority order to offer clarity to those expected to follow them. To identifying “cultural architects” within your company that can help make cultural changes take hold.

Arguably most important takeaway is that football clubs, like brands, need a clear sense of identity (or as Hughes’ describes it, “big picture”) to connect and inspire everyone associated to the organisation. For Barcelona, the big picture is encapsulated by the line ‘More than just a football club’. It implies that to play for Barcelona is to play for all of Catalonia; to play for freedom.

This provided the foundations for everything that followed. From Dutch legend Johan Cruyff’s philosophy for how the game should be played, which shaped how players are coached at every level, to Guardiola’s guiding principles that set the tone for behaviours expected of everyone involved.

This clarity and consistency took the club on a cultural journey that led to the most successful period in its history, winning fourteen of a possible nineteen titles.

Who do you think would enjoy reading it?

The book is an inspiring read for anyone in business who wants to foster a winning culture. Or anyone curious about what contributes to a football club’s success.

Five minutes with… TLA Strategy Director of Property and Financial Services Paul Earnden

Next up in our Q&A series we have Paul Earnden, who joined team TLA four months ago as Strategy Director of Property and Financial Services.

Following on from his recent move at Prodo, a digital transformation and growth agency based in Chester, we talk to Paul about his role here at TLA below.

What have been your first impressions of TLA and its culture?

I was pleasantly surprised with the approach to technology and data. Our platform is an incredible piece of technology which is going to help us achieve great things in connecting in-market consumers to brands. Like any tech-based organisation, things have to be fast paced. But this is fast paced with real purpose, structure and driven by data. So much progress is made on a daily basis.

Finally, I’ve been really impressed with the entire approach to onboarding, our culture code and the effort made to ensure that everybody in the business lives and breathes “The TLA Way” and genuinely, I feel they all do!

You took part in our London to Brighton cycle in aid of NABS. What was the experience like?

The cycle was great…but very difficult! It was a great opportunity to meet so many companies, agencies and tech providers in a completely different environment: no big offices, no shirts and ties – just helmets and lycra..! I learnt a lot about NABS, our charity of choice, and now look forward to being part of further fundraising activity for them.

What is your role and the role of your department at TLA?

The role of my department is to grow TLA’s Property and Financial Services vertical into a major arm of our business. I’m working directly with mortgage brokers, lenders, estate agents and other financial services organisations to deliver incremental revenue with our technology. The role is a real mix of product development, customer acquisition and operations, it’s great fun!

What can you tell us about Movewell?

Movewell is a new consumer website we’ve developed that is designed to guide homeowners, or soon-to-be homeowners, through the tricky process of buying a home, moving home, remortgaging or selling their home. In its current form, it’s contains useful content, guides, checklists and calculators which assist consumers through the process. These consumers can then opt to utilise our broker matching service and, based on their circumstances, we will place them with a broker who will hold their hand through the application process.

How has the property industry evolved over the last 12 months?

The last 12 months have been interesting. I’ve been involved in the housing and property space for around six years now and, in that time, most change has been driven by technology and digital transformation.

Such steep advances in technology have allowed for some fantastic products and services to be created, but at the same time some businesses have gone all-in on this technology before it’s really matured. There’s a big wish in organisations to be using things like blockchain, machine learning, artificial intelligence, augmented reality and more – but sometimes without purpose or a real use-case.

Due to the access to technology, we’re seeing proptech startups get large amounts of VC backing and one major development has been a sharp increase in the amount of online estate agents, which has been an incredibly turbulent sector with major ups and downs over the last 12 months. I fundamentally believe that online estate agents have a place in the market, but it will take a while to get consumer buy-in and for people to drop their guards around selling a property online. The younger demographics will likely opt for this type of service, but they’re not necessarily the ones buying or selling houses right now.

What do you anticipate the next 12 months will look like for the industry?

I guess the biggest changes in the industry are probably going to be as a result of what happens within the political environment, and I don’t think anybody really knows what’s going to happen or how this could change the industry. Staying with the theme of digital transformation and technology, I think we’re going to see further utilisation of technology in order to build some great products. I’m a big fan of fintech, and the use of technology within the financial services industry. The mortgage industry has seen some great products from the likes of Mojo, Habito and Trussle, offering an almost end-to-end digital experience, allowing people to apply for a mortgage from their phone.

In the last year, I feel we’ve seen the beginning of the traditional, large organisations who’ve been challenged by the so-called challenger brands react. This will likely result in banks, lenders, brokers, and estate agents etc. building innovative tech products to challenge the challengers. The digital experience from some more traditional banks has started to slowly rival the likes of Monzo, Starting and Revolut and I think we’ll see a similar trend in estate agency and mortgaging.

Finally, I’d like to think that the creation and adoption of open banking will enable mortgage lenders and brokers to shorten the application to completion timeframe and, as a whole, increase the customer experience within the sector.

What role can Movewell play in helping the industry?

Movewell exists to give unbiased guidance to those in the middle of quite a complex buyer journey. These consumers are looking for the best product for their needs, and we can match those needs to a brand (such as a broker, lender, or estate agent) who are looking to deliver further, incremental revenue.

If you’ve got a question for the TLA team or want to know more about what makes us tick, why not get in touch?

TLA team to take on Tough Mudder Challenge

In recent years, taking part in physical challenges in the name of a worthy cause have become a big part of our culture. We’ve had cycles from London to Liverpool, Paris and, most recently, Brighton; plus, marathons, 10k runs, Man v Lakes and more.

Next up on the list, as part of our mission to raise £25,000 for NABS, is the Tough Mudder North West 5k, which takes place at Cheshire’s Cholmondeley Castle on the Saturday 7 September.

While our charity events are always open to any member of staff, this marks the first time that an all-female team will be representing the company. Ten TLA ladies will be wading through the mud and dirt to overcoming challenging obstacles: marketers Rachel Hellon and Amara Molloy, developer Shannon Miller, project manager Emily Abbey, financial assistant Joanna Walmsley, QC manager Laurie Bloor, senior QC exec Abigail Hanson and customer service trio Paige Cave, Carly Hepworth and Grace Fitch.

‘Strength and teamwork’

Emily, who joined TLA earlier this summer, said: “The gents of TLA have been doing an amazing job this year raising money for NABS, and this seems like a great opportunity to not only contribute to that, but to also bring the women together in a show of strength and teamwork.

“I don’t think anyone was expecting us to choose Tough Mudder as our first all-girls challenge, but given that we’re going to need to look after each other to succeed it seems very fitting with the work NABS do in the advertising and media community,” she added.

Meanwhile, Laurie said: “In the five years I’ve been with TLA, I’ve watched many teams complete bike rides, races and challenges all for amazing charities. I’m excited to finally take part and raise money for NABS. This is our first all-girls team and I’m looking forward to us working together and completing Tough Mudder.”

Over the coming weeks, we’ll bring you updates of how the team are getting on with their preparation as well as shining a light on the work they do at TLA. As a business rooted in the tech and marketing industry, we hope to provide insight and advice for other women looking to enter and/or develop their career in this field. Follow us on LinkedIn to stay informed of the latest content.

If you’d like to support the team with their challenge, please visit the JustGiving page.

TLA grows team with seven new hires

We have strengthened our TLA team with seven new arrivals in the last few weeks.

Joining our Liverpool-headquartered company’s digital team is senior product manager Steve Timmis, performance analyst Miki Parr, project manager Emily Abbey, graduate PPC executive Amara Molloy and B2B marketing intern Gabby Dixon.

Meanwhile, Alicia Brady has joined the TLA surveys team with Steve Ashcroft arriving as quality control executive.

Head of talent acquisition, Michael Fitzsimmons said: “This is a genuinely exciting time for the business, with recruitment ongoing across all departments. As we grow, it’s vital that we find people who fit the culture of our business – ambitious, proactive and eager to keep developing their talent. Our latest additions certainly have those qualities, and we’re excited about what they can bring to the team.”

Steve Timmis, who joins the business from New Balance, said: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to join such a forward-thinking, consumer-focused tech business. I’m really looking forward to leading the product management of the automotive vertical and working with the cross-functional product teams as the business expands into international markets.”

If you’d like to be a part of team TLA, visit our careers page to find out more about our vacancies.

Five minutes with… TLA Head of Digital Marketing Paul Court

Next up in our Q&A series we have Paul Court, who leads digital execution strategy for our clients across all verticals.

Paul joined TLA just over 18 months ago from Time Out, where he held the position of senior digital marketing manager. Prior to that he was part of an extensive digital acquisition team at lastminute.com. 

Here, he talks about the role of digital marketing at TLA, the passions that drive him and the future of performance marketing.

What is the role of your department at TLA?

The marketing department is the voice of the customer, so we must work to understand customer pain points and connect the most relevant client with that consumer. We work across all channel activity to drive the most effective and cost-efficient results for our clients.

What have been your biggest projects from the first half of 2019?

In the first half of 2019, the biggest project I’ve been working on is a digital transformation project around our proprietary audience platform. We’re building out a best-in-class platform that can connect audiences with client campaigns to deliver performance. I’ve been setting the 5 year vision for the platform and working on a 12 month execution plan to realise that vision.

What area of your work are you most passionate about and why?

I’m most passionate about team progression and enabling all members of the team to progress in their careers. Digital Marketing is a vast landscape and there’s lots of opportunities to find the role that suits you best so working with the team to help identify and pursue that role means that they’re working in the most effective way, which in turn delivers results for the business and for our clients.

What are your predictions for your profession and/or industry?

Digital marketing is constantly evolving, always at a rapid pace so any prediction is difficult. A few things that stick out are:

  • The continuous move to ‘performance’. Marketeers are becoming savvier about where to put their money. With the rise of big platforms in FB, Google etc. performance accountability and execution has never been easier. Traditional display, through programmatic means has operated in an opaque manner for too long and transparency on what any given activity is delivering will continue to be key.
  • The rise of the big platforms has led to data silos and a war around data ownership. Walled Gardens in Google/FB/Amazon etc. mean that cross channel measurement becomes ever more challenging and there’s even more financial pressure on publishers who don’t always have the scale of a big corporate to compete.

How will they impact the way we do things at TLA?

Platform X will be our attempt to solve this industry’s wide problem, bringing performance and accountability whilst appropriately rewarding publisher contribution. It’s an exciting time for the digital marketing ecosystem as people continue to get more au fait with data and the impact it can have on digital execution effectiveness.

Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any books, blogs or websites you would recommend?

I tend to listen to several podcasts to keep up with the latest goings on in marketing – we tend to listen to Ad Age Ad Lib, AdExchanger Talks, The MadTech Podcast by ExchangeWire on a regular basis as well as consuming the latest content from Medium, the Drum and Digiday.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in the digital marketing industry?

I have no regrets about getting involved in digital marketing, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest brands and clients across several interesting projects. The piece of advice I’d give to aspiring digital marketeers is to try and get involved in as much as possible. Understanding the whole marketing and data ecosystem gives you a fantastic grounding in wider business performance and will set you up for a fantastic career.

If you’ve got a question for the TLA team or want to know more about what makes us tick, why not get in touch?

Five minutes with… TLA Lead UX/UI Designer Jonny Kimber

As part of this series of Q&As we have Jonny Kimber, who joined our TLA team in August last year as our Lead UX/UI Designer. Here he gives an insight into his time at The Lead Agency so far…

What is the main function of the UX & Design department at TLA?

There’s a real mix regarding the projects we get to work on as good UX can be applied to anything! My role is looking at the TLA ecosystem and ensuring our digital touch points are working as hard as possible for our users from landing page campaigns to engaging widgets.

What have been your biggest projects from the first half of 2019?

The biggest project of the first half of 2019 has definitely been the revamp of Ask A Price landing pages. We already had a great user flow, but we challenged the entire team with a bunch more requirements to the existing user flow. The results led to a large uplift in conversion, better standards across the board and a near-perfect coded experience to the original designs. It’s definitely set the bar for how we deliver large-scale briefs. Another really great project to note was our first global campaign overseas for Audi Canada, definitely an incredible achievement for us!

What area of your work are you most passionate about and why?

Throughout my career I’ve been lucky to be trained in all areas of design. I started in the branding industry gaining confidence and enhancing how I delivered creative briefs, then moved towards digital work as a UI designer. I then took the jump to UX design to ensure the digital projects I was delivering had the user at the centre of the process. This has taught me that true innovation comes from three things, desirability, feasibility and viability. As long as the user is at the heart of my decisions, I’m on the right track.

What are your predictions for your profession and/or industry?

UX in general has had a really good reception and has really been recognised as a catalyst for business success. I constantly talk about the ROI of UX design and how it benefits businesses across the board from more engaging products for the user but also less resource burden on development teams amongst a multitude of other things. I think we will see the continuation of this success and an increased split of UX facing roles such as UX writers and UX researchers. These roles are fairly standard within the world of design but not realistically adopted by small/medium-sized businesses.

How will they impact the way we do things at TLA?

A lot more work around the entire journey of a customer, enhanced touch points across the board (digital and non-digital) and a greater emphasis on adding colour and context to the data we ascertain.

Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any books, blogs or websites you would recommend?

I’m a member of the IDF (The Interaction Design Foundation) which is a great place to up-skill UX skills, meet up with the fellow UX community and share my opinions on current projects in the digital industry across the world. It truly is an incredible site that can benefit any designer or company in general. I also read design blogs (Invision Blog, design related content on Medium) and I have a Dribbble profile to showcase some of my more visual work. I also mentor a designer in New York called Dongwei, he’s a really great guy so it’s awesome hearing about the projects he has on and talking UX processes with him.

What do you enjoy most about working at TLA?

The projects for sure – they keep me busy, challenge me and allow me to learn with every single project produced. There’s a huge focus on testing and gaining learnings from those tests so a project is never really complete. Second to this, the team I work with are a pretty inspiring bunch! Whether it’s the marketing department or the development teams, I’m constantly learning new ways to execute projects, deliver better briefs and afterwards share a drink with a good group of people. I can honestly say we all reach the finish line at the same time, it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever worked for.

How would you summarise TLA’s culture in three words?

Fast-paced, Talented, Opportunity.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in the UX or design industry?

Never stop learning, always be accountable for a project you’re a part of, always strive for innovation and don’t worry about having different ideas to bring to the table.

If you’ve got a question for the TLA team or want to know more about what makes us tick, why not get in touch?

Spotlight on NABS – our chosen charity for this Friday’s London to Brighton cycle

This Friday (7 June) the media industry will unite for a 63-mile cycle to raise thousands of pounds for NABS, the mental health and wellbeing charity for professionals working in the media and advertising industry.

The Sea Change for Mental Health journey will see riders from the likes of PHD, Mediacom, Accenture, Mail Metro Media and more set off from Marble Arch and head south for Brighton’s Marine Parade, experiencing in one of Britain’s most celebrated cycling routes.

Among the cycling group will be Charlie Altman, NABS’ director of fundraising, who has taken time out of her training and fundraising to tell us more about the charity and its mission.

Support cyclists like Charlie help reach the £25,000 target to raise money for NABS and make a difference for mental health! Click here to make a donation for a great cause! 

Hi Charlie. What can you tell us about NABS and its mission?

“NABS was founded in 1913 to look after the employees of the advertising profession. Its mission, as a benevolent society, was to ensure that people in the profession had somewhere to turn to if they fell on hard times. Since then, NABS has expanded and adapted its services, with a growing focus on helping to prevent people from reaching crisis point.”

Who does NABS support and what does it do to help them?

“NABS supports everybody working in the advertising and media industry, including those employed in media agencies, creative agencies, and media owners, as well as freelancers working throughout the industry. NABS’ mission is to help people in the industry to thrive; to empower them so that their wellbeing can flourish.

NABS provides a huge range of support in various forms. Its Advice Line took nearly 1000 calls in the first three months of this year alone. Its Masterclasses help people in the industry to feel confident and resilient. And its evening Talks provide a chance to hear from some of the industry’s most senior figures.

NABS also offers superb networking and learning opportunities at its hugely popular speed mentoring events, which bring together people at all levels from across the industry. Its core services are free to everyone working in the industry, ensuring that people can benefit from help and expertise whatever their situation. That’s why NABS relies on donations to fund its work, especially as demand for its services is increasing each year.”

You can also watch Charlie’s video message ahead of the cycle here.

Media industry cycle from London to Brighton aims to raise £25,000 for NABS

Would you like to be part of a 63-mile cycle from London to Brighton in aid of media and advertising charity NABS?

On Friday 7 June, 100 representatives from the UK’s biggest media agencies and publishers will line up side-by-side to support and promote good mental health and wellbeing within our industry.

Sea Change for Mental Health is a shared mission, led by TLA, to raise more than £25,000 for NABS in 2019 through fundraising activity. Mental health affects 1 in 4 people, so we wanted to create an event whereby people can have a positive impact on the people they work closely to.

The London to Brighton cycle, which will be led by a professional support team, is open to teams and individuals of all fitness and ability levels. TLA will fund all riders taking part, so that 100% of the proceeds from their entry fees go directly to NABS.

Upon arrival in Brighton, there will also be medals for everyone and an exclusive after-party with music, food and a free-bar!

We’ve already received team sign-ups from Mail Metro, PHD, Haymarket, NABS and, of course, TLA. If you’d like to join us in making this a special event, head over to the charity microsite today and register your interest.