Heralding in a new era at Lansons, new CEO Gordon Tempest-Hay takes 5 with some of our newest recruits, sharing career wisdom, plans for the firm, leadership styles and, the all important question of dogs in the office.

Q. What are you most excited about in the year ahead?

Working with a host of new people. Over the last two years I’ve been serving my non-competes and operating mostly as a sole advisor. That’s fine and I’ve enjoyed it but it’s lonely and not as much fun as working with others. Ours is a collaborative endeavour and we’re at our best when we work together to solve a client’s challenge.

Winning. I love pitching and I love winning. Obviously, there are the losses too and I hate those. But the thrill of the pitch and the high of that call that tells you you’ve won is still intoxicating.

The work. I know it’s a cliché but it really is all about the work. I want people to increasingly look at what we do for our clients and see that it’s at the top of the pack in terms of insight, creativity and delivery.

Q. How will you expand on some of Lansons’ current offerings?

We’re looking at where we’ll prioritise our effort for the next financial year and will be saying more on that in the coming months. In the short-term, we’ll be enhancing and extending our production studio to create a state-of-the-art, broadcast-quality facility that can give clients a truly immersive newsroom and studio experience as well as create film, animations and a host of other content to amplify their campaigns.

Q. What do you think a world class learning system for employees entails?

We’re a consulting business. That means that clients look to us to help them solve their challenges and they expect us to be able to deliver outcomes that are additive to them and their businesses. If we’re to do that well, then we should always be hungry to learn, building constantly on our skills, and developing ourselves to be the best advisors we can possibly be.

That means a world-class learning system should be capable of delivering the core skills we must all have as advisors, open our eyes to new thinking so we are at the leading-edge of ideas, and be eminently flexible so as to be suitable for people at different stages in their careers. It should also be fun as no-one wants to feel they’re back in double-maths!

Q. Looking back on the clients you’ve worked with, which were most fun?

There have been lots. I loved working with Vitality and, back in the day, helping eBay when its platform was the wild west. I’ve worked with lots of property clients and they know how to throw a party! But, if I had to pick one, I’d say that the work we did with RBS (now Nat West) to help rebuild its reputation gave me the chance to work on something that mattered, where I think we made a difference, and with a client and agency team that were both very good and great fun.

Q. What’s your view on dogs in the office?

I understand we already do have dogs in the office (shout outs to Teddy, Lunar and Inka). And I am fine with it, so long as they don't trip up colleagues and clients.