Why staging events is so important for better engagement...

We pride ourselves on delivering a first class service to our clients and interims and feel that our role extends to beyond our core function. To us, organising regular events is about driving better engagement and understanding as they allow us to really get to know the people, companies and the organisations we work with. As a result, we also feel they help to directly inform our work.

Our events schedule is a vital part of our overall offering and last year we held a comprehensive series of breakfast briefings, lunches, seminars, cocktail parties and dinners around the UK. They covered many of our practice areas and included a SME Dinner in the North West, a Public Sector Drinks Reception in London, a Chemical and Process Industries Dinner in Darlington, a Healthcare Board Dinner in Cheshire and a Social Housing Reception at our city head office.

The guest lists were made up of some of the most senior executives in the country, including; Chief Executives, Operations Directors, Finance Directors, HR Directors as well as  Board Members from both the public and private sectors. Thanks to such a diverse range of attendees, we ensure that each event is highly topical and relevant to the audience.

The events team, headed up by Sarah Humphreys, our Business Development and Events Manager - also works hard to secure the best speakers possible. In 2013 they included;  Ben Page, Chief Executive of Ipsos MORI; Paul Chapman, Director, MSc in Major Programme Management, Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and Sir Mike Richards who is Chief Inspector of Hospitals for the Care Quality Commission.

I’m pleased to report that momentum is well underway for 2014 and our diary is already filling up. Again, the aim is to hold events that are engaging, informative and thought provoking.  So far, we have 10 events arranged for 2014; including a Charities Reception, a  Financial Services Dinner and a Programme/ Project Management Seminar.

On the evening of Tuesday 1st April, Odgers Interim and Berwick Partners are holding a Public Services Reception at The Stock Restaurant, Manchester. Paul Chapman, PR and Strategy Director at HS2 Ltd,  will be speaking on "Consultation and transparency versus national interest? Winning hearts and minds in tough times…" at 7.30pm.  Should you wish to attend this event, please contact sarah.humphreys@odgers.com.