Celebrating 50 editions of CT Brief!
We take a look back over the past 10 years
STRATEGY
Greg Campbell
Partner, Campbell Tickell
CT Brief has now reached its half-century and is turning into a teenager! The first edition 10 years ago focused on just one issue: highlighting the learning from a major study we conducted for the former Tenant Services Authority, looking at what were the drivers for improvement across housing associations in England.
CT Brief has changed a lot since then. The size of each issue has grown considerably, and the range of subjects too. We have produced editions focusing not just on housing, but on health and social care, local government, finance, regeneration, sports and leisure, charities, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, diversity, risk, transformation and innovation, and more.
Our direct circulation is now nearly 8,000. It’s hard to pick a favourite edition, but the 3% campaign that we launched in 2014 (see cover) certainly has a fond place in my heart!
Bigger and better
Campbell Tickell too has changed considerably over the past 10 years. Our in-house team has well over doubled in size and the amount of work we do for clients has well over doubled too.
We have extended our operations throughout the UK and Ireland, and moved into sectors such as charities, regulators and other public bodies, central government, sports and leisure, and commercial businesses.
And the world has certainly changed as well. In 2010, the UK saw a new coalition government and significant changes in the wake of the financial crash. Since then, we have seen three general elections, a referendum on Scottish independence, and a referendum on EU membership followed by four years seeking to prepare for Brexit.
The Republic of Ireland has also had three general elections and clear political shift; and in Northern Ireland, there was a three-year hiatus after power-sharing broke down. But aside from the politics, we are of course experiencing a global pandemic that is likely to stay around until 2021 and potentially beyond, and recession across much of the globe.
“Experience tells us that more system shocks will come in due course... CT Brief will continue to be here, seeking to help the organisations and sectors we work with, to understand what is going on and to find a manageable way through ”
Looking to the future
Experience tells us that more system shocks will come in due course: will the next crisis be climate change, financial, another pandemic, solar flares, or something else entirely? CT Brief will continue to be here, seeking to help the organisations and sectors we work with, to understand what is going on and to find a manageable way through.
Finally, a big thank you, to our joint editors Stuart Macdonald and Zina Smith, to Rianna Mitchell who makes everything happen, to our many contributors, and to you our readers. We hope you will continue reading, commenting, and responding. And please consider writing for us: we are always keen to feature guest articles.
Be well and here’s to the next 10 years!
