For those not in the know, 3i (stemming from Investors In Industry) is a UK-based venture capitalist with a growing business in continental Europe. I’m primarily responsible for all communications activity with outside audiences apart from marketing, but also for long-term international planning and development.
On average, I probably spend around 70 percent of my time on IR and corporate PR, 20 percent on public affairs and 10 percent on the international development role. Because of the nature of my responsibilities, I’m going to detail some recent diary notes and thoughts from the middle to end of October rather than a complete week per se. That way you should receive a more complete view of my role.
Day one
First up is a day dominated by IR. We’ve arranged a site visit to our Cambridge office for shareholders we consider to be underweight in our stock. I think site visits are the best way of illustrating what our business is all about. Investors have a chance to see one of our offices and a presentation from our CEO or finance director as well as the key people from that particular office.
We usually persuade a few of our local ‘clients’ – the companies we have invested in – to come in and talk to the audience, too. The Cambridge office is ideal because it is surrounded by a lot of high-tech businesses which we helped get off the ground and is also a relatively short hike on the train from London. As long as site visits are well organized we find investors are prepared to give us the necessary time commitment – usually a whole day. Today’s site visit presentation will be led by Michael Queen, 3i’s finance director.
My colleague Mike Davis, who handles UK IR, does a lot of the organization for these visits which are a key part of our IR calendar. For instance, he will be spending the whole day in Cambridge with the investors, leaving me free to work on a presentation for the upcoming European Investment Congress in Edinburgh at the end of October.
The Edinburgh Congress is a major IR event with presentations from leading European blue chips and – hopefully – attendance from a large group of investors. Again, Michael Queen will lead our presentation. It’s an opportunity to build understanding of our business in continental Europe.
It’s also a chance to showcase a particularly apt investee. Raw Communications has developed a video system to pipe corporate presentations and morning analyst briefings directly into institutional investors’ offices. It’s an exciting new business and is a prime example of the type of organization we back. It’s also ideal for this audience as they’ll be able to identify with what Raw has to offer.
Day two
Our interims come out at the end of November and I’m spending an increasing amount of time thinking about the messages we’ll be giving out. This means we’re technically in a quiet period but that’s never prevented us from undertaking events like yesterday’s site visit. We take the view that good, careful, active IR during quiet periods is the best route. We just have to make sure we don’t talk about the group’s current performance.
I’m joined by Chris McDermott and Andrew Best from Shandwick, our financial PR agency, for a meeting to discuss the positioning of our interim results message. We’re looking at the key factors driving performance as well as talking about how to disseminate the messages internationally.
We’ve made a real push to become much more international in our communications outlook as we strive to build the business – and shareholder base – on the Continent. These results will be distributed in French, Spanish, Italian and German – the countries where we currently have operations.
At the moment, 90 percent of our business is in the UK with just 10 percent on the Continent, but we want to see continental activity double over the next three years. Similarly, 95 percent of our shareholder base is currently from the UK. I’d like to grow the continental element to around 10 percent over the next few years, not just in the countries in which we operate but in, say, Scandinavia, Switzerland and the Netherlands too. It will help if we’re seen as an investment as well as an investor – corporate PR and IR are inextricably linked for our business.
To help move in the right direction I recently hired a Dutchman, Douwe Cosijn, to head up our continental IR push. I’ve also visited several of the institutions with our brokers but it’s time to increase the effort on our own. We’ve also started sending out a newsletter every other quarter in the autumn and spring to help plug the gaps between year end and interims. That seems to have gone down well although several Scandinavian institutions are crying out for more, so we’re trying to develop our web site accordingly.
Day three
Today I’m going to be wearing my public affairs hat. I leave home at 5 am for a flight to Brussels. Ironically, our offices are right next to Waterloo International but the first train on the Eurostar schedule does not allow you to arrive in time for a mid-morning meeting which is frustrating. It’s the start of what turns out to be a murderous day of traveling.
There’s complete gridlock around Heathrow but I manage to check in for the 6.20 flight. Unfortunately, the flight is delayed because the crew were stuck in traffic. I then face a 40 minute queue for a taxi at Brussels airport with the knowledge I’m supposed to join my chief executive, Brian Larcombe, in a hotel in the center of the city by 10.40. He came over last night for another appointment. I reach the hotel at 10.39, just in time to jump into a cab with Brian on the way to our first meeting.
We’re here to see some people from the European Commission to talk about encouraging the growth of small business. With unemployment at around 18 mn in the European Union, the Commission is interested in promoting entrepreneurial activity, viewing this as a major means of getting people back to work. We’re keen to help that process.
Our first meeting is with a member of Jacques Santère’s cabinet then we head for lunch with MEPs and member state representatives. It’s difficult to gauge their reaction but we’ve got an international audience interested in 3i’s work which is the main objective.
After lunch we do a couple of interviews with the French and Belgian press before going home. Easier said than done. After landing at Heathrow, I get stuck in traffic again on the M25 due to an accident. I eventually get home about 10.20 pm.
Day four
A day of internal meetings, scriptwriting and partying lies ahead. First thing I have a weekly meeting with Patrick Dunne, 3i’s internal communications director, and Adam Quarry, marketing director. I also have a weekly meeting with my five-strong communications team to prioritize our efforts over the week ahead.
After lunch I hone my scriptwriting skills. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has asked us to give a presentation to London-based foreign correspondents. It’s an excellent opportunity to improve our contacts with the continental European press. It’s not a substitute for getting to know journalists on the Continent but is a step in the right direction.
As evening approaches we’re getting into party mood. Every year we have a party for all our City contacts: analysts, shareholders, intermediaries, advisors and the like. This year it’s at Stationers Hall in the City and we’re providing entertainment in the form of a jazz quartet from the Sinfonia Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music. We sponsor the Sinfonia and it’s an opportunity to tie in their skills with our own audience. The party is a relaxed affair over drinks just to say thank you to everyone for their support. Of course, we usually make a few extra contacts, too. Another late evening.
Day five
I spend most of the morning working on getting some good press in the Sunday papers. We’re lobbying the government to reduce capital gains tax and have gained some headway but want to keep the pressure up. Britain may be a good place to do business but it isn’t necessarily a good place to own a business – CGT is lower in the US and in many other European countries. We currently have a starting rate of 40 percent although the Chancellor recently introduced a tapering relief which means it reduces to 10 percent over ten years.
That’s a good start but we’re still concerned that serial entrepreneurs – those that start a business, sell the business, start another business – are taking themselves offshore rather than choosing Britain as a permanent base. We’re lobbying to reduce the starting rate to 20 percent; cut the tapering relief from ten years to five; and make the tax relief available on an equal basis to all investors.
In the afternoon I begin to build up my understanding of the Fulcrum shareholder analysis and targeting software we’ve started using. It’s going to be great for planning site trips and the like and giving more regular updates on movements in the shareholder base.
We’ve been similarly impressed by the technology we’re using for our annual report, interim report and newsletter production. The software – known as Ringmaster – allows us to alter text in our offices while our design agency, MPL, has control over the main structure of the page. Both of us can view the document at the same time and move around it as we talk through something on the phone. It is a joy to use compared to the old system and saves time and money. Hopefully it also means we all get to have shorter working weeks.
