Chris Simmance (00:01.966)
It’s lovely to have Mark Huxley here today. After 47 years as a city boy, not a band name, 25 of them as a Lloyd’s Geek and serial entrepreneur, Mark has built, supported and exited more businesses than most people can dream of, which is at least five. I literally had to scroll through 33, Mark, 33 engagements and roles on LinkedIn. I kind of gave up trying to work out what it was, where you started on this, because some of them are still present. It’s amazing.
Mark Huxley (00:20.829)
You
Chris Simmance (00:31.956)
now with that wealth of experience, you’re using it to help others innovate, succeed in a top notch as a top notch, sorry, innovate, innovate. my gosh. Innovation consultant. It’s not even late in the day. but that’s not all Mark’s got heart of gold, apparently, allegedly. he’s the chair of a social inclusion charity and currently master of the company of entrepreneurs. One of the city of London’s youngest livery companies, which I’m very proud to be a member of as well.
So whether you’re looking for business insights or just a good old chat about giving back, think this podcast is going to have everything that you ever wanted and more. What do you reckon, Mark?
Mark Huxley (01:09.073)
I’m definitely there with you and the pride and I’m glad you’re proud about the company of entrepreneurs because I have the pride and the honor that I got to admit you to the company of entrepreneurs and I’ll leave you to tell others the story behind the uniqueness of your mission and it’s all about shoes.
Chris Simmance (01:16.95)
Yes, you did. You did.
Chris Simmance (01:26.434)
Yeah, it’s becoming a bit of a theme within the company of entrepreneurs because for those who don’t know, we’ll probably touch on this a little bit in the episode, but there are some very formal aspects of things and there are some very informal aspects of things and there are lots of gray lines and gray areas in which it’s kind of take a choice and roll the dice. And I often roll the dice and choose very colorful shoes with very colorful trainers. And my admission ceremony.
I chose to wear multicolored brogues and was later informed that potentially shouldn’t be wearing them again unless it’s otherwise allowed. I think that’s about right, isn’t it?
Mark Huxley (02:09.836)
No it is, it wasn’t so much a grey line, was a lovely, flurried, blue, yellow, red, green, grey line. It was everything, it was lovely.
Chris Simmance (02:16.706)
Yeah. Yeah. I’m a fan of being seen, as I, as I think, as I think you are given the, the role you carry in the, in the, in the company at the moment. the, so as with, the other podcast episodes we’ve recorded already, just for the, the, the, the, listener’s benefit. this is all about not just what you’ve done, how you’ve got where you’ve got, but also the, the life that that’s, that that’s woven into, you know,
Mark Huxley (02:25.244)
Yeah
Chris Simmance (02:45.326)
family, friends, things that have happened that have actually allowed you to do these things as much as some of the times, know, things you’ve had to sacrifice to do that. isn’t all black tie banquets, is it? You do an awful lot right now. So within the realms of this is a 45 minute episode, Mark, can you just give us a bit of a, in a nutshell of what you get up to other than the master?
Freeman, Freeman, master, master Freeman entrepreneur. Am getting that right? Probably getting it wrong.
Mark Huxley (03:17.615)
It doesn’t matter. There’s a lot of words there, but we’ll avoid that particular part of it. So I guess on the here and the now, for reasons, I guess, well unpacking this, I’ve got quite a well -earned reputation of being an innovator and somebody who thinks slightly differently than others. So I’ve always been a kind of supportive outlier within business. So life now really is about
from an insurance perspective and the Lloyds insurance market has been a constant golden thread through my life. And that’s a good example of what I get up to. There are a huge amount of opportunities for new businesses to come into that sector. Some would be in that kind FinTech, InsureTech mold that we’d all know about, but just many others that just want to do things slightly different and kind of reimagine. And within the heart, the physical fabric part of the Lloyds building is the Lloyds lab, which is a
Chris Simmance (03:51.854)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (04:15.241)
six -year -old innovation hub. So a good deal of my time is by their gift. I get to live there. I get to work with the various cohorts that go through their open innovation programs, 12, 13 of them at a time. They’re on cohort 13 coming up. So it’s six years old and bring all of the kind of life knowledge and experiences that I’ve gained over that long career that you’ve called out for the 47 years.
of being a subject matter expert in insurance, but also 25 or so the years that had been setting up my own businesses. So living the dreams and the nightmares that they’re going through and helping them kind of bump along and just innovate and ideate. they’re the two bits in there. The other stuff, again, I think we’ll explore in more detail. So I’ll pass it over in a minute about my own background, but I was born in the East end of London.
Chris Simmance (04:54.627)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (05:12.165)
aware of the journey that I’ve managed to be on in my life. And I look at the city today and I don’t recognize it to the city I joined. And this does exemplify across the workplace, better in my life is financial services. So I couldn’t speak for other sectors. And actually, there’s so much talent that gets missed with the opportunity to come into the city because they’re not, they’re not the cookie cutter, tertiary, educated, professionally qualified.
Chris Simmance (05:26.755)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (05:39.209)
know, intakes coming on grad schemes and everything else. And we missed the whole social diaspora, the whole neurodivergent diaspora and all of the wonderful thinking that comes out the back of that time. I have a grim determination while I’ve still got some breath in my body to actually try and change that. So the social mobility charities think of City Gateway is a very big exemplar of that. It is an East End based charity looks out for 16, 18 year olds that for whatever reason have dropped out of the education system. They’re not losers. They’re people that are
trying to solve life problems and who are we to judge the problems that they’re solving. So if we can create an opportunity to get them educated for the workplace and bring them in, that’s a great thing. On the other side of it, know, more on the entrepreneurial thread, there is an inequality in black minority female founders, underserved communities. And again, it’s wrong. It’s wrong that we do that. It’s wrong that we built this social prejudice around that. So I give a lot of my time to help.
Chris Simmance (06:13.954)
Yeah.
Mark Huxley (06:37.511)
those folks. I mentor and advise on Black minority founder foundations in there. There is that’s all free. Everything I’ve spoken about there is stuff I don’t earn money for. What I do earn money for is like most people my age, I’ve gone into that kind of fractional, Ned, non exec type role. So I’m non exec chair of three companies. I advise a couple of other companies and I mentor some people.
in their own personal career journeys. So not life mentoring, but personal development from a professional. And obviously, mostly within that will be people owning their own businesses.
Chris Simmance (07:12.607)
Mm.
Chris Simmance (07:17.238)
So just, I think we’ll go back to the giving back aspect shortly, because there’s a bit of a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs there. In order to be able to give back, you needed to be able to get, like you say, you carved out a life for yourself. Insurance is not typically known for it in the wider world, other than what you might know.
as innovative and full of change and dynamism. So how did you, as someone who kind of really does embody that, how did you fare in your early days in the insurance world? Did you have to tow the line and feel a bit uncomfortable with it? Or did you wear some fancy shoes?
Mark Huxley (08:06.025)
I’ve always wanted fancy shoes, just not as colourful as yours. No, you misrepresent the insurance industry. For the sake of this conversation, we’re breaking into two simple chunks. There is general insurance, you’ll do your house, your car, your pet, your travel, those kind of things, commoditised, productised insurances, much defined by meerkats and well -seeingers. On the other side of it, and this is the area I worked in, is the specialty insurance side of it.
Chris Simmance (08:08.803)
Hahaha
Chris Simmance (08:17.462)
Okay.
Mark Huxley (08:36.093)
which basically is ensuring all the big stuff that is going on in the world and all of the big things that changing in the world. So contrary to that, that opinion in kind of innovation and invention, society changes, you things come along, everything we do in our single life, every single aspect of our life, it has to have insurance behind it. We wouldn’t be having this conversation without insurance being in it. We wouldn’t have all of the stuff that’s sitting at the back of your screen and back of my screen without it, you know, everything.
insurance industry touches. And where the world changes, the requirement for insurance comes in behind it. in a very kind of contemporary way, the last decade of cyber and cyber risk and cyber security, know, very much on the floor, there is a reliance on the insurance industry to sit behind it. There wasn’t cyber insurance 200 years ago. It’s been invented now. You know, we’re looking at things like carbon capture, you know, and the whole green down economy.
It doesn’t exist. So there is a requirement on the insurance industry to absolutely sit on the bleeding edge line of innovation as it’s going through society in its widest construct. So it’s a very interesting place to be because can people come up with these big exam questions of, you we want to protect the cybersecurity of the world. How do we do that? And they’re expecting, I would say people like me, but people like that, like me in that industry to do that stuff. So
So actually to that point, it was a very, very interesting place. On the other side of it, and maybe to kind of get to a thread of what you are asking there, it’s also about risk management, risk mitigation and defense. So if it doesn’t understand something, that’s a worry. And given the scale of some of the things, mean, look at some of the recent hacks that have been around. Look at the war in Ukraine. And there is again, there’s an requirement in insurance industries there. Big, big numbers with lots of risk around it.
So there’s a natural conservatism that kind of comes into insurance sometimes, which is where that representation comes out because the margin between a relatively small premium and a very large amount of exposure that’s been expected to be insured is quite dynamically large. all of the, well, I can’t believe it’s all these terms and all these conditions. Well, because they’re going to be in there because it’s not just about giving money, you know, so there’s a huge science that, and again, makes it fascinating if you’ve got, you know, kind of the way my mind’s wired.
Chris Simmance (10:46.124)
Well, yeah, almost anything could happen.
Mark Huxley (10:55.209)
trying to solve problems and the dynamics of problems. You know, there’s a huge amount of those that has to drive through all of the cause effects and consequences, things that could happen to a price. Now that’s very entrepreneurial. So actually, the fact I grew up doing and it was very interesting, you know, and you say, how does someone with a brain like me fit into a place like that? Ultimately, I didn’t, because I got so on the spectrum of wanting to invent stuff and just kind of got fed up for all the lovely people and for all good reasons saying no.
We don’t do it that way. And yeah, sadly in my kind of character, that’s not not a kind of phrase I take well, you know, I will sell things. So it took 20 years to come to that point and I had 20 very fruitful years. Others describe me so I will use the word as an overachiever. You know, my career, it went into a dynamic, fast path. So at the age of 24, I took on a role within the Lloyd’s Insurance business and worked on that most people would retire at.
Chris Simmance (11:33.526)
Yeah.
Mark Huxley (11:53.065)
genuinely in today’s economy. And they invested in me because I saw that power in me and that was kind of age of 24 to 37 when I then left to start my first business. I’m just for the record of other people. I know I don’t look it, but I’m 64. So just to put some age context around again.
Chris Simmance (12:09.878)
I was going say it’s a hard gig and you’re younger than you look. Is that what you’re saying?
Mark Huxley (12:15.049)
That’s what entrepreneur does to you, seeing this face is a warning.
Chris Simmance (12:19.47)
All this gray, all this gray, that’s running businesses. know what, you don’t have to worry about that at the minute, but you
Mark Huxley (12:25.075)
Chris, I’m not going to have this standoff with you. Grey. That was a luxury that never frankly came my way. But it was the point. I got to the end of it and I thought just, you I know what I want to do is right. And there was a very catalystical moment to me doing what I did. But it was much born out of, you know, the last decade or so of people who thought they knew better than me saying no, no, no, I’ve got the belief to do something.
Chris Simmance (12:30.21)
Yes.
Chris Simmance (12:50.646)
And do you think that aside from the opportunity to give back and do what you’re doing now, from the business angle of stuff, the things that generate income, do you think you’d be running businesses like that if you hadn’t had the life that you’ve had before in the insurance career? Or do you think that you would have always been that kind of, that there would have been something that you’d have created?
Mark Huxley (13:15.483)
Yeah, I think that kind of gets into the kind of conscious acquired abilities and the subconscious culture mindset. you know, in this age, we have to label everything. So we label it as neurodivergence. It’s not just that we all think, sorry, there is no neurodivergence. I’m I mean, ultimately, we all think differently. You you think your way, I think my way, we solve the same problem in two different ways. Yeah, but clearly, clearly, no, that goes without saying.
Chris Simmance (13:41.016)
And mine’s right, of course. Yeah.
Mark Huxley (13:45.117)
But so I’ve always been a great believer that we all become the sum of the things that happen to us in our life. You and I’ve had my good, I’ve had my bad, I’ve had tragedies in my life and everything else that in their own small ways, you know, kind of carve you out to be that what you become. But sitting within your, in my opinion, sitting within your head is that complete subconscious, you the monkey on your shoulder, the analytical brain, all of the bits that, you know, is what’s going around in the top of our heads.
which gives you the ability to actually develop, learn or otherwise from what’s gone on. And I think that ultimately it’s the two things coming together that demarcate us to be the things that we are and get the skills that we’ve got. I do a lot of work now around leadership and particularly building growing leader leadership teams, you know, and some of the first businesses I had the pleasure of owning and running got quite big, quite quickly. And there was a big dynamic about bringing that.
Chris Simmance (14:22.434)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (14:44.465)
that leadership team together. So I, again, part of that learning acquired experience, I didn’t quite have the finesse I have now, but I had enough now because I’ve done this when I worked at Lloyd’s as well, was realizing the beauty of humanity and all of the thought that goes around us that comes to a common middle, which is the business brain and the business personality. And that’s not the singular individual. That’s the collective of everybody. And if you’re smart, you take that collective
And you take all of those lovely little rich chunks that go around it to a middle, you know, and that again, I’d be honest with you and candid with you. it’s not a criticism of those I worked with in my earlier life. They didn’t see it that way. That wasn’t kind of in their heads. And it was kind of skills and drills. You know, just keep marching on, keep doing it this way. But this one’s not good. And there was not that mindset to think, no, I hear that. And I think that’s what what the market says.
Chris Simmance (15:35.352)
Yeah, I completely agree with you. I do find that even inside the entrepreneurial spectrum, the business owner spectrum, there’s also that as well where the, that some, the sum of who you are being all of the things that you’ve seen and done and all of the experiences you’ve had sometimes make it very hard for you to see past your own perspective. And one of the, like the, things which
I learned initially the hard way and I’m really glad that I did was that I might not be the star of the show and there might be someone else who’s got a better, a better idea or a better opinion. And, not just listening, but actually understanding other things and other people’s perspectives has been incredibly fruitful for me in terms of running businesses, but also actually having a really good relationship with people. and I think.
The happier you are with the people you work with, the better the outcomes with the people you work with. And then everyone kind of wins. But when you’re having a conversation with someone as a potential client or whatever, then they run other businesses as well. Sometimes not everyone’s had that, their version of that epiphany and there’s a bit of a gap and you’ve just got to allow them to, to catch up in a way. It’s not just a catch up as if they’re behind, but you, do you, do you know what I mean? Where you might be talking to someone and they don’t then
They don’t really want to listen. They want to speak. that might be because they’ve run a business for 20 years and you know less than them.
Mark Huxley (17:08.073)
No, a couple of reflections back on that. I’m firming my belief that, you know, with the sum of our IQ at EQ, but also our CQ and the C being culture. so, so, you know, one’s natural intelligence, you know, that’s a that’s a marker. That’s a that’s the computing brain. You the EQ being the empathy that goes around it. But the culture bit of it is about, you know, the warmth and the breadth of
Chris Simmance (17:18.444)
Hmm. I was going to say what’s CQ. There you go.
Mark Huxley (17:35.549)
What do we want to be when we’re a collective? And sadly, you know, and again, don’t wish this to be rude, you know, there are too many people I’ve come across in corporations that full of IQ. They’ve got some EQ on a spectrum. Many of them just don’t have CQ because it’s again, steady as you go, skills and drills, keep the company going on the same line. And they don’t think about why do we do things, you know, and in a, poor evocation, this comes to some of the things I try and overcome with the innovation work I do. They get very process driven.
if they see problems in the business, it’s how do we put more sticking plasters over to keep these things going? They don’t rip enough plasters off enough of the time to look below it and say, actually a wound that we want to do in the first place. So they don’t, they’re not naturally good system thinkers in that way and definitely not good design thinkers. And they don’t have that breadth of EQ and IQ that brings all of that to be the culture that comes in. that’s where.
Chris Simmance (18:13.345)
Mm -hmm.
Chris Simmance (18:26.114)
Yeah, yeah.
Mark Huxley (18:28.979)
Poor business culture comes in and I’ll call that my insurance industry. That’s a lot that you recognize with a lot of the reputation it has. It pushes itself out to be customer -centric. This is more on the general insurance space, to be customer -centric, but it’s not. It’s really about what works for us and not completely the other way around. It’s all about the customer.
Chris Simmance (18:46.08)
Yeah, yeah.
Chris Simmance (18:50.722)
So the giving back that you do now, what motivated that out of all other options that you’ve got? There’s so many different ways to give and there’s so many different ways to help and different avenues you can go down. Helping with that underprivileged aspect, helping with the, I say EDI aspect, but essentially making sure that there’s an equal opportunity.
And from that point, from, from a entry to society point of view, because there seems to be a barrier and it, might be one or many reasons. What, what is it that, that drove you there rather than doing fun runs or something, you know, what, what is it that, that drove you into, into doing something along those lines that you’re working through now?
Mark Huxley (19:23.891)
Hmm.
Mark Huxley (19:41.93)
Bless my parents. I think they just put a heavy weight in my DNA about social justice, know, and just fairness and democracy and just everyone being equal. And I don’t know where that comes from. I suppose, you know, one thing I explore this particular topic under advisement sometimes because it is really what has shaped me in my life. And it took me a long time to be able to talk about it.
So I didn’t fall into the world of insurance. I had no intention of going into it. In fact, I had the chance of a professional sporting career, I missed cricket and I missed the summer for the year that I was going to do this when I was 17. And I left school to follow whatever the dreams were. And my dad who worked in insurance at the time said, well, that’s fine, son, but you need to come and do some work. So we’re to bring you, I’ll get you some work.
He worked in and around the insurance industry and around Lloyd’s. That’s how I fell into that in the summer. I know the fantastic summer. thought, well, I love this, you know, and then I had a winter to think, right, what am I really going to do next year? Very tragically, my father then died the following spring. So I was only 17 when he when he died. And it’s that moment that showed me because now I was on my own. I was left left in this this environment that I had to. sorry.
I’ve had the front door. I shall ignore it for your pleasure. I apologies for the background noise there. But it forced me into that place where I just had to really kind of stand up on my own and kind of take on that very adult responsibility at the age of 17. And the lovely thing was that the people within that Lloyd’s community, clearly I was a liked person because they all kind of physically and metaphorically put their arm around me and they kind of nurtured me through a few difficult years.
Chris Simmance (21:01.846)
Someone’s at the front door,
Mark Huxley (21:29.777)
Yeah, and it’s never got lost on me, you know, that kindness that have been been shown to me. So and, you know, recently, actually, you know, with the entrepreneurs, you wouldn’t know because you weren’t in the company at the time. But when I was in store at the master, we have a chaplain that kind of looks after our pastoral needs and pastoral needs and meet me specifically.
Chris Simmance (21:30.798)
Hmm.
Mark Huxley (21:48.967)
And she gave a little kind of sermon on my behalf at the service. And she said, there is one word to describe market is kind. And I thought, wow, know, tears in my eye, you know, and it kind of wow. And it was nice to be defined that way. So kindness has always been a long thing sitting in it. There was in the workplace, there was this kind of more democratized world. It lacked many of the EDI markers that we would talk about now, but definitely socioeconomic neurodivergent. It was very inclusive and.
Chris Simmance (21:59.16)
Yeah.
Chris Simmance (22:13.88)
Mm -hmm.
Mark Huxley (22:15.407)
equalizing market. So I grew up in that environment, which got me that fast track got me into the places I did and got me onto the place to give me the platform to, you know, live or die, go run my own businesses. And that’s, that’s all of that bubbling around is kind of what what shaped in there. And I’m, I am proud to say, you know, I get called out as a male ally today. And, you know, I’m very passionate about it. It’s not a found thing with me, it’s always been in there. And when I run my business, you know, it just
I ended up with kind of thick end of 200 people working for me. to me, they were just people. I didn’t care what the background was, what the color was, what the gender was, what the sexuality might be. It was not important. It was what’s going on inside them. Come back to that dynamic of a team. It was how nicely can we all play together, you know? And that was very native in me. I absolutely do not know entirely where that came from, but, you know, very proud and delighted that it did. So when you kind of move the clock to
today and I kind of exited the last of my main businesses back in 2017. Well, in a sense, you know, as a bit of a visual thinker, know, the old scales are so balanced and what I’ve taken out in my working life. I’m never going to be able to put enough back into to balance it up. But while I’ve got the chance, the opportunity, and I can help others, why would I not do it? You know, so there was the workplace, Eva Kochen that came in of right, this is why I want to I want to be a kind of a
Chris Simmance (23:33.186)
Mm -hmm.
Mark Huxley (23:43.945)
an agent of good and try and share whatever lived experience I’ve got, either as a role model or a warning to others, whatever people make their mind up that they want me to be. And that was it. I found I bless with a very good network. I’ve been very careful with the friends I’ve made over the year and I bless with 90 % of my friends are very good people. And a lot of them kind of led me down some of these paths. So the charity was an introduction from somebody who was working with a charity who said, you you should do that.
I had done the whole break sales and all that kind of stuff. Previously, I had a very close friend who had most awful diabetes. I ran the London marathon in her name and on her behalf. I got through work to do some work with a charity that looks after children with acquired neurological disorders. I actually think of the Children’s Trust. had a site in
Chris Simmance (24:30.231)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (24:42.781)
Tadworth in Surrey. So I’ve got into bike racing later in my life. I did, you know, classic London to Paris for them. ride London every year for them, raise the thumb. And there was a, I met the mother of one of the patients, not the quite right word, but one of the people at the Children’s Trust and lovely lady called Molly, the child, not the mother. So I kind of dedicated, I’m going to do some stuff for Molly, you know.
And that was that. So so I did all that side of it, which was great. I’m old, I’m tired and my legs don’t work very well now, so I’m not very good at running or cycling. So I needed to do something different. But the brain is still good. You know, and that was sorry, that’s a very long answer. But, you know, it’s a sum of all of those things. So I don’t know quite where it come from. But I’m I’m glad on a daily basis it did.
Chris Simmance (25:19.542)
Your brain’s still good though, so you’re using it.
Chris Simmance (25:30.966)
Yeah, I do know the, that kind of pervasive kindness thing that’s in the DNA, as you say. I think that there needs to be more of that in the world. Or at the very least, there needs to be more opportunity for that to be shown in the world. But you definitely notice it when, when people are and they, they, they demonstrate that, that on a daily basis.
the, when you’re working with teams, especially in anything where there’s high pressure, it’s very easy to not be kind and start thinking about an individual as opposed to an organization. And in most senses, most people across the whole planet, regardless of what their start or what their end is, they just want to get on and they want to be nice. They want to have a nice day. They want to have a nice life. They don’t want to have hardships or difficulties and things like that. And
I often try and sort of say to myself, you that person might not be very, very nice right now, but they might not be having a nice day. So I’m just not going to be nice. I’ll be nice to them. I’ll be kind to them and it might impact their day in a nice way. But on a, on a, wider scale, if you’re, if you, you, live and breathe that, then it makes it easier to a certain extent to find that, that, that avenue of doing something good as well.
Mark Huxley (26:57.224)
date.
Chris Simmance (26:58.52)
because there’s a, you can see what you’re much the entrepreneurial aspect. You can see an opportunity in something that you’ve got that helps something somewhere else or get something somewhere else. If you were to turn all of your not for profit things into profit, you might make some money, but you wouldn’t feel as good. But there are, they are in them in of themselves quite business like, you know, there is an outcome, there is a process, there is a reason for doing it.
Mark Huxley (27:16.68)
Hmm.
Chris Simmance (27:27.042)
just so happens that reason is to do some good, rather than, you know, truckloads of cash.
Mark Huxley (27:30.639)
No, and I think, you know, to touch on a business point out the back of that. So, you know, like the rest of us, I do a lot of mentoring and in my head, you know, it’s a very personal thing when I meet a mentee for the first time, kind of two things are going around in my head. One, I kind of put them on a missionary to mercenary scale. You know, I and I look for those that are lending more towards a missionary cause, you know, mission, vision, purpose, purpose, those kind of adjectives. And that’s a good place for me to start working with.
Chris Simmance (27:50.135)
Right.
Mark Huxley (28:00.711)
there are others that would be better on that other scale. But the other part to it, and it is very much a business thing, is about that ability to make an emotional connection with the people that you might, whatever product service that you’re trying to take on commercially. Because if you can’t do that, you’re just vanilla in vanilla ice cream in a supermarket. The lids look different, but they all taste the same. And I don’t like businesses like that. And I think that gets to the heart and the spirit in me. So I really drive out when I first engage with a business to get the
If you like the gut and the soul of the business talking, not the head and just write, find that emotional connection and have that sincerity, authenticity, that personal truth about why you’re doing what you’re doing. Cause if you can’t find that I’m not going to be able to help you. If I can find that, is the best coat hanger for me to help you think about how do I become the best commercial evocation of that.
Chris Simmance (28:54.55)
And, and how, how do you do that though? Because quite a lot of organizations are, they are focused on the here, the now, keep the plane sailing. they are operationally focused on process this process, this process, day to day client calls, et cetera. I, I’ve found very few people who really know what they want and really know where they’re going and really understand who they are and what.
what they’re thereafter, how do you how do get that out of an organization when you start working with them?
Mark Huxley (29:24.675)
Yeah. So, so again, break it into two camps. If I’m working with a startup, the really basic lean canvas, business model canvas, you know, if you can really get people to explore that philosophically and not just kind of words on a page. And it’s that whole bit in the middle of, know, what, what am I doing? Why am I doing it? Why am I different? What’s my advantage? And you just keep drilling people was fine, but you know, and competitors, she sits in there. so there’s, there’s a, there’s a very good, easy, well -worn way.
Chris Simmance (29:30.071)
you
Mark Huxley (29:54.157)
But it funny if you sit right at the start about active listening and it’s being a good active listener as the mentor or the advisor to really kind of help guide and steer that conversation. that you know, but the startups in a sense that’s easy because most startups if there’s a reason they’re doing it, you know, it’s not about the money. It’s because something’s wrong. I also do this with larger businesses. So I again, part of my skills skillset is I’m kind of very good at taking big small businesses.
Chris Simmance (30:12.586)
Mm. Yep.
Mark Huxley (30:22.193)
and getting the culture to change to be a small, big business. So going away from an owner operator into an enterprise business. from an I mean my, because I own the business to a we us our, because we’re a collective. And that’s something as a very acquired skill that I got over over my working life. And the way I do it, I’m not going to say too much about it, because it’s my secret source of why people pay me to do it. But what I do is I just run workshops like we would all do.
Chris Simmance (30:27.704)
Yep. Yep. There you go.
Chris Simmance (30:44.033)
yep.
Mark Huxley (30:49.393)
I have a very specific nature of guiding the workshop that gets into the emotional connectivity people have within an organization. And that’s from the C level who really are driving the ship down through all of the, you know, the crew, captain and everything that comes in in below it as to their stake in it. And it, and it really gets to the heart and the soul of, you know, what do you love about what’s in here? What makes it impactful for you? What, know, what puts that pep in your step when you get up every morning to come in?
And that’s a lot of the culture stuff internally. On the external side of it, a lot of why do you think you’re impactful with clients? and it’s, and again, it does come back to this active listening. the, so the last time I did it on a scale was an organization of a kind of hundredish, 120 people. And I ended up running workshops with 60 to 80 of the people in there through all sorts of breaths of the company with the full support and inclusion of the senior management of the business.
Chris Simmance (31:42.94)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (31:46.009)
And we went through these workshops and sticky notes on a wall and everything else. But again, you know, the slight secret sauce is being able to take all of that diversity and just wallpaper full of stuff down into some really big key chunks of what’s important. And, know, I bring it down to a kind of classic brand triangle of, you know, at the bottom of all the table stakes that you’re doing, but right at the zenith of this triangle or pyramid is the merit and the steam.
of why are we doing it? And sometimes that’s an unsaid, but it’s a felt, it’s the gut, the soul again, that we were talking about. And my skill, you know, not alone, but my particular skill is that I can then evoke that into very simple words, phrases, an emotional connector, words that are business, because they’ve all been through this process, they’re already owning it. So there is now a very strong flag that they get behind, which is often what’s missing. And that goes back to the system, the design thinking, not the process thinking.
Chris Simmance (32:41.239)
Yeah.
Chris Simmance (32:45.726)
And it’s quite funny actually, when you say the, you know, tease out the phrases and tease out the words, because it’s that they’ve lived it and they are living it. just, one thing I’ve noticed, you probably noticed it yourself, is that when they do know what it is, they often can’t articulate what it is because it’s a concept and the concept doesn’t have words behind it. It’s just a feeling that this is why I’m doing this, this is what I’m doing this for. And as soon as you start to tease out things from them, they go, that’s it.
Mark Huxley (32:59.622)
Exactly.
Chris Simmance (33:14.838)
And then because it’s got a label on it, everyone goes, yeah, that is the thing. And then it’s easier for people to coalesce behind it and meaningfully move forwards with it. And it is quite, I love that moment when that, when that kind of thing happens. It is a lot, it is very enjoyable to see the twinkle in the eye and that, you know, that, that sort of, recognition. And it looking, yeah, yeah.
Mark Huxley (33:30.119)
Hmm.
Mark Huxley (33:33.845)
Sorry, can I make one comment on the back of that? Sorry, Chris. Just, it’s a very quick kind of use case to demonstrate that. I’ll say for obvious reason, I won’t identify the company, but that particular piece of work I was talking about, their strap line, you know, was a city business, their strap line, you know, was very functional about what they did, and it meant nothing. It was a vacuous and nothing. was just, there was a nothingness to it. When we got to the end of it, we actually came up with three P’s as it became, the power of three and all that stuff.
Chris Simmance (33:58.37)
Mm.
Mark Huxley (34:03.613)
three really wonderfully descriptor words of what they were. And a beautiful thing out of it, I wanted to say this because of exactly what you said, which was so powerful, that they took that back in and the words were meaningless to what the business does, but it was so meaningful to the people in the business. What it actually created, each of these three Ps has created a complete brand narrative for the business about what defines the business. And it was so wonderful and beautiful to see that, know, living at the top of the business, but just now permeating
Chris Simmance (34:20.205)
Yeah.
Chris Simmance (34:27.054)
There you go.
Mark Huxley (34:33.169)
right down to every part of the business and all of the critical infrastructure of the business, whether it was people, performance, know, the client work that they were, they’re not the peas by the way, but you know, the work that they would do with clients, you know, and just have a feel about it, even down to office design and stuff like that. you thought, that’s the power of, you know, getting that stuff right. And they’re a lovely, lovely and wonderful business that now they can own what they are, which they weren’t quite doing before.
Chris Simmance (34:44.268)
Yeah.
Chris Simmance (34:54.348)
Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Simmance (35:02.594)
Yeah. And everyone, when everyone gets it, it, they really get it. And it’s, it’s so nice to see. It’s so nice to see. And look, looking forward, with, with a, an East End star and a, and a, and a, what’d you call it? Not a parachute, a rocket pack up to the top of the, the heights of, of, the insurance sector. Now doing all of the, things that you’re doing, you’re giving back, you’re spending,
Mark Huxley (35:05.863)
No, absolutely, yeah.
Chris Simmance (35:31.446)
I’ve seen in the last few months, like how much work you put in in the company of entrepreneurs, given that this is a very big year. What are you looking forward to most? What’s in the future for you and from a business point of view, from a personal point of view, where are you heading?
Mark Huxley (35:47.273)
Well, I’m going to head on the same trajectory that I’ve actually been on since 2017 because I sold my businesses at that time and thought I was going to retire. know, and I lasted six weeks. I was 57. I lasted six weeks, way too young to retire. What I did come to realize, and much by the the input of my lovely wife, was that all I have in my head is squeaky toys. And if I’m not squeaking, if I’m not squeaking toys, I’m no use to man or beast.
And that’s what set me on the path to do the things I’m doing now. And it was an absolute coincidence that that was when I joined the company of entrepreneurs. So that became a dedicated life. So and thank you for your kind words. To have the honor of being the master of it for this year is beyond none. It’s a wonderful full stop on so much of my professional life that I can’t overachieve from that. So I kind of have got where I’m getting. I’ve set the path up.
to do what I could do. I know I’ve got to keep the toys squeaking. What I don’t want to do is squeak with big toys. I want lots of little toys, so metaphorically. So that’s why these fractional rolls are lovely. I’ll carry on doing that because it keeps my brain agile. I’ve got a lot to give back. I can do it with people. So in reality, it’d be much of the same, a lot less relentlessness to what this year has been. So what I am looking forward to is A, sleeping.
Chris Simmance (36:57.9)
Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Simmance (37:05.421)
Yeah.
Mark Huxley (37:17.287)
be having a holiday, because I’ve not had one of those for quite a little while, and see eating slightly less than the amount of food that I seem to eat on a daily basis and trying to rediscover that I have a waistline rather than that.
Chris Simmance (37:32.716)
Well, you know, I mean, a large part of that quantity of food that you eat is because of things that you have to do as part of your obligations.
Mark Huxley (37:37.993)
No, no, no, no, and it’s, I’m sorry, and I don’t want to turn into first world problems and all that, but it’s a lovely thing. And again, you know, for people that don’t know it, the beauty of the city of London is, you know, these guilds and the entrepreneurs just being one of kind of 115, 120 like organizations, we all represent individual crafts and we all work for the common purpose of really kind of make the city work in its best way. Some, you know, soft, soft and intangible, some quite tangible, but.
Yeah, we all work nicely with the Lord Mayor and the Lord Mayor is not a man in gold coach wearing or man or lady in a gold coach, you know, kind of wearing tights, you know, the global ambassador for the city, but the city corporation. No, well, it’s actually on a daily basis for them. But, but, you know, they’re the wonderful ambassador for the city, the city is a huge part of the UK economy. And the same with the city corporation, you know, the big local council, obviously, is running it self governing. So, you know, being able to kind of
Chris Simmance (38:18.05)
Yeah, that’s only a couple of times a year they’re doing that.
Mark Huxley (38:34.675)
put back into that and drive on, it’s really, really important. And, you know, therein lies the honor. So, so again, on the future pathways, having had the privilege of this year, like my predecessors, I’ll carry on that good work for the company going forward in specific ways. I’m going to carry on the kind of social inclusion part of it. That’s become very, very important to me. So, so that’s not going to stop. But it would just be nice, nice to
do less quantity and just really think about the quality of what I’m doing. So there might be two or three more little fractional roles sitting in there. I’m founding chairman, kind of unpaid at the moment, but founding chairman of a climate business that’s trying to look at making behavioral changes. So that will be a good project to carry on and meet on. In fact, I’m not just over here, but you met one of the other directors of it yesterday. We were together yesterday, so.
Chris Simmance (39:32.098)
Yes, yeah I did, yeah, lovely guy.
Mark Huxley (39:33.084)
Yeah, so it’s stuff like that. I just want to be useful. Because at some point I’ll stop being useful and I’ll become annoying because I’ll be properly old. Exactly that, yeah.
Chris Simmance (39:40.675)
Yeah.
Chris Simmance (39:45.4)
Well, all the squeaky toys will have holes in them and you know, no one will understand what you’re, what you’ve got banging on about. final, final thought just to get the gray matter running. what is the best advice you’ve ever received, in terms of the getting you to where you are now?
Mark Huxley (40:02.665)
That’s an interesting one. I think if I’m gonna go all the way back to where it all kind of started, being in a very large open environment like Lloyd’s, which is this big trading market and certainly back in the day, was very people driven, there was 50, 60 ,000 people in it, was just be yourself, be light and just be kind as you go about and on the way out. And this is the classic, because if you do that on the way out, when inevitably you’re on the way down,
People will either kind of help you on the way down or they’ll kick you as you come down and don’t be the person being kicked. that was it. And that put a lot into me. I think the learning out of that, and it was witnessing it from the person that said it to me, was just, again, being an active listener, being very open, being genuinely interested in people around you and just be the sincere and authentic self.
Chris Simmance (40:37.486)
kick it.
Mark Huxley (40:58.599)
So that would probably be it. If I think about everything else I’ve done in my life, I’ve earned my spurs professionally because of my intellect and the things that my technical knowledge, but overall, and I do think it’s the loveliest thing that I’m just ubiquitously liked by people. And it’s not an insincere thing.
Chris Simmance (41:19.66)
I don’t know. I’m on the fence, Mark, I’m afraid.
Mark Huxley (41:19.901)
That’s only because I talked about your shoes.
Mark Huxley (41:29.032)
Sure.
Chris Simmance (41:29.324)
you so much for coming on. It does mean a lot to have to have someone who’s got such a broad spectrum of experience, but also doing so much good for people who really do need it, as well as doing good for people who don’t really need it. You helped me a lot as well. So appreciate that. I will ask you though one last question, which is counter to the question I just asked you now. What’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?
Mark Huxley (41:42.605)
it’s kind of you.
Mark Huxley (41:55.989)
God, blimey. Have we got three or four hours left? I don’t know. I think the worst advice that comes along the way is ending up kind of doing business that we don’t ultimately trust and like and not listening to that little inner voice of conscience and being led by people into things that, know, places you shouldn’t really be. You come to kind of, you come to, you know, rue over that.
Chris Simmance (42:02.272)
Hahaha
Chris Simmance (42:14.072)
Hmm.
Mark Huxley (42:24.662)
quite length sometimes, know, that comes in and some of them stick very deep in you. it’s more, maybe sometimes taking other people’s advice, but not taking your own advice.
Chris Simmance (42:38.156)
Yeah, there you go. Mine, if you’re interested, was don’t do it and stay in your job. I’m very glad I ignored that advice.
Mark Huxley (42:45.563)
Do you know, funny, if I’m not sure I got that that same apocryphal moment, because I think they’d be glad to see the back of me.
Chris Simmance (42:53.582)
Also, you got some kicks on the way down then, you definitely did, see? I knew it!
Mark Huxley (42:54.825)
No, that is a joke. Chris, I’ll make one offer back out the other way. If anyone’s listening to this and thanks for your kind words, if they want to connect with me or anything else, I love meeting people, love helping. If they’re good friends with Chris, they’re good friends with mine.
Chris Simmance (43:00.238)
Like I say.
Chris Simmance (43:11.181)
Yeah.
Chris Simmance (43:15.778)
Well, wonderful. And that will go to all four of the listeners of this podcast will reach out to you. Mark, thanks so much for coming on and undoubtedly, obviously I’ll see you in a week or two anyway. Have a lovely afternoon. Thanks very much for listening everyone else.
Mark Huxley (43:29.255)
My absolute pleasure. Thank you, Chris.