I was asked to contribute to a book which was published in conjunction with the inaugural Oxfordshire Business Summit, which took place at Blenheim Palace in May 2025 and was organised by B4. Entitled From Oxfordshire to the Future: Leadership Insights for a Changing World, the book’s themes were based on a look into the future: what is exciting, what is worrying, in what key areas are we evolving to be future-fit, and how we as a company are developing ourselves and our colleagues (both existing and new) to deal with these questions.
“Prediction is very difficult – especially if it’s about the future.” I agree with Nils Bohr, the Nobel laureate in Physics. I think it is especially difficult for an SME in today’s world to predict the future for their business. Large corporates routinely make five year or ten year or longer business plans, but that’s because they can’t move much faster than that. You can’t stop a supertanker in less than five miles. A small business can pivot much more easily… and will probably have to. Any business owner doing a recent PESTEL analysis (looking at the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal changes in their external macro-environment) will see significant movements in one or more of these areas which buffet their world and present new risks to consider. And the changes are coming with increasing frequency and with more immediate impact. A combination of resiliency and agility is required.
Productivity is going to be key, as employing more people just gets more tricky (legislation and taxes). So taking the advantage of digital platforms is needed. And that means getting our people more fluent in tech, across all roles: upskilling in data, AI, automation, cybersecurity, communications, software tools, &c. AI will take some job roles, but not the jobs of people who know how to use AI effectively. I have never regretted any of the investment we have made in IT. We need it to leverage the talent we retain and cherish, and have the ability to do more with our smaller, more empowered teams.
Bringing the next generation into the workplace requires careful thought. It is not just flexible and hybrid work patterns which can cause upheaval to our existing business cultures. Employee’s expectations of work are developing. People think that Gen Z lack drive or resilience, but I think they need to be motivated more carefully. I like Dan Pink’s theory about the three key elements of intrinsic motivation for younger people: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. A business with a powerful vision, strong values, and a learning and development culture will attract the best young people. Then we need to bring them into our business with messaging about how to thrive in our culture. I read somewhere that we need to “normalise productive discomfort”; stress is natural and can be a source of energy. Feedback is the breakfast of champions, so get used to our practice of radical candour.
Globalisation is over, apparently. Events and geopolitics over the last few years have highlighted the risks associated with long, complex supply chains which are easily disrupted. Attention is increasingly focussed on the carbon cost of shipping products around the world. Maybe we are less likely to tolerate poor environmental impact in order to save a few pennies. There has been talk of near-shoring and re-shoring of manufacturing for quite a few years now, and it may finally be happening. Reports say that UK companies are set to spend $650 billion over the next three years moving their supply chains and manufacturing closer to home. A survey of 1,400 major global businesses, found these international companies planning to shift more of their operations to the UK amid a growing preference to have more of a presence in “allied” countries and to be closer to their end customers. The UK is currently the 12th largest manufacturing nation in the world, and a significant player in advanced sectors like aerospace, pharmaceuticals, and emerging technologies. As a supplier to businesses like these, we can expect growth to come.
Which does lead to thoughts about customers. Their expectations are changing too. B2B customers are requiring the levels of service they now get as consumers and customers of Uber and Amazon; certainly for purely transactional trade. Easy, intuitive, transparent, and immediate. Our e-commerce business continues to grow, albeit slowly, but with intent. But for the most part, as a business we add lots of value through a consultative sales process, and for high-value, complex transactions, that is still very important to our success and a differentiator. These days, customers and prospects undertake the majority of their buying journey through online research before they contact us – as much as 80% or more of the decision-making process. When they do contact us, we need to provide credible and expert answers to their questions. We won’t succeed in our aspiration to be their results-focussed trusted advisors unless we arm our sales teams with ongoing and experiential training. We have a dedicated learning and development resource to support this, and to help us grow by taking advantage of the abundant learning opportunities which present themselves to us every day.
Download the complete book and read what other Oxfordshire Business Leaders wrote about being future-fit.
