Simon Chadwick – Radio #NewMR Podcast
Published by Ray Poynter, 11 August 2022
Inflation Special with Simon Chadwick
In the developed, Western markets the biggest economic challenge today is that of inflation. Inflation is running at levels not seen for forty years, which means most of today’s leaders and managers have zero experience in leading and managing inflationary times. You can read more about inflation in ‘Is your business taking inflation into account?’
To help people navigate these challenges, NewMR is putting together a series of interviews with senior people from the insights industry who have experience in dealing with inflation. People who were conducting research, leading teams, and running companies in the 1980s and, in some cases, the 1970s.
In today’s podcast Ray Poynter chats with Simon Chadwick. Simon is Managing Partner of Cambiar Consulting, a change management consulting firm he founded in 2004. Prior to this, he was Global CEO of NOP World as well as of four research companies within Kantar in Europe and the U.S.
Simon’s experience of inflationary times includes his time with Research International, an agency owned by Unilever at the time, which went on to be a key part of Kantar. In the podcast Simon highlights ‘cost of living’ salary adjustments (at times twice a year), proposals to clients that said the price was good for two weeks, and contracts where the final price depended on the prevailing exchange rates.
Listen to this podcast via the direct link below or via:
Other Podcasts in this inflation and recession series
Ray Poynter’s Inflation Credentials
Ray graduated in 1978 with a joint honours degree in Economics and Computing and started his insight’s career writing statistical software for the market research industry on the first Apple II microcomputers to be imported to the UK. After the ‘winter of discontent, 1978/9, which brought the UK to a standstill, Ray launched his first start-up. Ray’s boutique consultancy utilised microcomputers to collect and process market research data. Through the 80s, Ray grew his business and also took a leading role in a London-based market research agency, conducting ad hoc and continuous research in the UK and internationally. These years enabled Ray to see inflation from both the academic/theoretical side and from the practical side (dealing with issues such as pricing, cost control, currency movements and salaries).