This week's BWB Extra gets to know Allen Simpson a little better. Allen's the Chief Operating Officer at London & Partners, a Business Growth and Destination agency for London where Allen leads the global strategy, operational capacity and corporate reputation.

We hear about how Allen went from flipping burgers in Mc Donalds to working for the UK government, this thoughts on the transformation of leadership and culture in the workplace, and that time he ended up on the front page of the Evening Standard for all of the wrong reasons

Alan's recommendation:

Organisational Culture and Leadership - Edgar H. Schein

BWB is powered by Oury Clark

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Bwb Extra, where we get to know this week's guest, Alan Simpson a little better.

Alan is the Chief Operating Officer at London and Partners, a business growth and destination agency for London, where Alan leads on global strategy.

Operational capacity and corporate reputation.

We hear all about how Alan went from flipping burgers in McDonald's to working for the UK government, his thoughts on the transformation of leadership and culture in the workplace, and that time he ended up on the front page of the evening standard for all the wrong reasons.

So let's wind the clock back.

Sure.

To that 16 year old TRO tomato sauce all over McDonald's.

How did you get from there?

So what you're doing now?

Yeah, so I, I went to university late cuz you know how late is late 20.

Yeah.

I took a co I, I was, I went and got a job set in mobile phones and I managed, you know, system manager, mobile phone shop, this is rubbish.

Went to university after university.

I got a job as a pa.

What did you do at university Politics?

Um, Got a job as a PA and somehow got a job as a PA in the foreign office and I ended up writing speeches on occasion.

Wow.

Turned up quite good at that and did a, bled around Westminster doing that and then got a job actually in, in financial services as a speech writer at the stock exchange and then in ended up just doing general strategy stuff and by mistake, found myself a strategy person in the city.

I was, that sounds so much fun.

Yes, I want that.

Correct.

I was there during the financial crisis.

It was fascinating.

Quite, it's like a lesson in go to university, you know what I mean?

Go to university, honestly, go to university.

And then, yeah.

My, my career was, my career was away and there was a, a bar history in the LIBOR scandal.

And you dealing with the strategy of Barclays at the l o scandal in terms of, yeah, so I, I have this.

Incredibly strong memory of being sad.

What did you just write?

Whoops.

Sos Well, you had a strategy at that point.

Head of pr.

I was doing speeches, I was doing political, uh, risk stuff.

So I got this phone call.

I was sat playing Call of Duty, my pants on a Saturday as a like late twenties guy.

And um, I got a phone call saying, uh, there's a car coming Mr.

Simpson, please get in it.

Cursory shower, pop on some clothes, get in the car.

Driven, sat down by the lawyers and told on Monday we are.

Announcing this thing, what's gonna happen, and libel had none of the characteristics of a scandal.

It was boring.

Mm-hmm.

It was incredibly technical.

It was quite hard to see how it screwed over the little guy, and yet it took down.

The leadership of Barclays and Banks across the world.

What was it?

They were fudging it or something?

Yeah, so, so I mean, you, you can have an argument about this and the bank's version of this is different to the lawyer's version of this.

But basically, yeah, they were, um, banks were misreporting.

Their libel was the, is the rate at which you ra you would raise money at 11 o'clock every day.

Were you to raise money?

So it's like a measure of your financial health and banks were allegedly fixing it.

Um, there's an argument as to whether or not the Bank of England to, between each other basically.

Cuz they can borrow between each other.

They could fix it between each other.

Yeah.

But there's all sorts of things key to it.

So like some, there's some borrowing rates key to it that if libel goes, goes above or below is collar and cuff, it affects people's borrowing.

But it, you know, but yeah, I mean absolutely fascinating and sort of taking.

The leadership of the bank to parliamentary select committees to be thrown out a window, you know, walking out of Parliament into throngs of press and learning so much about the way that institutions respond when under that sort of pressure, and the realization that the people who know what happened.

Are the people with least incentive to tell you what happened?

So if you ask what, what happened here?

What was the truth of this?

The people who can give you that answer need to not, they need to not, you are in the perfect position in a way, in the, you're kind of in the middle of it experiencing the whole thing, but actually you are.

Kind of skin isn't really in the game.

Yeah.

I mean you, you to a degree, but you, you know, you take prepping people's get through parliamentary select committees, all of that stuff.

Absolutely fascinating.

Absolutely fascinating.

What's your long-term goal?

I, well if I, if I could pick a job, I'd like to run the National Trust.

Big believer in the National Trust.

Fantastic.

Yeah.

See that's sounds fantastic.

I'll take that.

National Trust, you've heard it here first paid in Scott.

There's a greater song by a band called Fatten Frantic called I wanna be the Chairman of the National Trust.

Is there, I'll have to listen.

You might wanna get hold of, it's it's niche content.

Yeah.

And I'm in favor of it.

What's most, the most misunderstood thing about your job?

Uh, I'll say the same thing every strategy person says, strategy's not about being clever.

It's about simplifying things down.

The world is incredibly complicated.

There's lots of much cleverer people who understand the nuances of each individual bit.

Your job as a strategy person, it's to boil complexity down into something that.

Everyone can articulate.

Well, it's an intelligence skill.

It's just intelligence is a mis you a very broad word, isn't it?

And those people who can hold a tremendous amount in their memory and they wood for trees, they can't see what it is.

So someone's gotta come in and communicate and, and read it, you know?

Yeah.

And I have the advantage that I understand about 30% of what's said to me.

And that makes it easy to turn in something communicable.

Uh, what's the, uh, biggest problem facing London and partners?

It's probably.

The joint aftermath of the pandemic and Brexit.

We very quickly explain what London and Partners is, is just so London Partners, where the business growth and destination agency for London think of us as being like the department for trade for London, plus the tourism agency.

So we have offices in China, India, across America, Canada, France, Germany, and we find high potential companies and we bring them to London to set up here and employ people.

We also help people to trade internationally and we promote the city as a place to visit.

Very good other things and, but, and so what's it, what's its biggest obstacle?

I mean, London's obviously taken a real punch in the guts.

Cities have taken a punch in the gut.

Yeah.

That's the key thing cities have.

So the, so the value and the logic of moving to a place has taken a punch in the gut.

So trading investments is down across the world.

Actually London is doing very well within that.

So people who are still saying, do you know what it, I do want to trade, I do want to be global, I do want to expand.

They are choosing London.

In 2022, middle of the pandemic, we had more international investments into our city than anywhere in the world.

More than New York, more than Shehe, more than Singapore, because people who are expanding are choosing London.

And um, what is London and partners doing about climate change?

You know, yeah, I mean, on some levels not enough, because in inherently what we do is carbon generative.

Like if your job is to convince people to come and visit fly, she's a visitor.

Roll up.

You know, but we do what we can.

You know, I mean, silly thing, but we, we do vegetarian only events now.

And actually you'd be surprised how much of our carbon that strips out.

Do you only invite vegetarians?

Is that how it works?

Well, they, everyone else self-selects out.

So the uh, no, but actually the bigger thing is we help.

Green tech companies to expand and they're the ones who are creating the solutions.

So, you know, we're trying our best, but, um, there's a gap between now and when Jet Zero comes online and that's a reality.

What are you most excited for about your business?

Yeah, so global trade.

Is fundamental in creating wealth in developing economies.

So I talked about the elephant graph.

The idea that the places who saw their income expand most in the world are the people who managed to connect to the global economy.

It's amazing how much trade and investment drives the creation of a middle class in the developing world.

Middle classes mean girls get to go to school, girls get to go to school, birth rate drops.

Trade and investment transforms lives, and that for me is incredibly powerful.

There is a moral case for what we do that really, really matters.

If you want carbon output to go down, if you want the growth of the population in the world to slow, if you want women's rights, the key to all of that is trade.

That's what matters.

Yeah.

Good one.

I can't, you've never thought about going into politics.

You were in politics at the same time.

Well, I, I tried.

You dabbled.

I tried twice.

Did you?

Not much success.

Well said.

Late labor candidate in Yeah.

Mastone.

And there is something about being stood stone.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's like, there's a thing about being stood at four in the morning in a village hall on a stage while somebody reads out precisely the number of people in your town prick.

To really put you off the costume.

Oh, you've knocked on all of their doors.

Yeah.

That Don't they make you stand in a couple of those places before you get the cushy number?

No.

Look, it's my hometown.

I wanted to do it.

It was great fun.

Um, and we did double the vote.

We went from fifth to second.

It's not bad.

That's good.

But made stone the fundamentals of made stone.

It's not First, is it?

Is it not first?

Another night.

Second.

It's the first loser.

He's the first loser.

And now a quick word from our sponsor,

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And at this point, let me quickly remind you to give us a nice review, please on Apple Podcast or follow us on Spotify so you'll never miss an episode.

Now back to the chat.

What's your biggest fuck up, do you think, in this, uh, journey of yours?

Uh, so there was a moment in, uh, a few years ago where I was doing something political, which went a bit wrong, and I ended up on the front page of the evening standard being alleged by the evening standard to be a senior Barclay's executive and the vice chairman of Barclays took some offense to that.

And there was a weekend where I sort of sent home at about three on the Friday when the evening standard landed.

My, my taking one for the team of Send Me Home saying, You might be back on Monday.

I won't better it.

And they're not.

Apparently there's a discussion where it's pointed out to the deputy chairman that I really didn't matter, and there's something about having your career saved by how irrelevant you are to really, was that a really miserable weekend?

It wasn't great.

It wasn't great.

I was more trying to work out whether or not it was going to be.

A negotiated exit or gross misconduct.

That was my question on, on Saturday and Sunday.

Well go away with it.

Just what's your passion outside of business?

Apart from politics, I am renovating my house, uh, from the ground up, you know where you live yourself, uh, in, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So in, in Dar we, you know, pour new concrete floor, new flooring, installing the kitchen, moving the plumbing, the whole thing.

Love it.

Wow.

Love it.

Wow.

How do you find time to do that?

Uh, you do it in the evenings.

I mean, during the pandemic it was amazing because it stopped me just going mad, sort of, you know, it set your wife slightly.

Mad though, maybe?

Yeah, I mean there was a, there was a kitchen there, there was a, there was a Christmas where uh, I'd taken out the old oven but not installed the new one.

Yeah.

So I just had the carcass of the old oven on the floor on some bricks and I sort of sat cooking Turkey cross-legged on the floor.

He sound remarkably like my brother-in-law, my sister.

My sister's sitting room still only has half a ceiling and they've lived there for 15 years.

It's much easier to take the bathroom apart and put it back together.

And what's the worst advice you've ever been given?

Wait to get promoted.

This is a thing that pe if, if your career is in a big organization, people sort of say to, you know, get ready, you know, wait to be promoted, get, you know, do your job for two years at the same level.

Bullshit if you think you are ready and your boss doesn't leave.

Because if you wait, if you join a grad scheme and you wanna be the c e o, that is not happening.

By waiting to get promoted, you have to back yourself.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?

If you think you're good enough back yourself.

That is it.

If you think you can do the job confidence effectively, not arrogance.

Yeah.

Bring your A gang.

Yeah.

But you know, but it's on your shoulders.

Right?

If you, if you think you're good enough and you're not, well, bad luck.

But if you think you're good enough and you are, the problem is imposter syndrome is like a horrible thing and it's very real.

Having a bad day always.

Uh, I was talking about imposter syndrome at lunch.

For someone saying, fucking imposter syndrome.

I dunno what I'm doing.

I'm out there in the dark fumbling or out alpha a field.

But we're all, we're all what advice we give to your younger self.

God No.

Don't say, don't say don't say God.

God.

Follow God.

Follow God.

I, I dunno.

I mean, you know, I mean he's gone quite well back yourself.

Yeah.

Back yourself.

He's gone follow, yeah.

You've gone bit, he's gone quite well.

He's gone unbelievably well.

You went from absolute shit to working the foreign offices writing speeches, you know?

That sounds great.

Yeah.

I mean, look, if you, when I was, you know, on my playing football on my counter day after school in the evening, if I'd have thought I'd have been here, that would've been quite good.

So it's gone quite well.

And, uh, recommendations on what to read, watch, and listen to.

We've done Hillary Mantel, but we've done Hillary Mantel.

So, um, the big thing which, uh, has transformed the way I've thought about culture in the last few years, our organizational culture, ed Shine, his book on leadership is unbelievable.

Why do I know that name?

Who's Ed Shine?

He's a, he's a, he actually, he died a month ago, but he's a, um, they're all dead.

Yeah, they're all dead.

He's a, he's an organizational psychologist and he's written a book about how, how to think about culture in organizations and it transformed the way I thought about it, and I totally recommend it.

Is there something specific.

In there.

Yeah.

So what, what he says is, um, culture exists at three levels.

There's artifacts.

That's the stuff you can see.

That's your logo.

That's the, the decoration, A lovely bwb song.

There's, there's a espoused value, so that's when you stop somebody and ask 'em to articulate the culture, what they say.

And this is the underlying stuff, which is we talk about the kind of, the idea of the ward cooler moment, right?

It's when you keep, when you keep saying why to somebody, the point at which they can't articulate it, that's the under, that's, that's, that's the underlying stuff.

So for instance, when I was in Barclays, when I was in banking, if you are gossiping in the kitchen, you're being lazy, should go and do some work.

Uh, London and partners.

If you're gossiping in the kitchen, you are building culture, you're building relationships.

It's all part of the thing, right?

So though that's.

Culture exists at those three levels.

And if you want to, um, build culture, it's not good enough to have logos and kits and all of that.

Listen, it depend on the business.

London, upon us, it would be building culture, but if we're a shoe factory, you know what I mean?

Or, well, the, so, so it makes the point, the culture is different for different people.

So, so the right culture, it's not about good culture.

The right culture for Navy Seals and a nursery are presumably different.

You'd be surprised, but you need the right culture.

Yeah, it's true actually.

Yeah, you're very spotter.

You need the culture that drives the performance and it is no good just having, I mean, I could still tell you now the, uh, my last firm, the five principles by which we worked a mo mass amount service, trust, enthusiasm, expertise, and drive.

But it's no good just saying it like I can repeat it, add nausea, but yeah, if, if it's not actually the way people behave, it's not your culture.

This is our favorite part of the show.

This is the business versus bullshit.

Quick, far around the music piece.

This is where we're gonna reel off these terms one at a time and you need to say whether it's business or bullshit.

And we've banned the, uh, why have we banned this shit?

Oh, fucking you missed a meeting.

Okay.

If you absolutely must, you could say s just cuz she didn't invite me to the meeting.

It's not my fault.

Yeah.

Okay.

Are you ready Alan?

I dunno what's happening, but yes, you need to, we'll tell you concepts and you need to tell us whether it's business.

Or bullshit.

Yeah.

You're work, you're working out.

It's not, feel free to hold up the phone via these two.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Hold them up and say the name.

You're gonna need to say it because it's a podcast and showing us won't help.

Yeah, I do see that.

Yeah.

Uh, universal income, uh, business.

Good economics on that one.

You, it, you think it's gonna work?

That one It does.

It does work for it.

Does I read all those?

Uh, Studies and stuff, and it's basically all about what level you set it.

Yeah.

Because we do have a universal basic income in different ways.

It's just not, anyway, but yes.

Yeah.

You like it that business plans, uh, business.

That's my job.

If that, if that's bullshit, I am in trouble.

Yeah.

I really, you literally write a business plan all the time for London.

That's basically what you do.

The three year plan.

Yeah.

I'm just signed off.

In the event though, that's bullshit.

My entire life requires up.

Okay, so I'm not gonna, so here would you, oh, just opened you up to review all business, but not the business plan are a little bit bullshit, aren't they?

They're all made up just a teeny tiny, I mean, they're all made up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Gotta have one.

Yeah.

Still bullshit.

Yoga, uh, non fungible tokens.

Bullshit.

Yeah, sure.

Bullshit.

It is.

Hilarious.

How much money is gonna be lost.

Yeah.

I'm just fascinated.

Even when they represent, uh, the first copy of an album of the great artist, isn't that like a cool thing to have in the digital universe?

No.

No.

Uh, Bitcoin, uh, uh, bullshit.

Do you think it's bullshit?

It's a Ponzi scheme and people lose their money.

Damn straight MBAs.

I'd quite like one when I haven't got one.

Can I have big shit back?

No.

You don't want an NBA business.

I quite like that.

The reason you've been so successful is you don't have an nba, you know?

Wouldn't be lovely on your business card, Dave.

Can you just buy them?

There must be some Dodge.

Probably an nft.

Yeah, you probably just from this universe.

Just put it there, then say it stands for massive Big Allen.

Yeah, let's not go and set up the massive big Allen society and then let have Alan Partridge join anyway.

Working hours.

Bullshit.

Flexibility's a good thing.

Microdosing of drugs.

Yes.

Oh.

I don't know.

I've never, I'm very boring.

Um, I think this is too rock and roll question, but people do it at Harvard.

Well, I I understand that they do.

Very successful people do it.

I, uh, I don't, I like, I like Haribo.

Can one microdose Haribo going viral.

This is a, that sounds disgusting.

I mean, that's mostly bullshit, isn't it?

Yeah.

Does anybody care?

It's not our strongest question.

I think maybe we should reap the going viral think tanks.

Our business, I've been on the board of a couple of those.

Very valuable.

Oh really?

Yeah.

Yeah.

They sound like bullshit though.

No, no, because.

The, the Thatcher Manifesto, you can trace back to Center for Policy Studies Blairs manifesto.

You can, you can trace back to I P P R and trust his manifesto.

You can trace that to a bin.

I mean it's, yeah.

Yeah.

If you want to influence politics, influence, think tanks.

Flexible working.

Yeah.

That's business flexibility's a good thing.

We're all, you know, we've all got lives to lead.

We gotta, we gotta work on our us.

Stack.

It's uh, breakfast meetings.

Uh, bullshit.

I don't like mornings.

I hate Brett.

I resent them from sat there furious.

Yeah, me too.

Especially if you have to have eggs or something really annoying.

It's like, yeah, it's all really fatty in the morning.

Ah, you trying and then, and eggs going everywhere.

You drop half of it down your front and it's really humiliated.

Um, team outings.

Uh, uh, business cuz I just, I love people.

Why not?

Yeah.

Some people super go bowling, hot desking, uh, bullshit.

Hate it.

And asking favors.

Yeah.

Business.

Let's all help each other, man.

We always have to hot desk these days, don't we?

I know I do.

Yeah.

Oh, that's it.

Oh, that's it.

Very good.

You've got 1,203 points.

That's, that's one of our.

Lowest scores this wow millennium.

Um, that's the end of the quick, far round.

So that was this week's episode of BW b.

Extra and we'll be back with a new episode next Tuesday.