BLACKCAT CONSULTING – INTRODUCTION TO OUR FELLOW SPONSORS: 17TH MARCH 2010

A very happy St Patricks Day and a warm welcome to Blackcat Consulting – as you can probably tell by my accent I’m originally from Liverpool, well known as the real capital of Ireland so I’m delighted to be addressing you on this famous day of Irish celebration!
I am here today with 2 of my colleagues – my wife & business partner Jacqui and Alan Jermaine who heads up our Blackcat Education division – more on this a bit later.
Blackcat Consulting is a people business – we advise our clients on people issues, how to excite and inspire people, how to strengthen their teams, how to improve performance and where to look to bring in new talent and fresh ideas. Our company is 15 years old and has operated successfully across New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Europe....and even Kazakhstan on one occasion! Over the years we have helped clients appoint over 400 people at manager and director level, the majority of whom are still with those clients today.
For us people make the difference – the difference between success and failure, the difference between a thriving business with a bright future or mediocrity. “Nothing happens until someone sells something” – the computer doesn’t send its own emails, the lights don’t come on in the office by themselves, the product doesn’t pick itself and turn up at the customer’s premises without people. Yet most leadership teams spend most time talking about other aspects of their business – usually the things that don’t speak or answer back! Things that never come up with a good idea!
Why is this? Because people are the hard bit – since slavery was abolished you can only rent them! If you ask anyone in a leadership role what the hardest part of their job is – the answer always revolves around people, usually team members. Have we got the right people, how do we switch them on, how do we know a good prospective employee if we see one?
As the economy now is thankfully coming out of recession, one of the big dilemmas many of our clients are facing is the “do-we, don’t we” debate, a condition in psychology known as the ‘approach- avoidance syndrome’. We know we need to strengthen our team but we’re not convinced the timing is right but then again when things take off we could miss the wave but we’ve been ‘bitten before’ by recruitment agencies & took on the wrong person but on the other hand without new business leads we....these are sensitive and challenging issues that need careful handling and professional advice. That’s where we come in.
Our talent is to tease out the people issues & help companies grow ...and to see people fulfil their true potential. We ask questions, we visit, we listen, we challenge, we learn and we advise on people issue. We constantly strive for Excellence & that’s why we’re delighted to be supporting these awards. The ‘Employer of Choice’ category is very dear to our hearts and something we are very passionate about. We love to work with entrepreneurial, ambitious and innovative companies who – like us - want to see their dreams come true.