Why did you join the lang cat?

Loved the brand and the content the lang cat produces

What is your role at the lang cat?

Analyse and research stuff

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

The rogue advisers punting dodgy ‘investments’

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

Barack Obama, Dan Carter and Bill Gates. One of the most inspirational leaders of my time, one of the best rugby players to ever play the game and one of the people responsible for technology focussed world we now live in.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Batman. Obviously.

Why did you join the lang cat?

Prior to joining I spent eight years as a financial adviser and four as a financial journalist. Here I weave these two together.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Senior consultant, and sole proprietor of the Brixton office.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

Financial education; the industry has become so complex, especially – ironically - since A-day. People with better knowledge are more likely to see the importance of financial planning, and therefore make better decisions

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Leftfield ‘Leftism’.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

MC Skat Kat.

Why did you join the lang cat?

Already knowing a fair bit about the lang cat, I was sure I’d appreciate and value the culture and ethos, as well as the folk who work here.  Plus a flagon of ale and a tot of whisky may have been involved, making it all a nae brainer.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Commercial consultant, which covers a wide array of mostly good clean fun.  This might concern the negotiation of commercial  terms, checking intricacies around our client and supplier relationships, or helping to find a safe path through anything that looks thorny.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

I personally miss the good old days of companies operating, and making decisions, on the basis of the local communities they’re working within.

Who would be at your dream dinner party? 

Being a bit keen on biking, I’d be fascinated to meet Graeme Obree & Mark Beaumont.  If family & friends could be there too then that would be a massive bonus….

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Daft Punk, Random Access Memories.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Asterix, largely because his rather funky helmet would cover my fulsome bald patch, and I’d love to give Getafix’s magic potion (aka superhuman strength) a whirl.

Why did you join the lang cat?

I’ve had the pleasure [sic] of knowing both Marks for a very, very long time and have seen first-hand - as a journalist then as an in-house head of comms - the might of their frankly freaky brain power being brought to bear on complex technical issues. I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t go weak at the knees in the face of impassioned nerdy-ness coupled with an acerbic humour, so it was a no-brainer. (Note to self: time to increase circle of friends and acquaintances.)

What is your role at the lang cat?

Strategic PR Director

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

The presumption that people are rational when it comes to money. We need to disabuse ourselves of that notion pronto. To varying degrees, we all fall foul of behavioural biases that can make us our own worst enemy when it comes to making decisions about our long-term financial futures. It’s no mean feat but financial services comms have to start from the perspective of saving us from ourselves.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

Family and close friends. That way I wouldn’t need to be on my best behaviour (which is exhausting).

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

That sounds like torture. Can I opt for silence?

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Thor. I need to take down a wall at home and Mjolnir would come in very handy. Plus I’d get to be a Norse god for the day, albeit applying my divine power in a pretty prosaic way.

Why did you join the lang cat?

I’ve known Mark Polson for a long time and really like his way of taking complicated topics and making them understandable, interesting and (sometimes) funny. When he told me he was building up the PR team, I didn’t think twice about joining.

What is your role at the lang cat?

I work with financial services and financial technology companies to promote their products and services. There’s a lot of technical stuff in this industry and we help our clients communicate that complexity as clearly and simply as possible to make it more accessible for everyone.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

Ditch the jargon to make personal finance easier for people to understand.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

You can’t beat dinner with close friends, but my celebrity invites would have to include Olivia Coleman as she’s amazing, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who wrote one of my favourite novels ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, David Attenborough because I could listen to him all day long and Romesh Ranganathan as I can’t make his current tour dates.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

We bought Sing Your Heart Out for the kids in 2016 and it feels like the only album I’ve listened to since then.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

As a child I always envied Mr Tickle’s arms – who wouldn’t want to lie in bed upstairs and get a biscuit from the kitchen cupboard downstairs? I still like that idea (obviously), but now I think living with those arms must be quite challenging at times. Mr Tickle never lets that hold him back though and instead uses his unique abilities to make people laugh. I think we can all learn something from that.

Why did you join the lang cat?

I didn’t really have much choice.

What is your role at the lang cat?

To try and get people to pay us on time.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

More people should pay us on time.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

No-one famous. Friends will do nicely.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

The Good Son by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Top Cat

Why did you join the lang cat?

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Head of publications.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

The lack of clarity. A lot of problems in the industry stem from advisers and providers not being clear on what the regulator expects of them and what they can and cannot do as a result. The FCA’s reluctance to take a prescriptive approach comes from a good place, but causes problems and has kept products and services that could have had a positive impact from ever seeing the light of day.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

I don’t do dinner parties – even dream ones.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

A long one.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Wile E. Coyote: the ACME catalogue looks like fun.

Why did you join the lang cat?

I joined the lang cat in 2013 having spent more than 20 years growing increasingly frustrated with marketing, communications and PR in life co world. I had been watching how the business was developing and the genuinely fresh approach to communicating complex things with authority and a bit of humour really attracted me. The lang cat culture felt new, vibrant and different. Mark Polson and I had a couple of meetings where we discussed how the lang cat might develop from grungy proposition consultancy to include Comms and PR services that would challenge some of the existing financial agency firms. We thought we might be on to something, so we took the plunge. Things have gone pretty well since then.

What is your role at the lang cat?

I head up the communications side of the lang cat. This includes accountability for our own in-house communications and PR and also acting as an outsourced communications, PR and marketing agency to assist lots of financial services firms effectively promote their products and services.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

I would wave my magic wand and force all financial firms to be honest and transparent. Trust is something that needs to be earned. You can only do that by acting in a trustworthy way. There are still way too many instances of financial firms trying to hide things from customers in the hope they won’t be found out. I would love firms to stop saying that customers are at the heart of their proposition and then communicating in a way that demonstrates they are clearly not.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

At the head of the table would be my grandad who died when I was 10. I only have vague memories of him but I’ve been told so many cool things about his life and adventures. I’d love to hear his stories first hand. I’d have Tommy Cooper there for the jokes and magic tricks. And I’d have Stephen Fry and Oscar Wilde for a bit of high-brow chat.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Listening to only one album forever sounds like absolute hell.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

I’d like to be Top Cat for just one day. But I don’t think Polson will ever let me.

Why did you join the lang cat?

After crashing out of corporate life, it was either that or resume my modelling career.

What is your role at the lang cat?

It’s never been fully explained to me, but it appears everything’s my fault.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

Tighter control over scams and FSCS protection for those who get stung by the scammers

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

I have never dreamt of dinner parties.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Top Cat, obviously

Why did you join the lang cat?

Mark repeatedly begged me to join. It was all getting a bit embarrassing, so I eventually relented. Good decision though.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Consulting Director, which means I get a lot of variety. A typical week could see me working with advisers, providers, asset managers, investment bank, or private equity clients, as well as speaking at industry events and commentating in the press. The variety is the best part of this role. It keeps things interesting, and you always learn more when you seek out different perspectives.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

The good guys need to do more to collectively stand up against and drive out the scumbags who are giving poor advice and/or ripping clients off. The industry has improved greatly over recent years, but there are sadly a lot more bad apples than people like to admit. Either that, or grant the Isle of Wight offshore tax status.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

My kids

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Coldcut – 70 minutes of madness.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Disco Stu

Why did you join the lang cat?

I used to speak to Mark Locke and Mark Polson from time to time when I was a journalist and, although I never let on to them at the time, I knew the lang cat was somewhere I really wanted to work one day. As a journalist, I just felt they always had something punchy and relevant to say and that’s the type of thing I wanted to be part of if I ever went over to the ‘dark-side’.

What is your role at the lang cat?

I’m a PR Director for the Strategic Communications side of our business. We work clients from all kinds of areas of financial services and I get to speak to lots of the lovely journalists I used to know in my previous guise.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

Right now, it would be to scrap the Lifetime ISA. Someone close to me recently got caught out by the 25%(!) early exit charge because it was explained so badly (or not really explained at all) in the provider’s literature. They had a terrible customer experience and were made to feel it was their fault for not being smart enough to understand the product. For me, this sums up so much of what is wrong about financial services, where poor communication from the industry results in people being totally put off trying to make their money work harder.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

Pavarotti, Julie Andrews, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder and Hugh Jackman. I’d make them all sing for me!

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder. I don’t think I listened to it until I was about 20 years old but the songs are so timeless, they felt instantly familiar.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

I’d be Ren from Ren and Stimpy. He’s definitely a bit weird but I can do a good facial impression of him.

Why did you join the lang cat?

I’d worked with Terry at Standard Life and Nucleus so when he got in touch to say there was a new role coming up I was really keen to find out more.  I had used the lang cat during my time at Nucleus and had loved the brand and quality of their output so after meeting Mark I was totally sold.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Marketing director

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

Make it easier for people who earn an average salary to access good quality long term savings advice.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

Sophie Walker, James Corden, Meryl Streep

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

I'm Not Dead, Pink

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Jem from the 1980’s show

Why did you join the lang cat?

Because, c.2012, the temptation of exchanging corporate life for a gruesome serviced office with Mark P and a dying pot plant was too much to resist. Also, he’s never made me work full time …

What is your role at the lang cat?

Strategic communications consultant. I help clients develop intelligent content of all shapes and sizes, including marketing communications that have the appropriate pitch and tone for their particular audience. Something easier said than done given the variety and complexity of the financial services market today.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

End the iron grip of the technocrats over client communication sign-off. There are specialist communications professionals out there who have excellent technical knowledge as well as the skills to engage with clients in a language and style they’ll actually get. Recognise them and let them do their job! That includes not telling them, ever again, that they can’t start a sentence with and, so or but.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

My husband and my dog. I’m a bit anti-social that way.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Don’t know. I’m not a muso either … although being at the lang cat has been good for my musical education.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Muttley. The older I get, the more Wacky Races seems to sum up life. Plus, I’m sure I could stop the pigeon.

Why did you join the lang cat?

I joined the lang cat when Lockey got in touch to say they were looking for a PA for Mark P. I’d taken VR from Aegon a month before and I was keen that my next job wouldn’t be in another large organisation. When I met up with Mark I really like the sound of the lang cat and what they were doing within the industry, so I kind of thought I’d like to become a lang cat if they’d have me. Lucky for me, my beauty and wit won them over and here I am.

What is your role at the lang cat?

PA to Mark, office manager and chief nagger about keeping the kitchen tidy.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

Make things much simpler to understand cos everything seems to be awfy complicated.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

Calvin Harris, Morgan Freeman and Billy Connolly

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

It would have to be one of the Now compilation albums because I don’t like listening to a whole album by the same artist – easily bored/fickle. I’m deeply uncool as well, I know.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Jessie from Toy Story because I sort of fancy Woody.

Why did you join the lang cat?

Taking a risk and joining a start-up (It was just Mark, Sam and I when I started) isn’t the kind of life choice I’d normally make. I had a decent job at a good company but I was at a very particular point in my life where I had a proper ‘now or never’ moment and I wanted to change. Plus, I’d known Mark a bit from a few years back and wanted to work with him.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Official job title is consulting director but I get involved in all sorts. Helping steer the company, produce our insight products, get out and about trying to sell stuff and get up to my eyes in client work.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

I’d make regulation clearer and more prescriptive. There’s a shocking amount of wasted time and energy in the sector figuring out and conforming to regulatory changes.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

My late Uncle and Gran. Billy Connolly. Stewart Lee. Jo Whiley. Louis Theroux. Andy Murray. Phil Young.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

I think research has shown that this is actually an effective form of torture, shame on you for asking. But if I had to pick it would be The Optimist LP by Turin Brakes.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

No-one. That sounds horrendous.

Why did you join the lang cat?

True story this. On the day a contract had arrived for something else, I got a random phone call from the lang cat (well I might have planted a seed at some point). I instantly knew I’d do this, I’d worked with the lang cat client side and was a fan of its output, so it seemed legit.

What is your role at the lang cat?

Devising and running great insight products that are driven by primary research and the data that comes from it.

If you could fix one thing in the financial services industry what would it be?

I’d make it so that more people from working class backgrounds could first get into financial services then break through the glass ceiling.

Who would be at your dream dinner party?

If I’m honest it would be all my lost loved ones. I’d give anything to have one more chance to put the world to rights with my dad over a good bevvy.

If you could only listen to one album forever more what would it be?

Back Home Again by John Denver has served me well so far, well since I was about three. It does however belong to the ‘1000 albums I would never put on the lang cat Sonos’ in addition to any reggae and 92% of folky stuff I listen to at home.

Which cartoon character would you most like to swap places with for the day?

Mike Barrett.