Employee owned businesses exemplify great leadership.  It is in their DNA to empower and embolden employees, ensuring everyone has a voice.  This is never more so important than during challenging times when personal and business resilience matters most.

Managing Director of DustScanAQ, Claus Hjoerringgaard, will share his experiences of leading a business alongside the founder – managing their expectations and also those across the organisation.  He will reflect on what the last week 5 weeks has meant as a leader and the constantly evolving challenges this brings.

Stefan will share his insights into the importance of collective action though an engaged workforce and how invaluable this is. He will also highlight how a sense of ownership and shared endeavour can contribute to good leadership, and what lessons can be learnt from leading an employee owned businesses.

Chris McDermott will reflect on what the last few weeks has meant for him as Managing Director at The 1:1Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan .  He will share how the organisation suddenly realised that it was in a fight for survival, how it quickly decided upon its priorities and then set about communicating these through an operational, financial and human resilience framework, and how it is now beginning to consider life in a post Covid-19 world.

Guest Speakers

Deb Oxley OBE, Chief Executive, Employee Ownership Association (Chair)

Claus Hjoerringgaard, Managing Director, DustScan AQ

Chris McDermott, Managing Director, The 1:1Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan

Stefan Stern, Journalist and Author

Claus Hjoerringgaard

Claus is a visionary and experienced leader who, over 25 years, has promoted strategic growth and business development in national and international companies. He brings senior leadership with experience from firms such as Fichtner Consulting Engineers, Mott MacDonald and Wood where he primarily focused on the power generation sector.

Claus has extensive global knowledge and networking experience to establish sound relationships with senior decision makers. He is leading DustScan with the cooperation of clients, partners and others to ensure sustainable development and growth.

Chris McDermott

Chris has been Managing Director of The 1:1Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan for five years, having originally joined the business as a PR executive in 2003. He has recently steered the business through a major rebrand and celebrated the company being named Employee Owned Business of the Year in 2019.

Stefan Stern

Stefan is author of How to be a better Leader and The Myths of Management.  A former columnist for the Financial Times and Management Today, he is visiting professor at CASS Business School, a former director of the High Pay Centre and now writes for the Guardian, FT and others.

Stefan recently authored a recent paper for Ownership at Work, an independent think tank and partner of the Employee Ownership Association, which evidenced how employee ownership changes the art of leadership.