Corporate Vision March 2017

CORPORATE VISION / March 2017 27 All in a Good Cause ## Company: Charity Challenge Name: Simon Albert, Director Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.charitychallenge.com Address: 22-23 Arcadia Ave, London N3 2JU UK Telephone: +44 (0)208 346 0500 g “I remember sitting in a hotel on Boxing Day 2004 watching unravelling coverage of the Asian tsunami. I couldn’t look away because I knew that I wanted to do something to help and I had the tools to do so. We had never worked in Sri Lanka and had no ground handler or charity partner there. Driven by this desire to help, we set up and launched a programme with Habitat for Humanity GB that took us to tsunami-affected communities in Sri Lanka and India, in order to rebuild hundreds of homes. “Within months we were sending out volunteers and I joined the very first group. It was one of the most incredible and meaningful experiences of my life and one I will never forget. We help people to have incredible life-changing experiences and raise millions of pounds for good causes globally, making a real positive difference in the world. It’s impossible not to be proud of that!” Simon was also named in The Independent on Sunday’s Happy List as one of the people who make Britain a better place, and in 2011 he was invited to Buckingham Palace to celebrate the world of exploration and adventure with the Queen and Prince Philip. Simon tells us more about his role and the most important thing he has learnt as a successful leader. “The realities of working in a small team mean that while I set the vision and try and lead the business, I am all too often involved in everything from legal to admin, operations to finance. I have tried hard to take a step back and have engaged a really strong Senior Management Team to deal with the day-to- day running of the business, which allows me to focus on the bigger picture. Having built up the business for almost two decades, I love seeking out new opportunities to develop. “The advice I got just before having the courage to set up Charity Challenge was: “If you want to be successful in business, do something you are passionate about.” At the time, I was fundraising for charity in my spare time, travelling wherever and whenever I could, so I combined the two and came up with Charity Challenge. “The other advice I try and remember when my blood pressure starts to rise, is to only focus my efforts on the stuff I can influence. I can’t change the impact of Brexit on foreign currencies or stop volcanic ash from grounding international flights. Such external factors inevitably influence our business and clients, but I have become quite good at focussing on the things I can influence. Keeping clients informed of a situation, building confidence and trust, and offering options that we can control like transferring to another challenge destination, postponing and so on.” Being a successful CEO is not, however, without its challenges. Simon tells us how he ensures that the firm is always one step ahead and prepared for any eventuality. “During the last 17 years we have had to deal with a multitude of unforeseen situations that have affected our business and our clients’ travel plans including bird flu, SARS, terrorist attacks, cancelled flights, strikes, tsunami, hurricanes, the Arab Spring and the eruption of an Icelandic volcano. Pretty much every significant world incident impacts on our business and requires us to respond. Part of my daily routine is checking what is going on in the world and thinking about the implications for us and our clients. It can be something obvious like a baggage handlers strike, or may be something which runs deeper, like the impact of Brexit on the foreign currency exchange.” With regards to 2017, Simon is currently developing a new challenge programme which aims to raise an additional £40,000,000 for good causes over the next three years alone. “It will engage hundreds of millions of people around the world with some of the world’s most pressing issues: poverty, access to water, sanitation, shelter, education, and environmental conservation. It’s very exciting and I hope it will be remembered for many years to come. Watch this space!”