We are 10 years old

50 Degrees is a whole ten years old. Started in the halcyon days of 2010, with a Coalition government in place and no hint of becoming a Euro pariah state, or global pandemic meltdown… they were the best of times.

Well, okay, there was an erupting Icelandic volcano, a BP oil spill, and Downton Abbey to contend with… and, okay, we had Chris Grayling as Welfare Minister, and the Sword of Damocles of Austerity hanging over the public service landscape. But come on, right now, even the memory of Chris Grayling feels as comforting as popping on a lovely, cosy sweater.  

I guess ten years does feel like a long time ago, but it’s an odd feeling actually, because it’s also all gone by very quickly. What was actually started as a bit of a stop gap, has turned into something much bigger.

What’s changed in the last ten years then? Well, our 30s (or for some of our more senior associates, cough Steve Marsland cough, their 40s) have disappeared in a flash. We’ve gone from talking about music, festivals, drinking and general revelry to discussing how tired we are all the time, which limbs are aching, and who is most inconvenienced by their children.

Obviously we’re a bigger team now, doing more things, working with more clients, working on an international basis. But my sense is that the fundamentals have remained reasonably consistent. We’re working with brilliant people, we’re having fun whilst doing it, and we’re delivering results for our clients. 

The challenge now is to ensure that the enduring qualities that have made 50 Degrees successful over the last ten years remain in place for the next ten. Although the way things are going there seems a good chance that come 2030 we might be living in caves, or being ruled by a master race of giant ants.

That said, I think we could really help those ants with their strategy.