• CoBrowse
  • January 26, 2021

    1:00 PM - Webinar Express

    **Bookings for this webinar are now closed**

    Few places illustrate the possibility of transformation in the most unpromising of circumstances as the Eden Project. The way a post-industrial landscape in the poorest part of the UK’s poorest county was turned into an iconic destination, educational charity and environmental inspiration shows what can be achieved working as a community and in harmony with nature. A worked out clay pit near St Austell in Cornwall is now a beacon of biodiversity and environmental optimism, welcoming over a million visitors a year, supporting thousands of jobs and inspiring successor projects around the world.

    However Eden’s journey was not always smooth, and near failure in 2012-2013 brought about the need for a second transformation. The subsequent turnaround story carries lessons for organisations and brands seeking routes through difficult times, from the three phases of recovery (financial, reputational, and psychological) to the need for 21st century leadership. Humility, decency, authenticity, kindness and an intolerance of hierarchies were the foundations on which the turnaround was built, along with the application of the old-fashioned virtues of focus and relentlessness. It’s the commitment to rebuilding the core proposition that, over time, has provided the opportunity for the brand to be extended and for new ventures to be launched. Those lessons are now being applied to a start-up, the Creative Land Trust, which seeks to bring about a transformation in the arts sector, first in London and then beyond. Faced with the problem of creatives being priced out of the very city they have made vibrant and prosperous, the Trust is developing a new model for the sector, blending funding streams to work with the grain of the market to provide a permanent solution for the benefit of all. This combination of charity and commercialism is the basis not only of the future success of the Creative Land Trust, but of past challenges such as the modernisation of the Royal Horticultural Society.

    In this presentation, Gordon Seabright will share the lessons learned from a career centred on turnaround and transformation; what worked, what didn’t, and what insights are relevant to anyone guiding their organisation through a period of essential change.  

    Speaker:- Gordon Seabright
    Gordon has been leading cultural and environmental charities for the past decade. Since early 2020 he has been Chief Executive of the Creative Land Trust, a new charity established to reverse the loss of artists and creatives from London. Before that he was Chief Executive of the world famous Eden Project, following periods at the helm of the National Cycling Charity and the Royal Horticultural Society and senior posts at English Heritage, WH Smith and Waterstones Booksellers. He also serves as a trustee/NED of a number of environmental, international development and community organisations.

    The webinar is kindly hosted by CIM South West and lasts approximately 40-45 minutes inclusive of a Q&A session after the presentation. 

    If you would like to register and attend the webinar please do so by clicking the book now button below. Information on how to join, along with the link, will be sent the morning of the webinar so please do check your spam/junk folders that morning in case the email has been directed there by your email provider. If you don't receive an email containing the webinar link by 11am on Tuesday 26 January please let us know as soon as possible. 

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    Sector: Non-specific

    Region: South-West

    Speakers: Gordon Seabright

    Contact:

    CIM Events Team

    cim.events@cim.co.uk

    +44 (0)1628 427340

    This event is free