Alastair Beddow
I joined Lighthouse after studying for an MPhil at Cambridge University. In my first six months, I’ve been exposed to a large number of projects for different clients across financial services, property consultancy, accountancy and the legal sector. This means that no two days are exactly the same, and when I come into the office in the morning I always have a variety of interesting tasks on my to-do list to keep me busy. The work is fast paced and people are relying on my input. I like that.
Today, for example, I began the day by attending a meeting with a potential client, together with one of the Lighthouse directors. One of the best things about working at Lighthouse is that the senior staff are very forthcoming about sharing their knowledge and expertise, and they have real faith in your ability to do a good job on a project. I’ve been entrusted to manage my own time and the projects I work on and I have regular day-to-day contact with clients. As an analyst I am involved in the whole project process from initial sales meetings and proposal writing, through to project planning and analysis and, finally the delivery of workshops or presentations to clients at the end of a project.
When I get back to the office I respond to a query from a client on a project Lighthouse has just delivered. This involves crunching some data we have collected about the future trends in the London banking sector in order to determine what the outlook for the property market will be in three years time. This is really important because our client will be publishing this analysis in a report, which they hope will gain lots of media coverage, and which will inform their own strategy moving forward.
Later on I telephone a Finance Director of a major company to get a picture of his experiences of the UK as a place to do business; this will form part of a project Lighthouse is working on for another client. It can be slightly nerve-racking speaking to influential people, but hearing them talk about their business experiences offers really useful insight, and is probably the best way for me to gain an overview of how business works in the UK.
I end my day by joining a conference call with a client and several other members of the Lighthouse team. We are helping to shape their consultancy proposition in the mid-market. This is one of the most exciting projects I have worked on so far because Lighthouse’s recommendations will have a real tangible impact on this firm’s market strategy. Our focus on client and market strategies in the professional services sector is at the heart of what makes Lighthouse different from other firms, and what makes it a really enjoyable place to work.