PAUL HAYES

Founder Beachhut PR

Fintech and challenger banks such as N26 grew as a sector internationally, as did other areas such as food, grocery and drug delivery. For example, Buymie, Flipdish, Healthwave and Manna grew so fast it was a case of trying to keep up with them. It was heartening to see so much accelerated innovation across companies and state bodies.

We all miss the camaraderie of the office but it has become a net positive for us in terms of efficiency. I think blended office time will be important to grow, especially for younger staff and new hires. I don’t think presenteeism will be an issue as such anymore; it will be more of a ‘prove to me we need to do this in the office’ situation.

Most of the tech conferences we attend went virtual and there has been some great innovation from event management companies and event organisers on that front. Most journalists still attend, albeit virtually. So a lot of delegates attended and made it work, even though they miss the serendipity of the in-person event.

The wider tech sector had a very strong pandemic and the challenges will probably arise after the rest of the world gets back to some sense of normal.

A data-driven recovery will be the thing to watch in 2021. There has been so much disinformation to a scared public that the companies investing in good communications tools and methodologies will be the ones that thrive. There is a lot of hurt out there, but in fairness to government supports, a lot of businesses have managed to maintain their position and hopefully aren’t holed too far below the waterline.

‘Clients have to continueto connectand communicate withcustomers’