Mercia’s year of progress is arguably best encapsulated by the growth of our team. From London to Edinburgh, the Mercia team now stands at over 100 staff with several additional new roles currently live on our website. This gives us a significant presence in the regions and brings with it a depth and breadth of knowledge that we believe is unique to an asset manager that provides capital across venture, private equity and debt.
This expansion of talent does not come without its challenges, especially for those new starters that onboarded during periods where it was impossible or difficult to meet colleagues in person or to be exposed to the strong Mercia culture. And of course, there were also challenges for those team members that have been driving Mercia’s performance throughout the last year, whilst having to manage so many new types of pressures.
Resilience, therefore, has been a central theme for Mercia; how people withstand the dramatic changes wrought by COVID-19 and then be flexible (and tough) enough to embrace the opportunities that will come with a post-pandemic resurgence. Understanding the resilience that is needed from the processes and infrastructure demanded by new working habits is also key. Businesses grow through creativity and curiosity, the loss of which cannot be allowed to become a casualty of lockdown. At Mercia we have endeavoured to remain connected with our colleagues with fluid and intuitive initiatives.
Across Zoom, Microsoft Teams and, when the safeguarding and guidelines allowed, face-to-face meetings, Mercia’s leadership team has ensured that frequent and transparent communication has remained a priority throughout the year – not just with employees, but also with our investors, shareholders and investees. In many instances, this digital engagement has been better suited to some audiences and more regular outreach has been facilitated because of how cost-effective and timely this communication is. Many of our forums and seminars will remain as digital events; some will become hybrid to ensure that we do not lose out on the additional advantages that come with meeting in person, and we will host all the recordings via our newly expanded Mercia Hub on the website.