Facing the global challenge

The weak dollar is just one issue Mr West must watch

Andrew West joined the London office of public relations firm Text 100 direct from university.

A career change saw him leave the business in 1987 for four years, but he returned and subsequently went on to manage the company's French office.

Mr West followed that up by opening Text 100 offices in Sweden and the US.

After 14 straight years with the company he is now managing director of its operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

What was your first car?

Austin Allegro which I bought while a student. This was replaced by my beloved Honda 250 Superdream.

My first proper car was courtesy of the company and was a light blue Vauxhall Astra 1.3L.

What was your first job?

With my good friend Richard, we were budding entrepreneurs through the teen years. We ran a fruit business in the Herefordshire village where we grew up.

The strategy was to buy fruit trees and to sell the fruit on with a suitable mark-up to friends and neighbours.

We also contracted our time to farms in the local area and ran a car washing syndicate on Sunday mornings. Sadly I cannot remember where the money went.

My first proper job was as a trainee account executive at Text 100.

I joined straight from university and lasted six months before deciding that the grass was greener at an agency that offered 50% more pay (£9,000 rather than the £6,000 I started on). I returned to Text 100 in 1991.

What was your first house?

It was a studio flat in Queens Park, North London, bought in 1987 for £45,000.

It was opposite a rather rough estate that was a no-go area for the emergency services.

That said, it was a good springboard onto the property market until Mrs Thatcher and Mr Lamont brought the market crashing down in 1988.

What's the best bit of business advice you've had?

Always listen and be prepared to learn from mistakes.

In a people business, be prepared to take the advice of others and never forget the impact small gestures can make on morale.

What's the biggest challenge facing business now?

In the PR industry it is attracting and retaining talent.

We are a professional services business that relies entirely on the calibre of its people.

PR in the tech sector has been through a rocky period because of the internet bubble and we are now seeing a dearth of suitably qualified and experienced people at the key account executive and account manager levels.

As a consequence, competition for talent is intense with the result that salary levels are once again being artificially distorted.

On a macro level, the continuing uncertainty over the world economic situation is a major challenge.

Capital spending is increasing but is held back by world events.

The weakness of the dollar coupled with the war in Iraq is causing a lack of confidence. We are seeing this in the tech sector.

The situation is perhaps made worse by the ever lengthening replacement cycles for technology.

What can the government do to boost business?

It needs to demonstrate that it understands the needs of small business not only from a financial/taxation perspective but also from a people point of view.

More could be done to accommodate working mothers - this is a particularly relevant in PR where we have a large proportion of female workers.

Every year we see a huge amount of talent leave the industry simply because childcare is so expensive.

What business story has grabbed your interest recently?

The weakness of the dollar.

Our US business is growing extremely fast and as a UK quoted company we report in sterling.

The impact of this is obvious and we are watching it extremely closely.

It also has an impact on our core market of technology given the global nature of the sector and the fact that many of our clients are US-based.

What was the proudest moment of your career?

Being part of the team that pitched and won the global IBM account.

This was the result of many thousands of man hours spent in New York, culminating in a three-hour presentation to more than 60 IBM executives at IBM's headquarters just outside New York.

It was a truly great example of teamwork coupled with a strong belief that we could overcome the odds and win what was the PR pitch of the decade.

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Text 100 is a global PR agency serving companies that use technology for competitive advantage.

Founded almost 20 years ago Text was built from the ground up and now represents leading brands, such as Xerox, in 24 offices around the world.