And, with that, 2024 comes to a close – and what a year it has been. Defined by new Prime Ministers and Presidents, hope and crises, tech and innovation, leaders in our consumer industries should be immensely proud of their agility, strength and resilience amid these ups and downs.
As has become tradition for the last Weekend Edition before Christmas, we are reflecting on the year gone by through an A to Z, looking back at some highlights in the MBS calendar as well as our sector successes, and trends that defined the year.
A is for AI. For the second year running, artificial intelligence has been dominating the conversation, infiltrating everything from social media to healthcare. This year OpenAI (which operates ChatGPT) raised $6.6 billion in funding and is now valued at $157 billion while AI startup, Databricks completed one of the largest venture capital funding rounds in history. The tech is also growing in the healthcare space, particularly when it comes to clinician support.
B is for B Corp and its significant growth in the travel industry. The sector has made a pivotal shift in the last few years towards the adoption of more sustainable and responsible business practices, and this was solidified by the inclusion of B Corp Certification on not-for-profit coalition, Travalyst’s, first-ever list of sustainability certifications, standards and schemes that are compliant with its criteria.
C is for our wonderful clients, who we have loved working with throughout this busy year. We look forward to continuing to advise and unearth exceptional leaders and accelerate the most transformative consumer businesses in the year ahead.
D is for department stores which this year, have been adapting to remain relevant in today’s retail landscape. Looking back at the history of department stores, some, like Fortnum & Mason are literally as old as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and others have needed to evolve and develop over decades, if not centuries. The future feels precarious but very little is set in stone, and we hope they continue to adapt to changing landscapes.
E is for an unprecedented year of elections. Over the past year, there have been elections in at least 64 countries including in the UK, where a Labour government came into power for the first time in 14 years, and a Presidential election in the US that saw Donald Trump and the Republicans return to the White House following four years away. The shift generally seemed to be towards the right – with the UK an outlier in voting for a left-leaning government – and we’ll all watch with interest as to what the social, political and economic repercussions of these results will be over the years to come.
F is for favourite books of the first quarter of the century according to literary luminaries. The New York Times spoke to the likes of Stephen King, James Patterson and Claudia Rankine to compile a comprehensive list of the best books from the past 25 years. Elena Ferrante’s ‘My Brilliant Friend’ was voted in the top spot, while other novels to make the list were Colson Whitehead’s, ‘The Underground Railroad’, and ‘The Goldfinch’ by Donna Tartt.
G is for gamechangers in beauty. This year, in collaboration with CEW UK, we spoke to leaders in the beauty sector, bringing together their knowledge, insights, personal stories and vulnerabilities to inspire future leaders. The beauty industry is growing rapidly – the global market grew by 10% in 2023 and is expected to reach $590 billion by 2028 – and it was inspiring to learn what it takes to become a leader in the space. Many spoke about pushing themselves out of their comfort zones and immersing themselves in different cultures, as well as learning from their peers.
H is for Home Kitchen. The restaurant opened this autumn just a stone’s throw away from the MBS offices in Primrose Hill, and employs only homeless members of staff from chefs to front of house. Speaking to Michael Brown, Chair of Home Kitchen CIC, he explained to me that the concept was to remove the stigma and stereotypes that exist around homelessness and support those that need it. It’s an honourable venture, and since it’s opening back in September, I have seen the restaurant busy and bustling with dinner guests. I look forward to seeing what they do next!
I is for the 2024 WiHTL and DiR Inclusion Summit which this year was held at Indigo at The O2, its largest venue yet. Around 1,000 members of the HTL and retail sectors gathered to discuss the topic of equity, diversity and inclusion, and we heard from three panels and six presentations.
The keynote speaker at the Summit this year was author of ‘Measuring Inclusion: Higher profits and happier people, without guesswork or backlash’, Paolo Guadiano who explained that there is now qualitative data to prove that investing in EDI has tangible economical results.
J is for joining the digital queue – for Oasis who announced a reunion tour next year after 16 years away, and Glastonbury, which introduced a queuing system to buy tickets for the first time. There was some backlash towards both with Oasis tickets changing price due to dynamic pricing and Glastonbury hopefuls being assigned a random place in the queue regardless of how early they logged on. Despite these issues, Oasis tickets sold out within 10 hours of going on sale, and Glastonbury tickets sold out in just 37 minutes.
K is for South Korea, home to the largest department store in the world. Shinsegae Centum City in Seoul is 3.16 million square feet across 14 floors and has a golf course, roof garden and ice-skating rink. In fact, the department store is more like a mall, and is unique to the country. Will it be something that can be exported globally? Only time will tell.
L is for legislation changes. One of the first acts the new Labour Government passed through was a hangover from the Tory rule, and it was an amendment to the Equality Act 2010. Entitled the Worker Protection Act 2023, the new legislation requires employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ towards preventing employees from being sexually harassed, both internally and from third parties, such as customers.
This was one of 28 employment reforms which came into effect in October, including a maximum nine-month statutory probation period, the removal of the existing two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal and ending ‘exploitative’ zero-hours contracts.
M is for Pantone’s colour of the year, Mocha Mousse. Each year Pantone selects a shade that is a reflection of the zeitgeist, and soft warming brown was all over the catwalk this year. Neutral tones have been a front runner in fashion, and this looks set to continue into the year ahead – browns, beiges and creams aren’t going anywhere.
Three years on from the delayed Tokyo games, Paris hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It was an event that saw Simone Biles return to the gymnastics arena and dominate once again, Dame Sarah Storey win her 19th career Paralympic gold medal in the cycling, and a relationship that had social media swooning between Olympic American long jumper, Tara Davis-Woodhall, and Paralympic athlete, Hunter Woodhall. It was one to be remembered – particularly for its less than typical opening ceremony which included a host of boats carrying athletes down the Seine and a performance by Lady Gaga.
Q is for quick delivery services. Businesses like Zaap, Just Eat and Deliveroo have been partnering with fashion brands, cosmetic companies and supermarkets throughout the year to offer delivery in certain areas in 30 minutes or less, and things only seem to be speeding up.
R is for reasons to be cheerful according to our ‘Groundbreaking Clinician Leaders: And why they give us reasons to be cheerful about the future of healthcare’ whitepaper. We spoke to 20 clinicians who have carved out bold careers in a huge variety of leadership roles and are having powerful, positive impacts on both their organisations and healthcare more broadly. The paper explores how we can re-think clinical career pathways to offer possibilities to others.
S is for Swiftonomics and Taylor Swift’s massive worldwide tour coming to a close. The Eras tour arrived in the UK this year, and was thought to have boosted the economy by £1 billion, with 1.2 million fans attending the concerts in Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and London. Coined ‘Swiftonomics’, the singer also donated to food banks in the cities where she toured, with one in Liverpool saying that this would fund 12 months’ worth of donations.
T is for tourism and travel which is nearly back to pre-pandemic levels. Around 1.1 billion tourists travelled internationally in the first nine months of 2024, a 98% recovery. There has been strong demand in Europe as well as ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific.
U is for uplifting winners. Lily Gladstone became the first Native American women to take home a Golden Globe for Best Female Actress in a Drama while the San Marino men’s football team, who had never won a competitive match and was bottom of FIFA’s world rankings, won both legs against Liechtenstein in the Nations League.
V is for the return of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. After a six-year hiatus, the lingerie brand relaunched its once iconic catwalk show with 50 models from 25 different countries. There were also a number of cast members in their 40s and 50s and a handful of plus size models added to the line-up. The show didn’t receive the feedback it had likely hoped for, but it did signal that there is genuine change on the horizon as it heads towards more representation and away from the ‘idealistic’ and unrealistic beauty standards of the past.
W is for wet weather in the UK which had a big impact on high street footfall. September was the wettest month on record for Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire and generally, it was around 25% above average. Retail sales dropped by 2.3% in April when rain was also particularly bad, and many high street retailers saw this reflected in their results. Let’s hope for a drier 2025.
X is for X (formerly known as Twitter, as many news articles still caveat) – but does anyone really call it that? In fact, it feels like its name is just ‘X, formerly known as Twitter’.
A serious competitor to the social media company has emerged over the last few months in Bluesky, which saw 1 million new users join in November alone following the US election. The majority of users are from North America and the UK and the social media platform shot up from 9 million users in September to 15 million users in November.
Y is for yachts which is just one of the spaces that is getting luxury renovations. With near-endless budgets, designers have complete creative freedom, and resources to procure the finest products and materials while using the best artisanal methods. The industry is growing and we can now watch to see how this space retains its exclusivity while also expanding and professionalising.
Z is for Zac Posen who took on the newly created roles of Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy and Executive Vice President of Gap Inc. in February of this year. Coming from a designer background, his move was the first of two Creative Directors at luxury labels crossing over to the high street this year, with Clare Waight-Keller taking up the role of Creative Director at Uniqlo. Will we see more moves in 2025?
