Michael Hall leads a group of companies specialising in diversity and inclusivity services that reach nearly 50,000 people each year. The Tyneside firm has grown to include three other locations in London, Halifax and Tavistock.
What was your first job (and how much did it pay)? It was doing a newspaper round, seven days a week, when I was 14 years old and I was paid £1 a day. The round was three miles on my bike and on a Sunday the papers were extra heavy. I ended up quitting because I got bitten by a dog and I still have the scar on my leg to show.
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? The best support I’ve had is from the brilliant and talented people around me – more talented in their disciplines than I. The best advice is "don’t get too excited when things go well, and don’t get too down about it when things don’t go to plan", something our chairman Neil Stephenson told me. When you’re scaling your business, you have both great times and some really challenging times. So, when things are going great, inevitably, there will be a challenge just around the corner – and vice versa.
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What are the main changes you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you’re facing? We have scaled the organisation from one office, one site and 40 staff, to four offices in four very different parts of the country with 100 staff. When you run one office, you see the people you work with and speak to them every day. But when you run an organisation that’s much bigger, across different locations, with remote workers, you have less day-to-day interaction with all of the staff, so it’s really important that you communicate as openly and freely as possible.
In terms of sector – the sector is evolving at pace – what was once seen as a compliance matter (DEI) – now, forward thinking companies see it as fundamental to attracting staff, growing their business, and doing it in a responsible and ethical way. Business has shifted from being about driving shareholder value to creating value for your customers, for your shareholders and for your people (staff). People can go and choose to work anywhere with remote working – if you want to attract the best multigenerational talent then you need to ensure you are appealing to all of those people.
How has the pandemic changed the way you work? We effectively scaled through the pandemic, including a management buyout and acquired and integrated four businesses. If anything, it taught us that you don’t need to be in the office all the time to get the work done. We always had an element of flexible working, but it is now embedded in the way we do business.
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We were able to move to a hybrid working model straight away and it works really well for us as it enabled us to create an even more inclusive working culture. The boundaries have been blurred between work and home. People are able to organise work around their childcare responsibilities and we can attract diverse talent from across the country and from different countries, and it means that people are able to work in a way that suits them and is most productive for them. Some like coming into the office more than others – and as long as they are motivated, engaged, happy and productive that is what matters.
Who is your role model in business? I have a number of role models, and I’m lucky to have been coached and to have worked alongside some fantastic people over the years. I am quite inspired by what some young entrepreneurs are doing currently, such as Diary of a CEO’s Steven Bartlett and Gym Shark’s Ben Francis. I am also inspired by social entrepreneurs who are building business and profiles around social impact and talking openly about their own lived experience, how things have affected them and using that as a platform to help others. This is something I am very passionate about doing where I can and really want to do more of.
What would your dream job be? Outside of this role I probably wouldn’t take another job anywhere else. This is an opportunity to make some really big changes in society.
What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector? Focus on what you are really good at. Get into an environment that will allow you to focus on your strengths and then surround yourself with people who have strengths that are different to you and, most importantly, who have life experience and views that are different to you.
I came from a finance background, but being part of a team with experts in marketing, experts in sales, experts in operations and more, means we are all learning from each other all the time. We all bring something to the table. Nobody builds a great business or a successful career all on their own.
What makes the North East a good place to do business? The business community in the North East is really well-connected and supportive. It definitely punches above its weight because we have some incredible, scaling businesses that are founded right here. The region is also starting to switch on to the need to attract diverse talent into the region. I think we will see more of this in the next few years.
How important is it for business to play a role in society? Fundamental. We built the eQuality Solutions Group on the fact that we make a contribution to society and talk about ‘a good business that does good things’. We now want to become a ‘great business, doing great things’. We currently impact the lives of 45,500 people and we want to impact the lives of 200,000 people in five years’ time – that’s enough to fill Glastonbury.
Outside of work, what are you really good at? I like cooking, as it’s a great way of winding down. I like trying new things from all over the world and experimenting. I can make an awesome paella.