Mo Spirit

Published on Dec 6th, 2011 by James

30 days!

30 days it took me to grow a small, patchy piece of fluff on my top lip! Having not even trimmed it for the whole of November, I feel like I did my bit for one of the world’s fastest growing charities, even if my moustache wasn’t “fully fledged”.

We spent all month comparing Mo’s and generating interest amongst friends, family and colleagues. So aside from the money we raised, I feel like we raised quite a bit of awareness also. Having spoken to friends, we all agreed that men must change the way they view their health, it wasn’t all about who could prune the best whiskers (well sort of)! Too often it is the case that men in particular will “wait until it goes away” or “ignore it altogether” and we’re hoping that not only the 5 of us but the 853,497 others that took part around the world have made a change to the mentality of thousands, if not millions of men all over the world. According to the American Cancer Society, one out of every six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. However, only one in thirty-five will die from the condition. Imagine how much higher that number could be if we continue to ignore signs and symptoms and not push forward fantastic schemes such as Movember.

We are so proud to announce that between 5 of us, we managed 4 standard Mo’s, a handlebar Mo and £935 towards the cause!!! Big pat on the back for all of the UK who came second overall with………….£16,089,157!!! Australia were a close third with £15,883,733 but this year’s winners were home of Northstar Research Partners, Canada, with a MASSIVE £24,291,778!!!

And here are the snaps to prove it!!!

Maintaining High Standards – Renewing our ISO 9001 Accreditation

Published on Nov 2nd, 2011 by James

I remember sitting my exams at school and asking myself why I was so nervous when all I had done all year was stay focused, work hard and be thorough with my work? A similar feeling crept up on me last Thursday when I arrived at Northstar’s Ebury Street offices to greet our ISO 9001 auditor from the British Assessment Bureau. The idea that our fate was in the auditor’s hands is a scary one even though the result was actually all down to our own hard work over the year since we were accredited.

Half a day later and we emerged proud and inspired. After commenting that our supplier evaluation database was “the best he had ever seen” (thanks to some fantastic programming by Katia), the auditor left us with some observations to consider for the future and accredited us again … for a further 12 months.

With ISO, we have not only increased the efficiency and quality standards of the business but we can also identify best practices for our industry simply through operational adherence. You soon see that tracking changes to proposals greatly aids in knowing who called, when and to say what.

It has been an all year round, all staff effort especially bearing in mind the schedule of internal audits we have organised! For that I have to thank the Quality Team (Liz, Jess & Katia – I can’t really thank myself can I?!) and all the Northstar staff who have put so much effort to keep the ball rolling and in ensuring the Northstar is the best it can be.

 

 

Northstar Summer Party 2011

Published on Oct 4th, 2011 by James

Whilst this year’s summer party followed the normal pattern of activity, dinner and celebration – “normal” and “pattern” don’t quite do it justice.
The activity presented a far from mundane experience and following the tradition of previous Northstar parties, the afters can best be described as a mixture of the usual and the unusual.

Leaving work at 1.00pm we gathered outside our famous building and headed to the “soon to be more famous than it currently is” Bromley by Bow station. Situated, as far East as I’ve ever been, this would be the start of our tour of the Olympic “Zone” as I like to call it.

The rationale was we had embarked on an all encompassing tour of the local area, regenerated and otherwise, visiting the mills, studios etc before seeing the sights we had REALLY come to see.

After losing a colleague on the train (don’t ask!) and finding them again, we wandered around for about an hour and a half, in surprisingly humid conditions, and saw it all. The Olympic stadium is, for want of a better word, epic. 80,000 black and white seats, intended to create “a wave of energy”. Being a still strictly hard hat area, we couldn’t get too close, but from our vantage point the views were spectacular.

After the guide pointed out the basketball and handball areas, the amazing velodrome and the ingenious “winged” Olympic pool, the question on everyone’s lips was “what’s that”? The “that” in question was in front of us – the gigantic, red, twisting, virtually snarling; Archelor Mittal Orbit – a gob smacking sight, even in part-construction. Funded by the world’s largest steel producer, it creates a stunning visual focal point – something architects and general public alike will marvel over I’m sure for quite some time.

Returning to Bromley by Bow, Brick Lane seemed the obvious place to move on to and let off some steam. Watching all those sporting venues had created a considerable appetite, so it was a sprint to the curry house. A fantastic meal at Preem and Prithi and a pot of Phall sauce later – yes it was quite hot – we decided to wash it down at 93 Feet East’s “Nintendisco” . That proved to be an experience in itself.

The evening took an interesting turn when we discover that the reason for the venue’s moniker was that was a fully fledged Mario Kart championship happening on the dance floor with a projector! I promise it’s true, I can recall it in detail – despite being reasonably well “refreshed”. Yes, the music was good but nothing like the game, a pretty tense affair, taking place on the other side of the room. Interesting is an understatement. In fact so much so that being a slight fan, I decided to approach the champion and ask for some hints on cornering techniques – as you do. Half an hour later, I almost understood the calculations, betting odds and in-depth programming of a game from 1992!

Brilliant fun, a fantastic time was had by all and a positive end to the British Summer. Christmas here we come!

Northstar Research And Brand Value Advisors Form Brand Evaluation Service

Published on Jul 28th, 2011 by Northstar UK

Northstar Research Partners has just launched a new product, the Risk Opportunity Index, designed to help private equity firms analyse the brand value of prospective portfolio companies early on in their due diligence phase. The Index measures a brand’s health by examining “the brand purchase funnel”, including brand awareness, familiarity, favorability and consideration, as well as perceptions of the brand on 11 key elements, and the brand’s ability to attract and retain customers” according to Jim Neuwirth, Northstar Research CEO.

As Miles Nadal Chairman and CEO of MDC Partners explained, “the concept is to complement the detailed financial analysis PE firms are known for with insights about target consumers and marketplace dynamics; in essence, providing the other half of the business analysis dashboard”. Created in partnership with investment consultant Brand Value Advisors, the service emerged out of work the two firms have done together over the years in assisting private equity firms with due diligence and market research. The Risk Opportunity Index leverages Northstar’s considerable experience in financial services and its proprietary methods for assessing brand health, identifying risk and opportunities, and measuring future potential value.

 

MRS 5-a-side 2011: The Northstar Report

Published on Jul 7th, 2011 by James

As promised, Northstar returned to the MRS 5-a-side football tournament hosted by HPI and Hanwell Football Club in Perival, London. We sported a new look team, substituting Ian and Matthew from last year’s tournament for Northstar new employees, Daniel Tralman and Daniel Tweddle, with Adnan “Riquelme” Alagas on holiday this time around!

The 14th annual MRS 5-a-side tournament was blessed with very humid weather and the odd ray of sun creeping through the insulating clouds, making it a great day out but tough to run around in! So before the bar and barbeque opened for business, there was the little matter of 31 male teams and 6 female teams playing for the cups! At this point, I would love to say “watch out Premier League” but knowing we weren’t the winners on the day spoils that a bit! Well done to ICM, who beat IFF by a goal to nil in the final in the men’s competition, with the IFF ladies doing better than their male counterparts to lift their trophy! The Research Now Ladies come a not so close second 8 points behind.

So although Northstar didn’t exactly destroy the opposition, we won two of our 5 games and only managed to pick up, well, several injuries actually. My groin strain feels ok at the moment and Daniel Tweddle feels better now after taking a blow to the back of the head, but it is Mr Chris Warren that we feel sorry for right now….