60 Seconds with... Johnathan Dudley

Tell us about some personal / professional highlights over your 35 years:

• A stand-out moment has to be working with a family lifestyle company, to set a long-term strategy and attract outside investment. This was good business for Crowe but life changing for the controlling family.
• The Covid Funding Flowchart, conceived on the afternoon that lockdown support was announced and which became the core part of our advice to businesses during the pandemic, being linked to by a number of other organisations, copied by competitors and allegedly being referred to by the then Chancellor, now PM, Rishi Sunak.
• A significant highlight was the bringing together of two regional offices and relocating to Black Country House in Oldbury, creating something much bigger than the sum of its parts.
• Finally, I would say a great memory is when a bright idea came about to put our adverts on the back of buses. Off the back of this, we took a small marque to the Walsall Illuminations event. This was a huge success, with hundreds of people turning up with their children. This strengthened our connections with the families behind the clients and the connectors. The only issue being that we ran out of beer and wine!

35 years - what a huge milestone! Congratulations John!

Tell me about how the business has evolved and changed over your time here...

Technology! The advancements made in technology and the impact on our business over the years have been vast! My first portable computer was the size of a sewing machine. My MS Surface laptop is now light, wafer thin and much more powerful! Computers back in 1988 were a useful tool to have. They are now an essential.

What do you think the biggest change has been?

Again, technology! I recall doing a presentation in the Partner Manager conference in about 2016... when I held up a Commodore 64 - the personal computer of the 80’s. The "64" stood for 64k of RAM... say no more!

Also the growth of our business - new people, new skills - the ever evolving change on the people front as we continue to grow as a business. It is fantastic to witness, especially with the hindsight of having been here for so long. I am very proud of this growth and all of our people.

What has been the biggest challenge during your time with Crowe so far?

Without a doubt, navigating through the Covid-19 Pandemic. I was challenged and learnt more during this time than my entire professional life. It was a challenging time for all and we had to adapt and change, navigating through the unknown to best support our people and our business. Many invaluable lessons were learnt throughout this time, not forgetting to mention the commitment and resilience our people and clients displayed.

What are you most excited about moving forward?

Change! The KTP project typifies all that can be exciting about AI and the positive impact that and other technologies can have on our business, in turn supporting us to help clients achieve their ambitions…

For more information on our Midlands and South West offices and services click here. To find out more about a rewarding career at Crowe, take a look over our careers page.