Remi Ashton of Ocere Ltd scooped the Best Employee award at the Gloucestershire Business Awards in 2019. Ocere have just had their best year ever so we find out what has led to this success and why Remi stood out to the judges originally.
The 18 months since winning the award has been a tough but exciting time for Remi. With Covid resulting in the team working from home, he had to adapt the way he managed them, implementing new ways of keeping in regular contact and keeping the team motivated. It’s been a huge success so the team intend to work from home for the foreseeable future.
The pandemic has also meant using different tools to stay in contact with clients. As with other businesses, video calls to keep in touch with clients will continue. Having more hands-on communication with the clients has helped them to grow their business from overseas. The flexibility of communications combined with strong performance has led to more referrals.
Ocere have just had their best year financially and also won the Queens Award for Enterprise for International Trade.
Remi explains, “Our success has been due to a few factors; including clear and consistent leadership from the outset, the remote working environment and a change in mind-set. Not having the physical office took away boundaries, allowed us to think differently about how we worked and we had the flexibility to arrange meetings with overseas clients at whatever time suited (within reason). A change in mind-set across the team meant we set ourselves bigger targets to achieve and once we achieved a couple of months, momentum took over and the team has just not taken their foot off the gas.”
A reminder of why Remi won Employee of the Year in 2019
Key business points:
- Digital Marketing Director for Ocere Ltd
- Digital marketing company founded by Tom Parling in 2009
- Team of 11 based in Cheltenham’s Formal House
- Clients include the likes of Betway and 888.com, through to small local companies
The winning entry:
When Remi first began his career at Ocere Ltd his monthly sales target was £750 rising to £15,000. Three years later, Remi regularly adds more than £60,000 to the sales board each month. Overall sales in 2018/19 saw a growth of 70% on the prior year.
Remi sets high goals for himself, always willing to go over and above. He genuinely cares about his team and his clients. He is a great advocate of personal development, investing a great deal of time in furthering his knowledge in a forever changing environment.
Remi has contributed a great deal to the development of the business in many ways. His work ethic makes him a fantastic role model for other team members. His positive attitude also lifts and inspires and along with his fun-side means the office is a great place to be.
He has enabled and encouraged other team members to improve and become more confident and knowledgeable in their own fields, which in turn has a knock on effect on the progress and success of the business as a whole.
Remi is also active in the community, having become a World Champion in Martial Arts, he started his own academy in Brockworth eight years ago. He went into local schools teaching the children self-defence and martial arts practises, giving them confidence and encouraging discipline. One of his former pupils followed in his footsteps in becoming a World Champion and has recently taken over the club when Remi decided to take a step back last year.
Nominations for the Gloucestershire Live Business Awards are open and close on Tuesday, June 29. For more details and to enter, see Gloucestershire Live Business Awards website.
