Croydon Businessman named Ambitious Business Leader "One to Watch" in LDC Awards

I saw that enabling change in business needed to be approached from a creative angle in order to ignite curiosity and drive new ways of working.

Dan Rowson, Founder Director of So-Media Productions has been named as one of this year’s Ones To Watch as part of The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme for 2021.

The programme, which is supported by The Times and now in its fourth year, celebrates the inspiring leaders behind some of the UK’s most successful and fast-growing medium-sized firms.

Despite the challenges of the last 18 months, the Top 50 programme received a record number of nominations; more than 600 proving that ambition is alive and well.

The Ones to Watch are the leaders that are destined for great things and are the driving force behind tomorrow’s mid-sized firms. They are growing businesses that are making a big impact on their customers and target markets, and will be the nation’s principal job creators over the years to come.

So-Media started life as a creative agency but has evolved to become a consultancy, helping global organisations boost employee engagement, drive behavioural change and accelerate the adoption of new initiatives through creative communications. Their difference in the market is using their deep experience of facilitating large-scale transformation programmes and combing this with creative and innovative approaches and content.

“I saw that enabling change in business needed to be approached from a creative angle in order to ignite curiosity and drive new ways of working. A traditional consultancy of experts doing it the same way each time doesn’t cut it in this fast paced era of digital transformation. By using a creative team to deliver our projects, we unlock more possibilities for our clients, which very effectively embed change.”

So-Media’s core services focus on supporting businesses to drive behavioural change and the adoption of new initiatives, to unlock value and maximise return on investments that large scale programmes usually require. So-Media have delivered global programmes ranging from GDPR and SOx compliance to ERP deployments to digital transformations for leading FTSE 500 organisations. They are becoming one of the UKs fastest growing digital agencies.

“This recognition reiterates our belief that there is a need in industry for an agency that specialises in supporting organisations and their employees through complex transformations by bringing together creative and compelling communications and a logical change management methodology.”

LDC’s John Garner added: “The last 18 months have presented challenges that none of us could have foreseen, but despite everything, it’s fantastic to see that so many business leaders many have achieved some truly remarkable things. This year’s Ones to Watch group epitomises that fighting spirit and have truly impressed the judges with their stories of growth and ambition. Congratulations to all those featured and we look forward to seeing their continued success and impact, and contribution the broader UK economy.”

You can find out more information on this year’s Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme here: bit.ly/3Ar1mt3