A free virtual panel discussion exploring how businesses in the City of London are creatively reframing their offering in response to COVID-19. Monday 18 May, 2-3pm.
The world we are working in has changed. Businesses and independents across all sectors are looking to find new ways to remain relevant and resilient: to reinvent, change direction, or creatively adapt what they do.
What is the new ‘business as usual?’
Watch the above recording of the virtual TALK Culture Mile investigating how some of our local businesses right here in the City are imaginatively reframing or pivoting in response to COVID-19.
Panellists from a mix of sectors (including Tony Matharu, Chairman of Blue Orchid Hotels and Vice President of the London COVID-19 response initiative Here to Help London) share their experience of adapting what they do, trend-spotting, and allocating resources in uncertain times.
The need for creativity and innovation has never been greater. How are these leaders making things happen in new ways? How might you?
Panellists:
Tony Matharu
Tony has founded many successful start-up organisations and businesses and combines his passion for hospitality with philanthropy, arts, culture and community engagement. A former winner of Best Small Hotel Company and former Hotelier of the Year, Tony founded London’s latest independent hotel chain: Blue Orchid Hotels.
In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, Tony initiated the Here to Help London response, providing support to the London community and its key workers.
Tony has received awards for his contribution to London’s success and for his innovation and technology. A recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Letters and a Fellow of ESCP Europe Business School, Tony is a regular adviser and commentator on entrepreneurship, hospitality and philanthropy. He is a Board Member of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of the Asian Business Association, Director of the London Business Improvement District, Chairman of Integrity International Trust, Trustee and London City Chairman of Lord’s Taverners and Vice President of Oracle Cancer Trust.
Tony is a keen supporter of the arts, culture and sports sectors, assisting many London and global initiatives, and is patron of the London Film Festival.
Catherine Shearn
Catherine is a curator and art advisor with a strong background in the field of contemporary and modern art. She established and ran Vertigo Gallery in Shoreditch from 2000 to 2010, managing a programme of exhibitions and art fairs. She has managed Linklaters' art collection for the last 10 years, as well as commissioning and sourcing artworks for a range of blue chip companies. Her network and contacts within the art world are well established, working with galleries, art institutions, art schools, private collections and non-profit spaces.
Ami Shpiro
Ami Shpiro is a serial entrepreneur of diverse experience, with a track record of achieving rapid business growth through a combination of financial, commercial and technical skills. Ami began his career as a computer scientist consulting for the Israeli military, an activity which spawned the creation of a publicly traded software company (NASDAQ: CKSW). Ami has since co-founded and mentored numerous commercial enterprises in a variety of markets, ranging from software systems to property development.
In 2009, Ami conceptualised a model for a community of collaborating start-ups, now known as Innovation Warehouse. This model has taken shape in the wake of, and in collaboration with, the City of London’s economic development and regeneration strategy. More recently, Ami founded Innovation Warehouse Capital, an angel collective comprised of a group of London-based entrepreneurs and investors that focuses and operates uniquely from within Innovation Warehouse premises at Smithfield, London.
