Meet a FarrPointer - Alex Innes

A Q&A with Alex Innes, Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant at FarrPoint

1. As a member of the FarrPoint board and our Mergers and Acquisitions Consultant, how would you explain your role at FarrPoint, and what does your work typically involve?

My role on the FarrPoint Board is to bring an external perspective and to provide a strategic oversight to the business objectives of FarrPoint. I ensure, along with the other board members, that the board functions effectively, fostering a culture of openness and debate. As I am a Certified Specialist in Risk Management and Governance, I also oversee the corporate governance of FarrPoint.

With my background as a corporate lawyer, I am also able to provide commercial assistance with any Mergers and Acquisitions projects to complement the technical expertise that FarrPoint can provide, which together creates a unique insight and offering to the clients of FarrPoint.

2. What part of the telecoms and connectivity industry do you find most interesting?

The fact that connectivity has an impact on almost everything that we do. The ability of FarrPoint to ensure that your connectivity is at its best is invaluable, even if you don’t know it yet!

Working with FarrPoint has reinforced to me the importance of connectivity across all industries and business areas. There is the negative impact of connectivity failing which needs to be planned for and built into strategies; and there are also the positive benefits of scoping and managing any new or replacement systems to create or improve connectivity.

FarrPoint can assist with all aspects of this, and the varied skill sets within FarrPoint that are required to properly deliver these services, help to make my role very interesting as I work with all the FarrPoint teams.

3. Over the past three years at FarrPoint, what has been the most rewarding or memorable aspect of your work?

To be an observer of, and minor participant in, such a fantastic business culture, where highly skilled individuals work together to deliver some very technical advice; and all manage to do so in a genuinely collaborative way which makes ‘work’ enjoyable.

Also, the variety of work that FarrPoint is involved in, from advising on Data Centres, creating mobile coverage mapping, and devising digital strategies, including the relevant economic analysis, all make my role fascinating as I can apply my skills to new sectors and challenges.

4. What is the best piece of advice you've received?

At the start of my legal training the importance of critical thinking was drilled into me, and I now apply it subconsciously to everything that I do.

It is so important to consider what is being presented and constructively consider it to see if it makes sense, and not just fall into the trap of group think or merely participate in an echo chamber. We will all have come across examples where an adverse situation has escalated as it has left unchallenged for too long – just look at any News website! Challenging a proposition should not been seen as a negative, as the proposition will inevitably be more robust after it has been challenged, although of course there needs to be some perspective taken of the situation being considered.

The complementary advice that always sits well with critical thinking is to listen more than you speak.

5. In your work as a business consultant in risk management, can you share a time when you had to advise on a tricky risk and what you learned from it?

I advise some of the producers in the Edinburgh Fringe and we once received a threatening letter from a New York law firm hours before the performance, demanding that we cancel the show as it breached their client’s intellectual property (their client was a prominent creator of a book and film franchise). There was a lot of time pressure as the production had sold out and the audience would be arriving in a matter of hours. It was important to properly assess the situation and analyse whether there was any merit in the claim. We concluded that as the show was a parody, and not any attempt to benefit from the intellectual property of the New York client, we were able to negotiate a compromise which enabled the show to go on, with no liability for the Fringe producer.

The lesson here being to properly assess the risk and not to be distracted by the surrounding noise and then negotiate a sensible compromise to achieve the objectives of the client. We could have just taken a stance and argued we were right and the New York client had no grounds under Scots law for their demands, but that was likely to have led to further costly legal action and a real risk of the show being delayed and/or cancelled and/or some adverse publicity; but we created a solution that worked for both parties. You also need to consider beyond the immediate issue - the intention was to tour the show after the Fringe and so a sensible resolution needed to be reached to avoid similar issues arising in the future.

6. What is an interesting fact that not many people at Farrpoint would know about you?

I am a keen ultrarunner and have completed a few events that involve running 50+ miles over hills, with the longest event so far being 103 miles.

One of the benefits of running long distances is that you can eat what you want, and so to some extent, I run to eat! Also, there is the opportunity to enjoy some amazing scenery at various times of the day (and night!), and my favourite was around Mont Blanc in the French, Italian and Swiss Alps.

'A tired looking Alex finishing an event in the French Alps.'

7. What's something you've been enjoying lately outside of work?

To be consistent with the eating theme, I enjoy cooking and particularly baking. It is a welcome distraction from reviewing documents and advising on strategy, and there is the added benefit of being able to try out new combinations and sampling them to see if they have worked!

8. What personal quality do you think helps you most in your role at FarrPoint?

My ability to stay calm and think positively and constructively about issues. I am here to solve situations, not just to say, ‘no you can’t do it’. This sits well with my certification in Risk Management, and I view it as a tool that leads to efficiencies and improvements to the delivery of services, as opposed to being a negative blocker to progress.

9. You've been self-employed for nearly eight years - what do you enjoy most about it, and what has been the biggest challenge?

Being self-employed is great as you are your own boss – and I am a very reasonable and understanding boss!

The flexibility is the most enjoyable aspect, and I can organise my consultancy around the needs of my clients, and my own lifestyle. This can also be a challenge, but making full use of connectivity enables me to be available and to contribute as and when required.

10. Do you have a favourite holiday location?

I was fortunate enough to have visited Peru and The Galapagos last year, but my favourite holiday destination remains Deeside in Aberdeenshire. The weather is always bracing, and whilst there can sometimes be a language barrier (!), the freedom to explore Scotland’s beautiful landscape puts it in first place.

'Deeside, the perfect holiday destination - summer and winter'.

11. Who would you like to nominate for the next MAF interview?

Charlotte Mitchell