That's A Wrap! A Year In Review

We opened our doors in early 2020. It goes without saying the world was at a standstill during that time. However, Waterstons Australia was chugging away in the background. Growing our team, cultivating our culture, our partnerships, and relationships with our valued clients. 2022 has been the year we've hit the ground running. We're thrilled to share with you our achievements and our plans for 2023.  

Our team has grown substantially into a modest army of dedicated and enthusiastic people, across 4 states. Managing Director, Charlie Hales moved her family and her life over from the UK in 2020 to create and run Waterstons Australia. She brought with her the determination to cultivate and curate a team which embodies the values, ethics and culture the UK has worked so valiantly to build. 2022 in particular, is the year she's done just that.

We've entered a new phase with the introduction of Marketing & Business Development, binding the team with a new direction. In November, we rallied together and raised over $2,000 for the Movember charity. Charlie flew all team members from around the country for our Christmas party. We've joined in on team bonding activities, celebrated achievements together and so much more.

Most importantly, the team are being lead by a passionate and focused leader (Charlie Hales) who works diligently to ensure her team are motivated in delivering the best work to our clients, partners and each other. 

This is the first year we've been able to do business properly, with minor COVID-based barriers. We've built relationships and attended lots of events (with many glasses of Savvy-B). One of our biggest wins is within our Cyber Security space. Our dedicated Cyber Security Experts managed to avoid many severe breaches and protected clients. These short sentences don't do justice to the amount of work our team has delivered, the magnitude of problems we've solved, of organisations we've changed for the better. 

"It's been a thrill and a pleasure to work with our clients this year. Through referrals, word of mouth and our ability to finally get our foot in the door, we've been able to help so many new clients solve their business problems." - Charlie Hales

Being far away from our parent company in the UK brings it's challenges. However, Waterstons & Waterstons Australia are determined to not let the 30 hour plane journey keep us from collaborating, sharing knowledge and solving problems. Members of the UK team visited the Australian team, sharing their visions and offering their expertise. Michael Stirrup (CEO), Danny Wrend (Senior Consultant), James Alderson (Director, Client Experience), Ian Craggs (Executive Consultant) and Liam Coward (Senior Consultant) all braved the journey to have a yarn, a beer and talk all things Waterstons. 

You may be shocked to read that we're also celebrities now. We've had some incredible media coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald, ABC and Forbes Australia to name a few. Ryan O'Kell (Cyber Lead APAC) and Charlie Hales have become media's go-to people when it comes to talking all things cyber. The team are immensely proud of these achievements, being featured in the media is validating to the entire teams expertise and commitment in the pursuit of exceptional problem solving. 

We even held our first Hack and Sip event. If you missed, don't worry.. There will be more. An event where our Cyber Security team demonstrated exploits and vulnerabilities to those brave enough to share which organisation they're from. A wildly successful and eye-opening event for those who came, Hack and Sip aimed to educate and be thought-provoking.

"Hack and Sip isn't meant to scare people. We want Cyber Security to be accessible. Forget the scary hacker in the corner, that rhetoric has died. We have to encourage people to look at their systems. Their people, their processes and get excited about the fact that the sooner they start their Cyber Security journey, the less they'll be worried about it" - Charlie Hales

The future of Waterstons Australia is bright and we have big plans for 2023 and beyond. We've forged fantastic opportunities for 2023; Charlie will be a keynote speaker at the Women in Tech event being held in March. There's a catalogue of events we're sponsoring, hosting and partnering on. We've got more members of staff flying back and forth to the UK to collaborate and learn.

Most excitedly, we've got new products and services on the horizon. So, watch this space. 

A final thought from our MD, Charlie Hales. "Our team are everything. We deliver such great work because everyone is thrilled to be at work, they're thrilled to problem solve, to collaborate, to overcome. Their work ethic and enthusiasm permeates throughout the office, their clients and the team in the UK. I'm excited for 2023 and our future in Australia, there's plenty of work to be done and these last 3 years are just the beginning."

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