Meet the female force behind MagneticNorth

There are very few people in the media business you sit front of and think: “I’d work for you”.

But Lou Cordwell, the entrepreneur founder and chief executive of digital design studio MagneticNorth is one of them.

The 44-year-old exudes an unassuming confidence about the inspirational ethos of her company and its organic growth over its 17-year lifespan into a £2.1m revenue enterprise with a staff of 30.

The unusually low staff turnover among her creatives bears testimony to her core beliefs.

“We’ve grown organically, consciously so,” she said. “What we’ve ended up with is a happy team, a great brand and a really beautiful portfolio of work, some fantastic client relationships and a job we all love.”

Clients include the BBC, the BFI (British Film Industry) and the Co-op.

MagneticNorth, Cordwell says, turns down about 50% who approach the Manchester-based company with work.

She went on: “That’s unusual, but it’s because we’ve been very focused on culture and making sure that people are happy doing what they do and proud of their work.

“We’ve not been in a situation where we’ve been saying we must double (turnover or profit) again this year.”

Although there has never been an undue obsession with rapid growth, the mother-of-two said there has been 20% increase in turnover in each of the last two years.

Cordwell’s words were tinged with realism when she said: “Nobody’s an artist – we have to pay the wages to make sure everyone can feed the kids and put a roof over their heads.

“But it’s been very purpose driven in the sense that it’s been about quality of life and saying ‘actually we want to get out of bed, love what we do and be proud of what we make’.

“The industry, generally, is quite talent starved, so people tend to be able to pick where they want to go and, so, in that sense more than ever we have to be the kind of place people want to work.

“Otherwise, everyone in here could go out there and put £10,000 on their salary by going somewhere else. So, you’ve got to be offering more than just ‘we’ll pay you this’.

“In my experience, most really smart, talent people care more about what they’re delivering and working on than what they’re earning.

“That in itself creates quite a distinctive culture because everyone really cares about the work. And I think our clients feel that. Everyone feels quite involved and it’s quite non-herarchical, so we’ve worked quite hard to make sure we have clear direction and leadership, but pretty much everyone here makes a massive difference on a daily basis.

“We’ve been really lucky to get some amazing people who’ve been here 10, 11 and 12 years, which is really unusual. In digital, that just doesn’t happen.”

Recent changes in the day-to-day management of MagnetNorth have freed Cordwell up to become director for the North of AllBright, a new funding platform for female entrepreneurs on a mission to make the UK the best place in the world to be female founder of a business.

In addition, she is also a board member on Greater Manchester’s Local Enterprise Partnership where she represents the voice of the creative, digital, tech and SME communities.

Cordwell says she passionately cares about what these organisations – particularly AllBright – does.

“We’re trying to get more women starting businesses and trying to drive a bit of change,” she said. “Statistics for this are woeful, even worse in the North.

“We’ve got real problems up here in any sector, not just creative and digital, getting women over that confidence barrier, to get to the point where they say ‘I’ve got this idea, I’m going to start a business, how to grow one, if you need capital, how and where to get it’.”

That said, Cordwell speaking the truth about the reality is really important.

“I am 44, with two children aged nine and five,” she said. “I think it’s important for people like me to honest about what a massive challenge running a business and having children is.

“It’s definitely harder. What we find is there’s usually a career break, normally around the time of having children and there’s a big slump in confidence.

“Then they decide they’d like to get back to work but they don’t want to go back to a corporate environment. They’d quite like to start their own business, but they don’t know what to do first.

“But actually, if you run your own business, it’s the most flexible job you can do, because you can dictate what you do and when you do it. For example, everyone here will know if I’ve got to go and pick the kids up. You can set your own culture and build your own support network.

“I would really encourage women who’ve got children to do it, because it’s a great career choice.”

To this end, AllBright is hosting FoundHER, a multi venue, two-city programme of events aimed at founders, investors and anyone interested in entrepreneurship.

It is taking place in London from June 26 to 29 and Manchester from July 3 to 4. The festival will host a range of events in “inspiring locations” across the two cities.

The line-up of speakers includes Cath Kidston, Liz Earle, Martha Lane-Fox and Samantha Cameron.