Riding the wave – Robin Cordy, Seriös Group

www.seriosgroup.com

LinkedIn: Seriös Group

These days, the beard’s just a little too tidy and the hair too carefully clipped, but look beneath the surface by digging into his past and it’s easy to imagine a 20-something Robin Cordy as an achingly cool hybrid of Point Break-era Keanu Reeves and the godfather of grunge Kurt Cobain.

During his early days on Tyneside, the politics student with a passion for technology always seemed to be riding a wave or writing a riff.

A creative soul with a sense of adventure, Nirvana fan Robin was the embodiment of frontman Cobain’s ‘teen spirit’ as he embraced the very best of North East living.

Whether launching himself into the North Sea at Tynemouth’s Longsands or launching into an alternative rock anthem at Newcastle’s Cluny, the fun-loving adrenaline junkie had found his home from home.

“One of my passions in life is surfing,” says Robin, before revealing, rather ruefully, that trips to the coast are becoming less frequent given his family commitments (including caring for a new puppy) and ambitions to grow Seriös Group.

He says: “I’d done a bit in Australia and became a member of the surf club at university.

I ended up becoming president in my third year.

I love to surf, but it’s quite an inconvenient hobby.

We do get really good waves in this part of the world, but they’re not consistent.

In the winter, you’ve got limited daylight hours, so you’ve got to get down to the coast as soon as you know the conditions are good — and that could be on a Saturday lunchtime, five in the morning on a Monday or late on a Thursday afternoon.

It’s pretty frustrating!”

In search of the right wave at the right time, Robin’s booked a long overdue trip to Morocco in February.

He says: “There’ll definitely be waves and it’ll definitely be warm.

And there’s no better way to switch off.”

Indeed, when Robin needed a brief career break he turned to his trusty surfboard and toured the hidden islands of the Maldives.

He says: “It sounds luxurious, but it really wasn’t.

We lived on a boat and it was pretty basic.

But the surfing was incredible.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Robin returned from that trip refreshed and reinvigorated, but by no means ready for another permanent role.

He says: “I was waiting for a full-time opportunity that really excited me but, at the same time, I started picking up consultancy projects here and there.

I had several interesting conversations with people who said ‘oh, we need a bit of help with this, or we could really use your experience on that’.

Quite quickly, I had enough work to set myself up as a consultant, helping tech-enabled businesses to grow faster.

That’s when I met Lee (Rorison, founder and chief executive of Seriös Group) for the first time, and we hit it off straight away.”

Robin describes his fledgling working relationship with Seriös Group as ‘a mutual try before you buy’ arrangement.

It suited both parties and the benefits were clear.

He says: “I got to know the business and understood it was something I wanted to be a part of.

The people at Seriös Group got to know me, and there came a point where I had a couple of contracts finishing at the same time as Lee was looking to bolster the management team.

I took the decision to jump in with both feet.”

As chief commercial officer, Robin oversees business development, sales, marketing, client management and a raft of other strategic functions.

He joined Seriös Group as the firm moved into an exciting scale-up phase, and feels the sky’s the limit for the Newcastle-based data solutions leader.

He says: “Lee’s got the enthusiasm and the clarity of vision, and he knows how to execute as well.

That’s reflected in every aspect of the business.

I like that we’re building a management team for scale.

The majority of the senior people we have brought in come from bigger businesses and bring a wealth of experience.

We’re at 65 people now, but we’ve got the management team in place that can get us to 200 or 250 quite quickly.”

Seriös Group’s roster is seriously impressive: Bank of Ireland, Tombola, True Potential, JLL and Sunderland AFC offer a snapshot of the calibre of clients that work alongside the Hoults Yard-helmed business to unlock game-changing data.

“It’s become clear there are so many companies out there who need what we do,” says Robin, who rose through the ranks at digital agency TH_NK and digital construction platform firm NBS prior to meeting Lee and the Seriös Group team.

He adds: “The first time I saw our client book, I was blown away.

But we’re only just getting started.

We’re investing heavily in our brand and we’re growing our sales and marketing team to complement that.

Our story is a really strong one; we’re very different in the way that we do things.

We provide data solutions; we help clients organise and manage data so they can use it as a strategic asset, be that through advanced analytics or to power artificial intelligence.

Most organisations have lots of data, but often can’t really utilise it.

Data is the fuel for artificial intelligence — without clean data, you can’t really take advantage of artificial intelligence.

We’ve found our niche in a fast-growing sector and, after establishing a UK-wide imprint, we’re starting to work with international clients.

We’re looking to get to 250 people and £25 million in turnover in the next three to five years.”

The scope of Seriös Group’s ambition is clear, but Robin is keen to point out the North East will always provide the ‘springboard for growth’.

And that unwavering commitment to a region and a business community that continues to punch above its weight is personal as much as it is professional.

“From the day I moved into my student accommodation, I’ve always felt like this was the perfect place to live,” admits a son of the East Midlands, who loves nothing more than escaping to Amble, enjoying a beach walk with the family and finishing off with a couple of pints and a plate of fresh seafood.

He adds: “You’ve got the city life and the coast not far away.

It’s such a friendly environment.

It’s easy to get around and see people.

There’s a lot packed into a relatively small space.

There were quite a few mates from school who started university at the same time as me in Newcastle, so it quickly felt like my home.

When I ended up coming back again a few years later, it was easy to settle back in.

The quality of life has always been so good up here.”

Whether throwing himself into a six-year stint as a board member and non-executive director at BALTIC, or experiencing ‘the most Geordie day ever’ at one of Sam Fender’s sold-out St James’ Park concerts, Robin is all in with the region he proudly calls home.

He says: “I played in a few different bands with mates during and after university.

I played at all the best venues in town.

I ticked off The Cluny, Head of Steam and upstairs at NX (formerly the Academy).

We didn’t really do covers — it was all our own stuff.

You’d probably describe it as grungy rock.

We may not have been the best musically, but we always put on a good show!

I think I was 12 when I started to play the guitar.

I’d listen to Nirvana in my bedroom, then rewind the tape for hours until I nailed all the different riffs and licks.

I don’t get to enough gigs these days but, like everyone else in Newcastle, I did catch Sam Fender at St James’ Park.

I say this as a guitarist and a musician: he’s a phenomenal guitarist and a brilliant songwriter who’s got mass appeal.

The stadium shows were epic.”

Robin may have missed out on a Fender-like rise to the rock and roll summit but, 20 years after securing his first role as a media analyst, the career communicator has positioned himself as the perfect conduit between tech-minded colleagues and those they’re seeking to reach.

He says: “I was meant to study information systems at university.

I thought I wanted to be a techie, but quite soon I realised I wasn’t cut out for it.

My politics degree taught me to articulate, reason and write well.

I still wanted to work in tech, but I’m just not a techie, if that makes sense!?

I knew I had a lot of skills across ‘digital’ — as it was called in those days — and I knew the sector was going to keep on exploding.

I didn’t necessarily know where I would fit in, but I knew I would be part of it.

Today, you’ve got roles like content creator and social media co-ordinator that didn’t exist back then, but you could see those roles were going to emerge — even though you couldn’t say exactly how.”

Little wonder the one-time surf club president signs off by admitting: “I just wanted to ride the wave and see where it would take me.”