If I Knew Then: Nick Torday

Nick Torday is managing director at Sift Digital, an agency that helps clients to design products, services and propositions that simply meet audience needs, whether branding, technology, or organisational change.

They’ve worked with the Royal College of Physicians to streamline its infrastructure and digital governance, the Caravan Club to boost membership, Nokia to improve the MixRadio platform and Cancer Research UK on its digital strategy for cancerchat.

How did you start at Sift Digital? 

I joined Sift Digital from another very well regarded Bristol agency called Enable, which sadly did not survive the 2008/9 crash – I’m pleased to say that many of the best people from Enable still work alongside me now at Sift Digital, seven years on. Prior to that I’d lived and worked in London, New York and the Middle East in a variety of different digital communication roles.

If you knew then what you know now, what mistakes might you have avoided? 

I feel like I’m always learning and making mistakes, and then learning some more! When I took over as MD of Sift Digital, I had no prior experience in leadership, but had the counsel of great people around me, which I still have. In the early days, we had learnt the lesson of coming from an excellent agency that went into administration, which was a very difficult but instructive experience for all of us.

What advice would you have given yourself when starting out? 

The single biggest focus for any business is creating a powerful and positive culture in which people can thrive and through which you can build incredible relationships with the people you do business with. That would be my advice – it’s what we did, and it’s what I’d do again. Everything else takes care of itself once you get that right.

If you knew then what you know now, would you still be sitting there? 

Yes definitely. Right from the start I could see the potential for the business, it just needed significant reinvigoration. The mindset today is very much the same as it was then, which was looking to unlock the very best in the people in the business and creating the right kind of long-term relationships with our clients.

What do you know now that you didn’t know then? 

Loads. I had very limited experience of financial management and can now just about work my way round a balance sheet and our P&L. But also you just pick up the relevant experience through living it, and we have been through some challenging and rewarding times in the past 6 years which has defined our decision making today in a really positive way.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received so far? 

Don’t take things personally. Sometimes things go bad and it can be very easy to beat yourself up about it, but ultimately that’s a really unhelpful mindset to be in.

What is your business highlight?

If I had to pick one out, it would be when I had lunch with a long-standing client, who has become a friend, who said that “Money can’t buy the kind of relationship we have with you guys, that’s what sets you apart from everyone else”. To be valued and respected in that way by the people we work with is as good as it gets for me.

What is your business low point? 

It was probably the collapse of the previous agency (Enable). I had previously been a client of the business and then moved from London to Bristol to join them. The two directors were (still are) great guys and friends of mine and it was very much run like an extended family. The day they had to close the doors was incredibly sad and painful for all involved.

What keeps you awake? 

One of my three kids coming into our room at night because they’ve had a bad dream about Darth Vader again.

What’s changed from when you started out? 

Our business has changed beyond recognition in the last 5 years, which is a good thing, and is reflective of the changing market context around us. The world we work in is full of well-worn phrases like “disruption” and “innovation”, but actually if you ignore the semantics, it is an incredibly fast-moving and changeable landscape which forces you to react quickly and be adaptable. 

What’s still on your to-do list? 

I don’t actually keep to-do lists, but there is still so much to achieve with this business, or maybe writing a novel, or playing percussion with The Rolling Stones, or travelling around the world with my family – take your pick! I would like to think that whatever it is, it remains intellectually challenging and diverse and involves spending time with great people, that’s what keeps me going.

What’s next for Sift Digital? 

We have had a fantastic few years of growth and this year in particular has been massive for us, as we are now an independent business (having recently demerged from parent company Sift Group) and we’ve moved to our own beautiful & spacious new premises. We’ve just created our own product business, appointed an amazing non-executive director to the board and this September ran our Together We’re Better conference bringing together some of the brightest minds in tech, commerce and charity to collectively paint a picture of the future. All in all, very exciting times for us.

Read more: If I Knew Then