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Smyle named in Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200

Smyle named in Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200

Despite the extreme impact of the pandemic on the global events industry, one of its leading agencies – Smyle – has retained its position in the ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing international companies.

Thanks to a far-reaching program of product innovation that has brought digital experiences to the fore, leading experience agency Smyle has retained its position in the 2021 edition of the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200. The listing ranks Britain’s mid-market private companies with the fastest-growing international sales, measured over the most recent two-year period. Given the almost total lack of physical events resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, this is no mean feat.

“Our being named again in this ranking is a testament to our ability to adapt our customer offering during a turbulent time for the industry,” says Keith O’Loughlin, CEO at Smyle. “Being a physical experience agency that couldn’t – due to travel and health restrictions – deliver physical experiences has led to a transformation in how we go to market. Necessity has fostered product innovation in our digital experience offerings, and we are now able to deliver at scale impactful digital experiences to international clients.”

Cultural shift

The transformation within Smyle has not been limited to product innovation, but also seen important aspects such as diversity & inclusion, sustainability and improved measurement of the effectiveness of events given higher prominence. The agency has also been a vocal proponent of the benefits to the industry of working closer together and collaborating better as co-founder of the One Industry One Voice initiative, and the positive messaging of the #wecreateexperiences campaign.

“The UK’s events industry is among the worst hit sectors of the economy,” says Rick Stainton, Group Executive Director at Smyle. “It employs over 1.5 million event professionals and contributes £84 billion annually. It is a significant part of national GDP and should be central to the recovery efforts for communities and businesses.”

Published: February 2021