byDiffusion

I drove back from a meeting this morning, and while listening to my music 🎵 and singing along (badly but who cares, only me can hear!), I noticed that somehow the grass seemed greener 🦗 , the sky seemed clearer 🏙️ and the sun was shining more brightly 🌞. Why? Because there are good people in this world 🫶 . Good people, working for good companies, using their energy, experience and drive, to make a difference and make good things happen😍 . I attended a 'We All Love Leeds' event, hosted by Leeds United ⚽ (congrats on the promotion!!) and the THE LEEDS UNITED FOUNDATION, the official charity of the club. It was attended by a whole host of leaders and representatives of companies and charities including Arup, Burendo, ITV, Santander UK, byDiffusion, Leeds Building Society, KPMG UK, LS14 TRUST, Boost Talent ltd, @val.org and Leeds City Council (sorry if have missed any off the list). Jodie Price CMgr and I were proud to go along and represent Hippo in this impressive room. We were there to learn about the Leeds United “We all love Leeds” initiative and programme ❤️, and to share what our companies all do currently for our local communities, and to have an open conversation about how we can collaborate and 'go far together' in the future 🤝 . What struck me was the wealth of passion and the enormity of authentic goodness of people in the room. So much amazing work taking place, because it's simply the right thing to do 💕 . So I left inspired, motivated and incredibly excited about the future possibilities 😃 . It reminded me about a post I shared earlier in the month about so called 'Awful April', and that I said it instead would be 'Amazing April' and indeed it most definitely is 👏!! Oh and I got to meet footballing legend Tony Dorigo (such a nice guy) - icing on the cake 🥳 #Leeds #Community #SocialValue #ESG #GivingBack #MakingADifference

Our collaborations and partnerships are really important to us and this one is pretty special 👇

🙋♀️ We’re looking for passionate leaders and change-makers to join us in transforming mental health services for children and young people. 🌟 Two Assistant Directors of Children and Young People Services for Calderdale and Leeds. These are senior leadership roles with strategic and operational responsibility for a portfolio of clinical and non-clinical services. 🌟 Open Minds Project Coordinator in Calderdale. This is a key role in driving collaboration and innovation to enhance mental health support for children, young people, and families. 👉 Join us and make a lasting impact. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/e82X6UTA #CharityJobs #LeadershipRoles #MentalHealthOpportunities

👋 An honest and transparent call for help Tl;DR This year’s conference has been significantly impacted by a variety of external factors and we need more support to ensure All Day Hey! is sustainable and continues to support the community in the future. I know there’s plenty of people here who’ve supported it over the past nine years, and I would welcome a bit of help! All Day Hey! is a curated conference for developers, designers, and technology leaders: https://lnkd.in/eUK6Ma3A — 💭 What’s going on I need support with getting more people to head down to the conference next week. I want nothing more than to see a room full of inspired attendees and happy speakers talking about things they’re really passionate about. That support could come in the format of buying a ticket, or helping promote this wonderful independent event. Sales for this year’s conference have been really challenging. For most events since the pandemic, changes in buying habits, cuts to learning funding and the decline of Twitter (our core community space) means marketing has become more fragmented as people have gone elsewhere. I’ve never wanted to compromise on the quality and inclusivity of the conference, so I’ve consciously absorbed costs to ensure it remained accessible to its core audience. 🙋 How you can help 1. If you’re thinking of heading to All Day Hey! 2025 next week in Leeds, then grab a ticket 2. If you can’t make it but would still love to support the event, consider buying a ticket anyway (there are also supporter tickets that drive our scholarship fund to help get those who can’t afford tickets attend the event) 3. Maybe you have an L&D budget you can use for this through work, too. We have a template to help secure that 4. Finally, help us plug the conference to your own network to help spread the word as far and wide as possible ⁉️ Why you should care Because conferences like All Day Hey!, and a plethora of other amazing indie conferences are genuinely the backbone of our industry and strongly support keeping the web open, inclusive and, well, good! Whether you’ve benefited from a talk we’ve published for free online, attended one of our events over the years, or have benefitted from someone learning something at one of our events and taking this back to benefit your team professionally, chances are that you’re positively affected by these events happening in the first place. — If you got this far, thanks for reading 🙂 The purpose of this event is something quite special to me, and I want to ensure the sustainability of this event and others like it. I don’t want to see a future full of events that don’t prioritise the diverse community of talent that we have, and I see events like All Day Hey! as important components of a vibrant creative ecosystem. Help me continue to create a safe space for us to gather, share stories and inspire one another.

Why does #OneForTheCity exist? 💭 As a group of individuals connected to #Leeds in different ways, we saw a societal shift and the need for a more #InclusiveEconomy. As part of the powerful #BusinessCommunity we wanted to regenerate opportunity for the people of Leeds, powered by the businesses of Leeds - with consistency. It was founders Mike Quate and Sat Mann who brought us together, with byDiffusion being the first business member to commit 1% to the shared vision, now the One for the City fund. Since then we've really taken shape with the team working hard to drive us forward, engage more business members and champion business as a force for good Caroline Broad, Guy Utley, Anna Ashford, Katherine Megson, Rachel Smith FCA Here's a little on how you can achieve both profit and purpose from the ByDiffusion team.

What do Pixar, skiing kids, and smart businesses have in common? They fail—on purpose. Pixar’s Ed Catmull said: “Early on, all of our movies suck.” Films like Up became what they are because the early versions failed. They didn’t pretend to get it right first time. They rewrote, reworked, and in doing so, created something great. Because failure isn’t a flaw in the creative process—it is the process. Rewriting. Rebuilding. Getting better by getting it wrong first. This week, I’m with our client Max Ski - they run school trips. Watching kids on a ski tour fall over, laugh, get back up, try again—and love every second of it. That’s resilience. That’s progress. That’s learning. And honestly? That’s business. Small steps. Safe stumbles. Honest reflection. That’s how we reduce risk and build resilience. Falling isn’t the problem. Staying down is. ------------------------------------------------------ I’m Mike, a cofounder of byDiffusion and One for the City. We help businesses change and grow, evolve and transform — with people at the heart. We're your partner for what’s next, unlocking value for your teams and your customers. Let’s connect. If you’re navigating change or planning for growth, we’d love to explore how we can help.

When Sat and I set up byDiffusion we had a clear goal: make consultancy more accessible. We wanted to support the leaders who need it most — the ones in the thick of it, growing and running brilliant small and medium-sized businesses. They don’t have endless budgets. They can’t drop five-figure retainers with big consultancies. But they do have ambition, drive, and a need for trusted support to help them scale. SMEs make up 99.9% of UK businesses, employing millions and generating over half of private sector turnover. They truly are the lifeblood of the economy — and yet too often, they’re priced out of the help they need. The reality is, finding the cash to invest is hard — especially when you’re juggling everything that comes with running a business. But the leaders we work with get it. They know that to grow, you have to invest. And we’re here to make sure that investment delivers — not just in the long term, but from day one. Because from day one, we said we’d build this differently. We’re not here to fill seats. We’re not chasing billable hours. We’re here to build your business — and that’s how we grow ours. Two years on, that mission still drives everything. And today, I’m boarding a flight to meet one of those clients — a brilliant team whose business is flying. We started with just a few hours a month. Now I’m meeting them on the slopes for one of their last trips of the season. I absolutely love what we do. And I’m proud — deeply proud — of what we’ve helped our clients achieve. ---------------------------------------------- I’m Mike, a cofounder of byDiffusion and One for the City. We help businesses change and grow, evolve and transform — with people at the heart. We're your partner for what’s next, unlocking value for your teams and your customers. Let’s connect. If you’re navigating change or planning for growth, we’d love to explore how we can help.

We've had a busy start to 2025 with lots more to come. We'd love for you to join us at one of our upcoming Change Leadership events. Drop us a DM if you'd like to find out more.