Six business insights from the 2024 Freshminds strategy dinner

With a number of key trends coming to a head this year, 2024 looks set to be a year of disruption and opportunity for businesses around the world. This was recently illustrated by the annual strategy dinner of consulting firm Freshminds, which assembled experts from across the industrial spectrum to weigh in on what they expect to be the year’s most important stories.

Founded in 2000, Freshminds is a European management and strategy consulting group. With its Consultants On Demand, Search and Research Consultancy wings, it bridge the gaps between business needs and required skills, knowledge and talent.

At the start of every year, Freshminds hosts an exclusive strategy dinner, bringing together insights from members across the firm’s network. With guests drawn from a diverse range of sectors, from retail to private equity, the evening sees Freshminds ask the room to share their predictions or hopes for the coming business year, ranging from groundbreaking industry shifts to political turbulence. Over the years, this has led to a number of remarkable forecasts, according to the firm – including one guest in 2020 from the healthcare space predicting “not only a pandemic, but that the 2020 Olympic Games would be cancelled”.

While 2024 looks set to be a slightly more positive outing than that, Freshminds has picked out six of the top predictions from its event at the start of the year.

Powering up collective sustainability

One guest, an HR Director in a waste management company, predicted that the recycling market will accelerate in 2024. With more corporate pressure to “go green” than ever before, policy change, public opinion, and the instability of sourcing fossil fuels mean that most businesses are trying to figure out how sustainability fits into their corporate strategy.

At the same time, the event saw the electric versus hydrogen debate also rumble on. Many manufacturing executives, like Oliver Zipse, CEO at BMW, believe that the automotive industry requires multiple technologies to achieve worldwide climate neutrality.

Last year, he said that, “Hydrogen is the missing piece in the jigsaw when it comes to emission-free mobility.” This led attendees this year to consider whether they may finally see greater investment in hydrogen cars this year, as well as electric fleets.

Should it be this hard to get hybrid working right?

2023 was a big year for companies issuing return-to-office (RTO) mandates, so hybrid working naturally became a topic of discussion for Freshminds too. Raised at our dinner by a head of sustainability at a leading real estate consultancy, the debate took into account executives from organisations like Zoom, BlackRock, and Disney who have been very vocal about their opinions on flexible working – believing that office work is crucial for training and collaboration.

However, many workers remain sceptical that they experience the above-mentioned benefits, leading to trends of ‘quiet quitting' and applications for remote working opportunities to skyrocket. Clearly, there is a discord between those implementing the rules and those having to live by them – which is not a good position for any company to be in.

Could a Chief Hybrid Officer (CHO) fix that? Some organisations such as Microsoft are hiring people whose core role is about “Aligning clear team & work standards combined with the right use of technology are leading factors”. For businesses struggling with the hybrid balance, this could offer a solution.

Sports investment is spurred on by high-net-worth individuals

Celebrities and high-net-worth individuals have always had a place in the sporting world, often acting as advertising partners or ambassadors. One consultant from Freshminds predicted that there will be an increase in individuals investing their own wealth in the development of sporting teams and leagues to that end.

This trend has certainly grown in the past few years; some examples of this include: actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying Wrexham FC; Tom Brady investing in Birmingham City FC; and Naomi Osaka investing in the Pickleball league. Following up on this, another prediction from a senior director in a national sporting body suggested that women's sports, in particular, were going to benefit from even more investment in 2024. That is supported by research from Deloitte, which says, "2024 will see women's sport globally produce revenues exceeding $1 billion for the very first time, meaning that women's sport assets are more valuable than ever."

Supply chains continue to be squeezed

The UK reportedly faces a tea shortage early in 2024 – and while it is not the most severe crisis the country has faced in recent years, it illustrates the continued complexity of the world’s supply chain. The problem is largely triggered by increased conflict in Yemen and the Red Sea, causing huge delays in transportation channels like the Bab el-Mandeb strait. But the waves of disruption are likely to spread further, with increasing manufacturing costs and unpredictable water levels putting pressure on some of the world's most important supply chains.

One guest, an associate partner at a leading consulting firm, predicted that these disruptions would continue well into 2024, while another looked at Asia as being an emerging hub for supply and distribution chains. As a result, consumers, not just in Britain but around the globe, may find there is less choice on the shelves than usual over the coming months.​

The year of the election looms

Any election talk at the moment continues to be dominated by Donald Trump's apparent revival in the US political sphere. And this was also true for the Freshminds dinner, where guests seemed to be split on whether Biden or Trump would succeed in this year's presidential race.

The US presidential election results in huge ripple effects across the globe, so the speculation is hardly surprising. And given the current geopolitical tensions, many are anxious about which straw is going to break the camel's back. So many of the world's most pressing issues rely on collective action, whether that be conflict resolution, our drive towards carbon neutrality or, as mentioned above, global supply chains. But the US is not the only country facing an election this year - in fact, 64 countries are primed for political change, including the UK.

Consumer convenience is heightened with smart tech

With thermal earrings that can monitor your health, food delivery bikes fitted with warming ovens, and smart contact lenses, the innovation occurring in the tech sphere is happening at a rapid pace. For example, one guest who works within strategy at a global marketplace predicted that the use of NFTs to authenticate luxury items may increase.

Over the last three years, the luxury market has boomed and, with it, an increase in counterfeit goods - causing havoc for resellers and consumers alike. This has led to an increase in "authentication" businesses like StockX and eBay's "Authenticity Guarantee" service in the sportswear industry - we may see more emerge this year for other luxury items.