THE BIG INTERVIEW “What we have to do is just be really focused on how


we deliver as much as possible, in the most cost- effective way, because this is essentially musicians’ salary, particularly at grassroots level.” Some of the education involves highlighting studies


that show how customers may be more likely to spend money as a result of feeling positive due to music – therefore making it a possible revenue generator rather than the misconception of a taxed activity. One study with Caffe Nero showed how music could


relax customers and encourage them to stay in its cafés for longer, while PPL PRS research found 93% of businesses surveyed use music to lift the mood and create a welcoming atmosphere. “We don’t think about it much and often put the


radio on in the background, but music is a massive part of our everyday life,” says Andrea, whose company has committed to not charging businesses affected by the pandemic, along with offering flexible payment options. PPL PRS furloughed 80% of its staff during the


summer lockdown as a result of business closures elsewhere. But having to work through a backlog from July onwards, it hired another 50 people as part of its initial growth plans, taking headcount to 260. Andrea says there’s a diverse range of roles in the


business, beginning with entry-level customer service positions that she believes will compare well with similar jobs elsewhere in the region. Recruitment is fairly easy, she believes, due to the


city’s two universities – which were part of Leicester’s attraction for the organisation in the first place. Career development paths are also open to


employees, with plans to recruit internally for many future senior roles, while it’s in the process of introducing leadership management apprenticeships – offering school leavers a similar path to the top of businesses that Andrea experienced by learning on the job. PPL PRS joined the Chamber as a strategic partner last autumn to solidify its reputation as a regional employer of choice. Looking ahead to the future, she adds: “It’s about


restarting everything. We’ve had to mothball some really exciting plans we had for developing people internally in 2020, but my vision remains that we should be absolutely the best place to work in Leicester.”


ANDREA PAUSES TO contemplate how being a woman has shaped her career. While certainly aware of the challenges faced by many of her female peers in reaching the summit of their professions, she doesn’t believe it has held her back – just like the lack of higher qualifications hasn’t. “I don’t know if it means I’ve been lucky, but I don’t


honestly think any experience I’ve had has been different to what it would have been if I was male,” she says. “It’s helped that I’ve worked in organisations where


people have been positive about having a very diverse leadership team. At Hastings, the CEO Toby van der Meer very much understood he needed to surround himself with diverse people.” The insurance industry has been an interesting


yardstick for gender diversity, given that it’s a traditionally male-heavy environment – board chairmanship remains the preserve of men, who hold 100% of positions – but it’s improving, with the Association of British Insurers reporting that women on executive teams increased from 22% to 27% in the year to February 2019. Hastings was ahead of the curve, with 36% of its boardroom positions occupied by women the same year. Andrea believes this is because it had an


“entrepreneurial” culture and this forward-thinking approach is something she has adopted at PPL PRS. “It comes back to taking a broader view,” she says.


“It’s not just about gender, sexuality, race or religion – none of it matters. What I’m trying to do at PPL PRS is really push that diversity because the variety of ideas


28 business networkMarch 2021 WHY LEICESTER IS MUSIC TO ANDREA’S EARS


Andrea admits to having held a negative view about Leicester before moving there – but couldn’t have got her preconceptions about the city more wrong. She says that when the opportunity first came up to move to Hastings Direct, her


employer directly before PPL PRS, she had no interest in relocating to the East Midlands. “I said to the recruiter ‘thanks but take me out of the process now because I really don’t


want to live in Leicester’,” she recalls. “I’d never been to Leicester, but my perception was it wasn’t a city I wanted to live in because I thought it was fairly run-down and not very inclusive. “I had no affinity with it and thought I’d seen similar cities in Swansea and Bradford so


forget it.” The head-hunter eventually persuaded a reluctant Andrea to visit the city to get a feel


of the place and she found herself admiring the high street mix of big brands like John Lewis alongside independents – while a champagne bar in St Martin’s Square caught her eye too. Impressed, she took the job and, after moving to her second job in PPL PRS as well as


buying a house in the area, doesn’t envisage moving again. “I love it here,” says Andrea, who was named the Businesswoman of the Year at the


Niche Business Awards in January. “I’ve become a huge advocate of Leicester because it’s a small, friendly city that has some stunning architecture and is surrounded by beautiful countryside. “I’d never lived somewhere with such a strong sense of community, particularly from a business perspective, while it’s very diverse and inclusive despite my preconceptions.”


PPL PRS took over a large office space in Mercury Place, Leicester


you get from different cultures and ages is just tremendous. The worst mistake any leader can do is think they’ve got all the best ideas, because actually my ideas aren’t at all what would make the business work – as I’m at least twice the age of most of my people for a start. “At PPL PRS, we’re fairly well balanced and, if anything, we have more women in senior positions than men.”


STRETCHING ACROSS WALL space for 30 metres at three-and-a-half metres high, the “United for Music” mural that decorates the PPL PRS office in Leicester is believed to be the city’s longest art installation. It was designed by artist Andy Goodridge in 2017 to


commemorate a century of music, from the formation of PRS for Music in 1914 – illustrated by the First World War marching song Pack Up Your Troubles – until the present day, bringing music icons like The Beatles and Elvis Presley together with cultural highlights such as the Hacienda scene and birth of the iPod through art. The project was commissioned the same year that


PRS for Music joined forces with PPL to establish PPL PRS, and is now part of the package for attracting talent to its vibrant Mercury Place office. Before the pandemic, Andrea says the office –


located five minutes from the railway station – played a key role in adopting a modern culture for a company whose workforce has an average age of 32. “A lot of our people are musically-orientated and


some play in bands, so music is a big part of our offices,” she says. “The mural is a key part of that because it makes the office an interesting place to work.”


‘What I’m trying to do at PPL PRS is really push that diversity because the variety of ideas you get from different cultures and ages is just tremendous’


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