Our 10QUESTIONS feature asks members of the Freshfield community ten questions about their working life. Featuring client partners, colleagues and FF friends, our guests share some personal stories, views and fresh words of wisdom.

Our latest guest is David Baggott, co-founder and partner of CN Strategic Advisors, a boutique corporate finance advisory firm with offices in Cheshire and Manchester. Dave and his team work closely with business owners and entrepreneurs throughout their business journey, advising clients on a wide range of strategic business growth projects and M&A related activity.

How do you like to start your working day?

I like to start a working day refreshed, rested and clear on the objectives for the day and week. In reality though, with a strong independent three-year-old daughter, my working day starts with a negotiation on which clothes to wear, whether we need to brush our teeth every day, which breakfast cereal to eat and whether we need to go to work and pre-school.

I’m lucky to have a fantastic family, so I wouldn’t change it. But I’m also lucky to have a fantastic team with open communication and strong levels of trust which helps ensure our business always runs smoothly.

Where and how do you come up with your best ideas?

I’d say that the only time when my mind totally switches away from my work (and our business) is when I am doing an activity or playing sport.

After giving myself this type of time to reset, I find that the best ideas and thoughts come from a clear head and thinking about bigger picture goals, rather than getting lost in the marginal improvements.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

In life generally, it’s to focus on and enjoy the present.

This conflicts slightly with what I tell my clients (as future planning and goal setting is important to build a sustainable and growing business), but from a personal perspective, living in ‘the now’ is something that is often forgotten by those in pressurised careers.

What does leadership mean to you?

Providing the platform for individuals to thrive, feel valued, be part of a rewarding team and to really enjoy their work. This in turn helps to build high performing teams with common goals and strong standards.

What’s your top tip for achieving a work-life balance?

As much as you can, try and find time to switch off. Turn off and put away the laptop and switch off your phone. I purposefully have a separate work phone so that I can leave it in a drawer and have time to focus on family, friends or sport.

Which current or historical business figure do you most admire and why?

It’s hard to limit to one business leader as there are several pioneers in their field that have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The common thread across the top business people from my perspective is that they believe in themselves, their idea, and take risks to succeed. The best ones can also combine this with putting employees and a positive culture first.

What is your most trusted source of news?

Generally, I would turn to the BBC in the first instance.

What is your favourite brand and why?

There are so many fantastic brands, however I’ll go with Apple. They have created a business model that provides an ecosystem of communication and connectivity allowing them to retain customers easily. This is one value-enhancing factor that we talk about when speaking with our clients as creating ‘sticky’ revenue streams drives value and confidence within M&A transactions.

What’s the most recent new skill you have learnt?

We have recently been to a pottery painting session, which I thought was great. I’ve enjoyed painting in the past, but this was a first time on pottery. My painted jug is currently sitting proudly in our kitchen.

We all use them…what management jargon phrase do you use the most?

I’ve asked our team for this one, and apparently, I use the phrase “moving the needle” on a regular basis. I’ll have to watch out for this going forward!