UK Enterprise 2020

90 | UK Enterprise Awards 2020 Studio Grey is a rare beast indeed. Founded by Mark Grey on the back of his experience in the fashion industry, Studio Grey has gone on to make waves on the professional portraiture landscape. Following the studio’s recognition as ‘Corporate Portrait Photographers of the Year’, we sat down with Mark to discuss his ethos, history and successes alongside his perspective on the importance of corporate photography in the digital age. Passion, Portraits and Punching Above Your Weight Jun20504 When founder Mark Grey set up Studio Grey, it was a leap into something he knew – a lifelong passion for photography – but also a challenge: building a business by providing professional portraits and headshots for clients from actors, bankers and celebrities, to vloggers, entrepreneurs and CEOs. It also meant turning his back on the fashion industry. He’d been a regular at London Fashion Week, shooting designer brands including Amanda Wakeley, Sibling and Tom Ford. But a series of awards for portraiture convinced Mark that his future was in “people photography” such as headshots, workplace portraiture and PR. It meant starting from scratch, ruthlessly cutting studio costs and carrying lighting, cameras and backgrounds on public transport. “But we never compromised on quality,” explains Mark. “Headshot photography is a competitive industry and we were determined to give our clients the best.” However, technical excellence and professional qualifications are only two of the reasons for Studio Grey’s success. Mark’s previous decade in marketing consultancy has been key to growing the business until it’s rated the UK’s No.1 Photography Studio on Trustpilot. Whether the client is a Big Five bank or a one-person-band with big ambitions, Studio Grey listen to their needs and desires, and translate emotions into images that communicate their business values, personality and brand. Ultimately, it’s the message those images project that keep customers, collaborators, and potential colleagues wanting to work with you. As an SME, your company’s branding and your personal branding are bound up together, from crucial first impressions to vital long-term relationships. So the business portrait photographer’s first job is to discover who you and your company are, and how you are perceived by your audiences. Yes, audiences, in the plural. After all, we’re visual creatures, and images produce an intuitive, emotional response in us long before any conscious cognition of the information they contain. Whether it’s business headshots on your website, workplace images in a bid document, or newsy photographs for industry publications, you need each image to tell the right story. And pictures may be seen not only by new and returning clients and customers, but potential employees and colleagues: your images need to punch (and recruit) above their weight, without betraying the individuality and passion that makes your business what it is. Current colleagues too: from the board to the co- located teams, feel good when their core values and style are expressed. When the message that a business projects outwards matches its culture and the way it works internally, all those audiences feel that integrity and respond accordingly. Portrait photographers know a client will only feel relaxed and confident when they trust the professionals they’re working with – and that’s true of any business relationship. For Studio Grey that’s about the right cameras, lighting and equipment whatever the job, as well as the right team of hair and make-up artists, styling and wardrobe consultants, photo processors and retouchers – and now their Covent Garden studio is all set up for social distancing too. But successful SMEs know that good business practice goes further than a job well done and a receipted invoice, and Mark knew from marketing that a trusted photographer soon becomes their clients’ image consultant. These days Studio Grey’s SME clients are reacting quickly to make the most of changing opportunities to present their business through fresh imagery. Studio Grey can match earlier headshots and workplace pictures quickly and consistently – plus, of course, clients know their images are safe and securely archived, and easy to access when their clients, web-designers or the press come calling. And Mark’s top tips for growing a sustainable business? First, don’t forget your own past experience in understanding your market. Second, deliver above expectations: you will keep hard- won clients and grow referrals. And, finally, if you’re in a crowded tube train carrying two massive cases of lighting equipment, don’t accept a kind offer from someone to carry one of them: without one large weight the other will throw your balance and pull you to the ground. Though if it does, there will also be people around to help you up. Studio Grey has years of experience in drawing out the real, professional you and capturing it on camera.