2025 gave us the opportunity to work with more good people doing good things across the sector. As always, our annual reflections come with a heartfelt thanks to those who’ve trusted our tiny team to help them create the balance they need to keep moving forward.
Our ongoing partnerships within Cameron Mackintosh Ltd continued. Joyously celebrating a remarkable Les Mis 40th anniversary this year, CML continue to deliver best in class productions across the West End and around the globe. Our recent engagement with new client Jamie Wilson Productions was particularly exciting, thanks to the trusted introduction from Katy Bryant. Jamie was honoured this year at the Variety Club Awards, for his outstanding contribution to musical theatre and we look forward to watching JWP inspire the next generation of Production and performance.
Beyond our stable of theatre clients, we continue to extend our activity with those in lighting, TV and broadcast and remain thankful to Nick Edwards and the brilliant Version 2 team who make the likes of Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Traitors come to life, for opening those doors for us. Alongside them, comes a standing ovation to our friends at Soho Theatre with whom we were privileged to share the pink carpet at their opening of Soho Walthamstow earlier this year. Plus, our continued respect and enjoyment working with the fascinating folks at The Kings Head Theatre and Riverside Studios.
Finally, to Ed, Sandy and Zoe for the great support, advice and camaraderie behind the scenes of createbalance that our clients rarely see, but without whom we would go quietly crackers!
As we look back at 2025 and forward to 2026, two themes stand out – the importance of managing pressure and keeping promises.
Managing Pressure
With a recent budget that only vaguely mentions the sector, ever challenging audience and employee expectations plus ongoing technology disruption and commercial instability; things are not getting easier for those in the Arts.
Being able to manage through these pressures can take its toll and many of our clients talk of feeling burnt-out, exhausted and disconnected from the value they add. This year we’ve talked lots about how to move from coping to managing and from survival to strategic prioritisation. As always, we keep the focus of our discussions on what people can do with the strengths they have and the changes they can make with the skills and experiences at their disposal.
This industry is hard-wired to deal with pressure. The adage of ‘the show must go on’ is alive and well, and talented people continue to do remarkable things to ensure performances remain entertaining, important and memorable. In our experience, those who manage pressure the best, are those who stay focused on what matters most, use their strengths in different ways and continually evolve how they do things.
As 2026 approaches, we see an even greater need to keep things simple, focused and consistently communicated and delivered. Our mission remains to help people be clear about who they are and what they do, to create the balance they need to guide discussions and decisions about how they do it.
Keeping promises
Every time we say we’re going to do something, we make a promise. In Arts and culture, every conversation, every interaction with audiences, colleagues and suppliers, every marketing campaign, every appraisal can fulfil or break a promise.
Honouring our commitments is not always easy or fully within our control, but it’s clear that a kept promise solidifies a company's reputation, strengthens its relationships with its employees, audiences and partners, and fosters an environment of trust and credibility.
On the flip side, a broken promise can sow seeds of doubt and erode trust. Failing to deliver on something you’ve said you’ll do or diminishing or dismissing the importance of a promised action can leave audiences and colleagues feeling undervalued and hesitant to stay engaged or connected.
The impact doesn’t stop there. In today’s world, we have the means to quickly and widely share our experiences, with negative reviews rippling far beyond the single act of one broken promise. It may not be immediately obvious, but the gradual erosion of trust and credibility eventually shows in increased customer dissatisfaction, reduced ticket sales and reduced employee retention and loyalty.
Upholding promises consistently on the other hand, can ensure trust is not only maintained with one customer, one audience member, one employee, one boss, but also the broader network they have the power to influence.
No-one is perfect and in an industry that is as high-risk as the Arts, sometimes even the best fall short of their promises. What matters is how you respond. Honesty and transparency, taking responsibility and not being afraid to communicate openly shows accountability and care. Others are then more likely to forgive a misstep or an inability to carry out a promise when they see a genuine effort to explain why, work together and make things right.
Getting the balance right between making and keeping promises not only builds trust and credibility. It also goes one step deeper to something we feel will remain important going forward – loyalty. In a world where we now have so many choices available through so many channels, and where fake news and misdirection abound, laying the groundwork that helps your audiences, your employees, your employers, your partners choose to continue and deepen their relationship with you is key.
Creating this balance takes continuous focus and genuine effort to maintain, but we believe it’s worth it, so we enter 2026 with a renewed energy and commitment to help our clients manage the pressure and keep their promises.
2025 felt like a year well spent as we indulge in our annual moment of reflection and explore the themes of managing pressure and keeping promises.
We’re a small, tight team of experienced consultants, who have helped leaders and organisations through the best and the worst of the past thirty years.
We help you create balance - the ability to adjust your position relative to the world around you, so you can survive, succeed and keep moving forward.
Where we share our client stories from the past 30 years.
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