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Andrew Larner
Chief Executive at Larner Associates Group
Professional Background
Andrew Larner is an esteemed leader and visionary in the realm of public service transformation in the UK. Currently serving as the Chief Executive at iESE Ltd, Andrew has played an instrumental role in reinventing local public services since the organization was founded in 2004. Under his leadership, iESE has successfully supported numerous initiatives aimed at enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of local government operations.
The team at iESE is uniquely positioned as a shared resource within local government, collaborating with a wide array of stakeholders to drive innovation and ensure long-term sustainability in public service provisions. iESE is celebrated for its involvement in groundbreaking projects, including the merger of management services between Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council, and the comprehensive reorganization of the local government framework in Northern Ireland, which reduced the number of councils from 26 to 11. These transformative initiatives have not only redefined local governance but have also set industry benchmarks.
With an impressive track record of generating substantial financial savings and new income streams exceeding £1 billion throughout its operation, iESE exemplifies how collaborative approaches can yield profound benefits. Andrew, along with his small core team of dedicated professionals and a network of associates, continues to emphasize the importance of retaining experience within the sector, ensuring that members can leverage expertise without the constraints of traditional procurement processes.
In addition to direct service improvements, iESE invests its surplus income into vital research and support initiatives that aid struggling councils. Recent investments, totaling £1 million, underscore the organization’s commitment to pioneering new models of health and social care while integrating advanced digital tools from global public service practices into the UK landscape.
Education and Achievements
Andrew Larner's academic journey showcases his commitment to excellence and his multifaceted expertise, which he leverages in his professional endeavors. He pursued a PhD in Information Law at the University of East London, where he focused on the balance of rights among owners, users, and the public in the context of data. This advanced study reflects his deep understanding of legal frameworks and data governance, critical components in today’s digital age.
In addition, Andrew earned a 1st Class Honours degree in Surveying and Mapping Sciences, specializing in Land and Hydrographic Surveying, also from the University of East London. This strong educational foundation has provided him with the analytical skills and technical knowledge necessary for his various leadership roles.
Throughout his career, Andrew has held numerous prestigious positions that have allowed him to influence public service reforms at various levels. Prior to his current role at iESE, he served as Chief Executive at Larner Associates Group and held directorial positions at Learningpool, ICT Refurbishment (ICTR), and the Local Government Information House (LGIH), among others. His work has spanned various organizations, and his leadership style has consistently focused on driving improvements and fostering collaboration across departments and councils.
Andrew's contributions extend beyond operational management; he has also served as a Senior Lecturer at the University of East London, sharing his knowledge and expertise with the next generation of leaders in public administration. As a dedicated member of the Association for Geographic Information (AGI), Andrew's influence within the sector has been significant, particularly in advancing the use of geographic information systems in public policy and service delivery.
Achievements
Among Andrew Larner's many accolades and achievements, one of his most notable contributions has been his establishment of a strong framework for local councils to collaborate effectively. He has fostered an environment where councils can share resources, knowledge, and best practices, significantly minimizing redundancies and enhancing service delivery.
The creation of membership options that allow councils to access iESE services without traditional procurement barriers is a significant innovation that demonstrates Andrew's commitment to making public services more agile and responsive to the needs of the communities they serve. As a result, many councils have benefited from membership, indicating the value that his initiatives offer.
Furthermore, Andrew’s adept investment in research that explores new models of health and social care, alongside the integration of advanced digital tools, has positioned iESE at the forefront of evolving public service landscapes. His foresight and strategic planning continue to contribute positively to the developments within local governments, ensuring they remain adaptable in a rapidly changing world.
In summary, Andrew Larner's career is characterized by his leadership in local public services, a commitment to innovation, and a passion for transforming governance to better serve communities across the UK. His education in information law and surveying sciences, combined with diverse leadership experiences, makes him a respected figure in the industry. As iESE continues to evolve and adapt under his guidance, the impact of his work will undoubtedly resonate within local authorities and the communities they serve for years to come.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Clay's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.