Opera Holland Park and Korn/Ferry International

Opera Holland Park celebrated its tenth year as a producing company in 2006; ten bewilderingly successful years, serving around 350,000 patrons in that time. Artistic endeavour is unpredictable so it is with enormous satisfaction that, against all the odds, the company has been able to establish itself among the top echelon of lyric arts producers in the UK. But like all arts institutions, OHP requires financial support - especially since it has strong accessibility goals (no £100 price tags or tiaras here). In the past decade several companies have stepped into the breach to lend financial support to go alongside the investment of the council, the local residents who support us in their thousands and the OHP Friends. The Evening Standard supported us for 6 years and then Cadogan Estates became principal sponsor in 2001, supporting us through a critical period. But now, after our most successful season ever in 2006, Korn/Ferry International has become proud named sponsors of Opera Holland Park. And they have chosen a most exciting time to do it, with the first season under our new canopy. The Korn/Ferry Opera Holland Park season, 2007 represents a momentous new phase in the company's history.

It is undoubtedly unusual for a council to have created and sustained an artistic project that has attained such national and international recognition. Offering residents something that provides a centre of excellence in one of the most difficult art forms is quite an achievement but conversely, it needs to find ways to sustain the company without breaking the bank. That is where companies like Korn/Ferry come into the equation. Korn/Ferry International is the world's leading provider of executive human capital resources - not an obvious connection one might think but as Giles Crewdson, head of Korn/Ferry's London office explains, there is a strong link between the principles of Korn/Ferry's business and the entity that is OHP.

"We deal in people at Korn/Ferry and people are judged on how they 'behave' for want of a better word. Cultural interests often define how a person portrays himself or herself. It is a slightly abstract principle but then our commodity is not easily graded or rated. We use all sorts of strategies to express this somewhat philosophical notion but one way is to align ourselves with a company who also deal on a daily basis with overtly talented people", he said.

The arts provide so much to the fabric of society and business and when we visit the opera, the ballet, the art gallery, we are enjoying life outside of the hours we spend working and providing for it. As an illustration, we tend, as a society to define decades and periods in history by the art and culture of the time. The arts inspire and educate, they broaden the mind and a night at the opera provides a wonderful environment for projecting the principles of a company, reflecting the excellence in both organisations. That is why business is such a huge contributor to the arts in this country and frankly, many arts organisations could not survive without that support.

Korn/Ferry hope to use their relationship with OHP to project a core part of their business - and that is skill of the human individual. Their decision to align themselves with OHP was reached after careful strategic consideration. "One of the characteristics of OHP that we warmed to was the broad appeal it has. We loved the informal sophistication of it, the fun and the welcoming atmosphere. It appeals right across the spectrum. And that is how we operate as a business too, working with large multinationals right down to individuals," explains Giles.

"Internally, the relationship has generated huge enthusiasm among the partnership. There is a real determination to help OHP achieve their aims as well as hoping that the association will fulfil many of ours", he said.

And those aims are?

"Well, like most companies, we hope to use such partnerships to raise our profile. But it is not as simple as just that. These sponsorships are like a voyage of discovery. We hope to see a very positive effect on our own staff as well as how people view us externally. We are delighted to be linked with one of London's most prized and unique artistic gems. That gives all of us a terrific new tool for doing business".

OHP are well aware that it has to help fulfil many of these aims for Korn/Ferry. There is a responsibility upon the sponsored company to enable its sponsor to fulfil its aims. But this only produces better results for the patron; the elevation of our standards both on stage and in the service we offer can only be good news for the opera lover and customer. As Giles explains, the driving principle is the improvement of OHP; "We take the view that our sponsorship is a relationship with OHP, the Royal Borough, the Friends of OHP et al. We are joining the effort, as it were, to continue to grow the success of the company, to help provide Londoner's with such a spectacular and accessible resource. If we have that as a core aim, then we can only benefit as a business from the result of those efforts. In the past, companies were in danger of just putting money in and taking out what they wanted corporately. We certainly want to see benefits but we believe our involvement has to be as a partner first and beneficiary second".

All of which points to an exciting three years ahead for the company, patrons of OHP and of course, Korn/Ferry International.