A Week in My Life: Chris Woodward, CEO, CTI Digital

Chris Woodward is CEO of CTI Digital, based in Manchester.

Before joining CTI Digital in 2023, Woodward was UK Group COO at Oliver, an advertising firm focused on building in-house marketing teams and ecosystems for brands.

He was previously Group Managing Director of Oliver UK and Managing Director of Dare, the digital division of Oliver. Previous agency roles include Wunderman, Kitcatt Nohr, Partners Andrews Aldridge, CHI & Partners, Rapier and Saatchi & Saatchi Pro.

Listed as one of Campaign’s “40 over 40”, he is also a non-executive director at data-driven content marketing agency Pinpoint Media.

Here’s what he told us about the last week of his life…

Monday

My alarm usually goes off at 6am so I can leave the house and get an Uber at 6.25am and then catch the train from Watford to Manchester at 7.01am. But not today… Today I have to sleep in until 7am and help get our three children up and ready for school at 8.10am. Then a quick shower and a quick pack before jumping in the car at Heathrow Terminal 2 for my flight to Frankfurt.

Once I get through security at Heathrow, I have 90 minutes to spare. My EA, Rebecca, has filled that time with a chat with Sam, who leads our development team. Sam is in the middle of making changes to his team, having only recently taken on the role, so there’s a lot of catching up to do and agreeing. Once Sam and I are done, I have a 20-minute chat with my boss, Simon, our chairman.

The flight itself is short, in fact shorter than planned as the captain proudly announces that he managed to shave 20 minutes off the flight time because he was flying exceptionally fast! Nevertheless, I managed to use the hour in the air to almost complete the deck I need for the next day with our senior client in Germany.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt I meet the rest of our team. They have flown in from Manchester and Vienna. I then quickly Uber to our hotel. After checking in I work in my room for an hour before meeting the team at reception and heading to a local restaurant for dinner with our clients. It is great to see them in person, they are incredibly welcoming and charming. I return to my room and turn off the lights at 11pm.

Tuesday

I usually try to run every morning. But today my schedule doesn’t allow for that, so I wake up at 6am so I can work on a deck combo for one of my meetings later today for 90 minutes, and also to stay on top of my inbox. I have a quick breakfast with the team at 8am, then check out and take an Uber to the client’s office at 9am.

We have solid meetings with our German client from 9:00 to 17:00. Personally, I like to actively participate in the relationship with our clients and deeply understand what we do for them, what their opportunities and pain points are, so that we can be the best possible partner for them. The scope of the meetings is diverse and includes meetings with two members of the client’s management.

5:30pm quick Uber back to Frankfurt Airport with the team. We discuss and sort out the next steps at the airport and then part ways for our flights. I make a quick stop at Duty Free (perfume for the wife and daughter, German football kits for the boys and chocolate, supposedly for the family). I write notes from the trip and hand them out to the team before the plane takes off from the German runway, then read a book about the hour-long flight.

The last Uber of the day takes me home, and by 11pm I’m already falling asleep, having still washed up, done laundry, and spent time with our youngest child.

Wednesday

Today I start at 6am and, as you might have guessed, I take the 7:01 Uber to our Manchester office. The two hour journey gives me plenty of time to get my act together, as well as review the board package and commercial performance of the agency before a meeting with our board later that morning.

The train arrives in Manchester 20 minutes late (which is unusual as the Avanti is quite reliable). A quick walk to the office where I jump straight into a meeting with one of our clients. Then I head to a board meeting with our directors, including our private equity investors LDC. Straight after the board meeting we have a strategy session with the board members who look at our financial forecasts for the rest of the year (we hit our Q1 results but are lagging behind on new business. However our team has a clear strategy and we can see the results coming).

The afternoon is a series of one-on-ones with key team members, an hour session with our ELT, and an hour with our SLT. Then it’s back to the 5:15 train home (which involves an Uber).

I get home at 8:30 PM and spend some time with my wife and kids, and I also take care of the washing machine, vacuum cleaner and dishwasher. I fall asleep at 10:30 PM.

Thursday

Today is the best day of the week – I take the kids to school on Thursday (if I win the lottery, my dream is to become a full-time parent). So, a busy morning, getting lunches ready, getting everyone dressed, and emptying the washing machine and dishwasher from the night before. Taking the kids to school ends at 9am, and then I’m straight into more phone calls and meetings until 3pm.

The daily schedule is forgotten when the teacher calls at 3:15 to say that one of our kids is having trouble at school that day and can I come in. That takes another 90 minutes before we get back to emails at 6:00 for an hour, then tackle housework and putting the kids (and the two cats and dog we’re caring for a neighbor for the week) to bed.

Friday

(Unusually) another morning when we drop the kids off at school, and then my wife and I drive 12 miles to get our cars serviced. Then we get home at 9:30. Friday is another day of calls and meetings. The range of meetings is huge and varied – whether it’s dealing with an HR issue, reviewing the long-term plan for our offices (we’re in the process of relocating both of our offices as both were leased pre-Covid and don’t reflect our future needs), reviewing our HR strategy, talking to clients, dealing with a lot of impromptu emails and phone calls – the list goes on.

I am also lucky enough to be a non-executive director of two other companies, so I am attending a virtual board meeting of one of them on Friday – it is great to see how different companies operate and perform, and the amount of learning that it gives me to be able to move between them in different roles is very valuable. I finish at 6.30pm and usually ‘treat myself’ to a Friday jog at the end of the day. However, today I am having a moment of weakness and enjoying three Belgian IPAs, listening to music and avoiding parenting by ordering McDonald’s.