Month: February 2019

In anticipation of the upcoming racing season, Big Change sat down with Leaders for Life ambassador Nic Hamilton.

Nic is the first disabled athlete to compete in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and a committed partner with BigChange in promoting road safety. Nic story isn’t just inspiring, its life changing.

BigChange: Tell us a little bit about your background; where are you from and what got you into racing?

Nic Hamilton: I’m a race car driver by profession and a BigChange ambassador. I’m the younger brother (by 8 years) of 5 time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. We grew up very working class in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, to parents who worked on the railway. I was born two month premature with cerebral palsy.

When we were little, my parents got Lewis a go kart, and he started racing on the weekend. As Lewis got older- by 13 – our family became very race focused. So it was a very natural progression to join the sport. In 2007 Lewis became first black formula 1 driver and that really pushed my interest into a different gear. Wheelchair bound for 16 years, Having an operation at 4 years was certainly difficult but by 2011 I had broken into racing myself.

BigChange: What was your family’s reaction to your commitment and dedication to racing?

Nic Hamilton: My Father never treated me any different than a able bodied person. At 7 years old we started working back and forth on a go kart. I had a bunch of crashes, and went down a 6 foot drop which really gave my family a scare.

After that, I always had a love for racing games, and even became British champion in video game.

After 10 years (at the age of 17), I convinced my father that we had some difficulties many years before but that wasn’t going to get in my way. I would say my parents were cautious but supportive. It really helped when the motor sports association initially declined application. But after much perseverance and a ton of monitoring, I got my racing licence. Eventually I started in a motor sport feeder series and was followed by the BBC in a documentary viewed by 50 million people.

BigChange: How have you made your mark (on and off the track) outside of your brother’s success on the track?

Nic Hamilton: Being a Hamilton in motor sports, without a ton of money backing the process, it’s not easy. To many people it may be hard to step out of Lewis’s shadow but I try to ignore the connection and show how my personal story and dedication to the sport is amazing in its own right. Training and maintaining racing for able body form is very difficult. Realizing how many people are inspired by having a role model with physical limitations in motor sports has really helped motivate me the process. After 6 years of battling hard and forming strong partnerships, learning to do a ton of PR, I think I’m respected in the sport and can stand on my own accomplishments.

BigChange: How has racing enabled you to overcome adversity?

Nic Hamilton: There is always negativity, but you have to push through to achieve your goals. I’ve learned that the way to become well accepted and respected in the industry is through hard work. If you show the dedication to the sport, you’ll be seen as one of the guys and almost overlook what every limitations may be.

BigChange: What were the core values that helped you in your drive for success on and off the track?

Nic Hamilton: Not taking no for an answer. Having a goal and allowing yourself to make mistakes to achieve it. Keep on pushing. The best way to be successful is by learning from mistakes. Never forget the Importance in believing in yourself and ignoring negative criticism.

BigChange: How long have your partnered with BigChange & why do you value your relationship with BigChange?

Nic Hamilton: I’ve partnered with BigChange for the past 2 years. I met BigChange, and its CEO Martin Port, though a motivation speaking engagement for their monthly motivational Monday event. At first it was just another talk, nothing out of the normal. But soon I realized that BigChange was genuine and family oriented. The event at the time was only 20 people. It was a very casual and relaxed atmosphere.

The whole event reminded me of what I really care about, that business is not just about money, its more about the relationships. After speaking with the BigChange team, and hearing Martin’s story I was very impressed by his generosity. Martin offered to sponsoring my racing as a partner and it really blew me away. Also as BigChange is growing as a brand, my career is progressing as well so it really is the perfect partner and (to be honest) like a second family.

BigChange: Why do you support the Leaders for Life Campaign?

Nic Hamilton: With BigChange’s desire to help others and prevent the dangers associated with road safety it seemed like a natural connection to partner in this program. As a race car driver its only logical to promote safe driving behaviour is important. Personal accountability is critical to saving lives.

BigChange: How has your commitment to road safety grown through your partnership with the Leader for Life campaign?

Nic Hamilton: I’ve always been in the mindset that safe driving is essential. The race track is for speed. On the road you need to be aware of all the other dangers. There is no need rush. You need to be responsible. If you can save just one life then you’ve done your job. So being an ambassador for the program really reinforced by already strong commitment to road safety.

BigChange: What are you most looking forward to in the coming racing season?

Nic Hamilton: Well, this coming season will be my first full year in British touring cars. It’s a fantastic opportunity to have a full shot at motor sport and channel my skills in very prestigious venues worldwide. Competing against seasoned professionals, and being the most inexperienced is tough. ‘I have a great team, car and partners behind me so when I’m in my car I recognise that I’m representing everyone behind me. Without their support I wouldn’t be able to achieve my dream. And I know the harder we work the more well grow together.

BigChange: What lessons could you give to kids with physical or intellectual limitations about achieving your goals, overcoming difficulty and becoming a role model to others?

Nic Hamilton: The only people’s opinions who matter are your family and self. Everyone will say you can or can’t do certain things, but you’re the only one who can make that choice. And sometimes you need to learn from your mistakes, never be afraid to fail. Always continue to push through every barrier and realise what you can achieve. I wouldn’t have changed what I did to get me here, because my failures have helped me get to where I am today. Success doesn’t always come so fast but with patience it comes in the end.

BigChange couldn’t be more excited to partner with Nic Hamilton in his quest for motor sports success. As a inspirational person, dedicated driver and strongly committed member of the road safety community, Nic represents exactly what hard work, drive and never giving up can achieve. We look forward to sharing in Nic’s upcoming races and support him and the Leaders for Life community in promoting road safety and driver accountability.

To see Nic in action, and event register to win tickets to his upcoming races please like our posts on social media and go to https://www.bigchange.com/about-us/meet-bigchange-ambassador-nic-hamilton-win-tickets-to-the-british-touring-cars/

At BigChange, we’re always looking to provide better and more comprehensive services for our customers.

We feel that by providing the best product for your business we can simplify operations, and remove the hassle of excess paperwork, to help you do your job more efficiently.

In our quest to meet the needs for advanced business advisory solutions, BigChange recently acquired Labyrinth Logistics Consulting Limited and their highly capable staff. With Labyrinth’s history of customer success, innovative solutions and pragmatic approaches to complicated problems, we are thrilled to integrate their best practices into how we help our customers reach their collective goals.

To help our customers and the service sector understand how this acquisition will enable BigChange to better support customers’ needs, we recently sat down with Jo Godsmark & Ruth Waring. Ruth and Jo are Directors of the BigChange Advisory Plus unit.

BigChange: Could you tell us a little bit about your background, industry experience and previous accomplishments?

Ruth Waring: I have 30 years’ experience working in different roles within the transport industry specialising in UK road freight as well as the logistics and transport community. In 2008 I set up the voluntary organisation Women in Logistics UK which is a point of personal pride. I was honoured to be recognised from 2016 to 2018 as a member of the “Logistics 100” top influencers in the Logistics Industry, winning the overall “Top Influencer” award in September 2018.

Before BigChange’s acquisition, I had spent the previous 17 years at Labyrinth directing all aspects of transport cost management, transport compliance and Health & Safety for the organisation. Along with Jo [Godsmark] and our Labyrinth colleagues we developed SilkThread®, a compliance audit tool with evidence hosted in the cloud. SilkThread® is being rebranded as BigChange Audit and is available to BigChange customers to help them manage compliance.

Jo Godsmark: I started my career in manufacturing engineering, at Ford and Mars, culminating in the build of a greenfield sugar factory in the Czech Republic, before moving into supply chain design and logistics procurement at Mars. For ten years I was privileged to head up Labyrinth’s Supply Chain division. In this role I was responsible for, building up a strong base of clients across a wide range of sectors including the aviation, industrial, food, construction and charity logistics sectors. I was voted a member of member of the “SHD Logistics 100” top influencers in the Logistics Industry, in 2018.

In my philanthropic work I am the chair of Transaid, the international development organisation working on transport solutions in Africa. BigChange is one of Transaid’s corporate members and I am delighted to be able to continue this role with BigChange’s support. I am also the Chair of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’s Outsourcing and Procurement Forum, looking at best practice related to outsourced logistics, initiating research and promoting networking and discussion in this area. I am currently co-authoring a book on logistics outsourcing, using insights from this group.

BigChange: What will your role will entail at BigChange?

Ruth Waring: As Director of BigChange Advisory Plus my role will be to combine the three stands of expertise: Transport industry intelligence, BigChange Audit and JobWatch functionality to provide a one stop shop for the logistics industry. My role will involve business development as well as managing the team.

Jo Godsmark: My role at BigChange is Director of Advisory Plus, the new consultancy arm of BigChange. Together with Ruth Waring I will be building this new service within BigChange to support both existing BigChange customers and new customers. My particular focus will be on supporting customers with strategic reviews and business change. We will also be using JobWatch data to target efficiency improvements and support transport modelling.

BigChange: How does BigChange’s acquisition of Labyrinth’s tangibly help customers?

Ruth Waring: It is a fantastic synergy; we already had meetings with a number of our customers and it is clear that there is massive potential for cross-selling and benefits for all. In practice, I view BigChange’s acquisition as a real meeting of minds, bringing our expertise to a market segment that BigChange had, until recently, not actively pursued. In bringing Labyrinth’s experience with industry-leading, blue chips and our truly hands-on approach to providing practical solutions combined with our real-world understanding of the logistics industry, I think we can significantly expand the services BigChange provides, particularly in the area of compliance and risk management.

Jo Godsmark: BigChange’s acquisition of Labyrinth tangibly helps its customers by offering them broader business support to help them transform business performance. For JobWatch customers we can use data in the system to pinpoint improvement opportunities. However, unlike other BigChange support services, the Advisory Plus team can also tackle business strategy outside the scope of JobWatch. This might unlock the savings potential from JobWatch, but will also deliver savings unrelated to the product.

BigChange: Why are you excited to work at BigChange?

Ruth Waring: Working with Martin and the team is a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment but we are loving it. Additionally by offering this new service (Business Advisory Plus) BigChange are able to work more strategically with their client base and unlock barriers to achieving greater improvement. We are also able to take insight from our consultancy to relentlessly improve the product, which in itself is a really exciting prospect considering the high quality stature the BigChange platform already stands in.

Jo Godsmark: I’m excited to be joining the BigChange team and to be part of such a dynamic and industry disruptive team. I hope that I can play a role in transforming how BigChange’s operational data is used to inform and target business performance improvements through insights gained through our strategy work. Martin’s vision and drive to achieve that vision is inspiring and I’m delighted to be part of BigChange’s journey.

BigChange, the mobile workforce management technology company, today announced the it has appointed Sonal Sidpara as the company’s first Head of HR and People Culture.

Sidpara, who has relocated to Leeds from London, will take charge of HR activities at BigChange, which has expanded rapidly in recent years. The company created 40 new jobs during 2018 and recently acquired Labyrinth Logistics Consulting and Trace Systems to accelerate its scale-up plans. It will open its first international offices in France and Israel this year.

Sonal Sidpara comments:

“I am delighted to be joining such an exciting and successful businesses. BigChange is growing fast and moving rapidly into new territories, but it still recognises the importance of putting people first and looking after them properly. I’m really looking forward to working with everyone at BigChange and helping the company achieve its full potential.”

Martin Port, founder and CEO of BigChange, comments:

“Sonal is a fantastic addition the BigChange team. As the business expands she will help put the structures in place that larger businesses require, while ensuring that BigChange remains a place where people are inspired to come to work every day and feel they can make a real difference.”

With recent dramatic technological advances and the rise of millennials in the mobile workforce (more on this topic in the coming weeks, stay tuned), new software solutions have become an essential element in helping businesses save money, contractor time and improve customer satisfaction.

Advanced CRM systems fill the ever-growing need to find cohesive and simple to use systems to organise numerous contractors, suppliers, invoices, their related costs, and the resulting paper trail.

Where traditional methods of managing a mobile workforce often involved a dizzying array of papers and phone calls; missed appointments and a less than ideal first-time fix rate, new fully mobile systems, like BigChange’s JobWatch, can make a significant impact on these critical factors driving customer retention and satisfaction.

CRM software is the process which brings all these parts together.

Through the integration of CRM platforms, such as BigChange’s JobWatch, service providers gain a new level of system-wide transparency never previously possible.

A holistic approach to field service management must include features which give customers greater access to time-sensitive updates, transaction history and detailed inventory of service calls, while also enabling the back-office to quickly create invoices and detail service reviews for billing.

With a range of CRM options out there it may be difficult to determine which one best meets your organisational needs and goals. Some important questions to think about in choosing the right platform for your unique service requirements include the following.

Here at BigChange we are truly committed to improving road safety. We feel the that setting a good example for our customers, employees and the community starts with us.

That’s why we’ve partnered with two Charites, Brake the Road Safety Charity and Transaid – Road Safety in Africa, as part of our corporate and social responsibility campaign “Leaders for Life”, to make the biggest difference we can.

Leaders for Life brings together a group of influential and inspirational CEOs and senior executives who together will create a ‘movement for good’ through raising awareness of the importance of road safety and highlighting this in the workplace by sharing their own driving habits transparently.

This month’s winner of most improved driver goes to Stuart Lawlor of Corporate Road Solutions. We recently got the chance to catch up with Stuart to talk about the impact the Leaders for Life program has made on his driving habits. We couldn’t be prouder of Stuart’s commitment to safe driving and Corporate Road Solutions desire to partner with BigChange on improving road safety and driver behaviour.

BigChange: Could you briefly explain your background and industry experience.

Stuart Lawlor: I have over 40 years’ experience in the transportation and logistics industry. I began my career as a Driver for White Arrow, then moved onto Woolworths and then Argos where I was employed for twenty-seven years, fifteen of these as a Transport Manager.

BigChange: How long have you worked with BigChange & how has this partnership impacted your business?

Stuart Lawlor: Corporate Road Solutions began its partnership with BigChange in the past year and has had a big impact on the business, both from an efficiency and motivational point of view. We have been able to make savings in areas like fuel consumption. We have also had very positive feedback from our drivers and may implement our own Driver of the Month recognition.

BigChange: Why are you committed to being a leader for life? Why do you value improving road/ driver safety?

Stuart Lawlor: I am committed to being a Leader for Life as I believe its principals, values and what it stands for are key for improving and advancing the transport industry. Improving road and driver safety has to be at the forefront of everyone in the industry’s mind – it is that important.

BigChange: Why should other business and industry leaders participate in Leaders for Life/ road safety campaigns?

Stuart Lawlor: Other business and industry leaders should participate in Leaders for Life/ road safety campaigns because of the benefits it can bring to the industry, fewer accidents, fuel savings, more motivated staff and also less vehicle emissions.

In honour of Stuart’s achievement BigChange will be making a donation of £500 to Brake and £500 to Transaid on his behalf. For more information on how you can become a leader for life, please visit https://www.bigchange.com/leadersforlife/

Nicolas Hamilton, the BigChange backed British racing driver, will rejoin the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship in 2019, for his first full assault on the series at the wheel of a ROKiT-sponsored Motorbase Performance Ford Focus RS.

Leeds-based BigChange, which provides mobile workforce management technology, is one of the sponsors that is supporting Hamilton’s BTC bid. Hamilton is an ambassador for Leaders for Life, BigChange’s campaign to turn business leaders into role models for road safety and reduce the number of people killed on Britain’s roads by people driving for work.

Hamilton, the brother of five-time world champion Lewis, contested 12 rounds of the UK’s premier motor racing championship in 2015 at the wheel of an Audi S3. The 26-year-old, who competes with cerebral palsy, will race a specially modified Ford Focus RS in the full 30-race BTC programme this year.

Martin Port, founder and CEO of BigChange, comments:

“Nic is a fantastic ambassador for our business and our road safety campaign, and we are delighted that our support is helping him to race in the BTCC this year. We are proud to support Nic and wish him all the best for the season ahead.”

Nicolas Hamilton comments:

“I am very proud that I finally get this chance to have a full crack at motorsport and to be doing it in the BTCC, driving for a competitive outfit such as Motorbase Performance, is unbelievable. As well as having ROKiT on-board, each specific relationship I have with my additional partners is very personal to me. I am delighted to be supporting the Leaders for Life campaign and I would urge all business leaders to sign up and play their part in reducing risk on Britain’s roads.”

David Bartrum, Team Principal at Motorbase Performance, comments:

“I’m looking forward to Nic joining us in the BTCC. He brings a different type of journey for us to go on with him. He also brings with him a steely determination, a willingness to learn and a craving to succeed.”

Hamilton will join former BTCC Independents Trophy winner Tom Chilton and Ollie Jackson in the three-car Motorbase Performance team. The new Kwik Fit BTCC season kicks off at Brands Hatch in Kent on April 6th.