Category: Chairman’s Blog

I’ve been in business for a long time. Long enough to remember the bad old days. Entrepreneurs were seen as ruthless, money-crazed workaholics, who used the language of warfare to describe growing a business. “We’re going to kill the competition” “Take no prisoners” “Here’s the battle plan” These stereotypes were perpetuated by the likes of […]

I like to think of BigChange as a football team. We are top of the league, bringing new talent to the pitch, delighting the fans, and scoring more goals than any other side. We are Manchester City. Bear with me. This analogy is going somewhere… Over the next few months, I want to shine a light on all the departments […]

Four years ago, we established an outpost of BigChange in France. My ambitions for BigChange have always been global, and 2019 was the year that we began expanding across France, Greece and Cyprus. It was an important move for the company, showing our commitment to Europe, post-Brexit. Now, I’m excited to announce that we are […]

As another year draws to a close, I’d like to reflect on all we have achieved here at BigChange. This year has surpassed all our forecasts – like many business leaders; we expected a difficult 12 months because of political upheaval and the sudden biting recession and cost of living crisis. Despite these challenges, our team […]

Want to know how to be a more effective entrepreneur and leader? Take some time off. It may sound counterintuitive, but it’s true: ensuring that you have enough downtime each week will make you a better manager of people and allow you to make better decisions. I know how all-consuming it can be when you […]

The coming recession is likely to be deeper and more severe than we originally thought. Forecasts suggest that the economy will continue to shrink until the summer of 2023 and that the UK will experience a 1.4% contraction across the whole of next year – that’s a major U-turn from the Office for Budget Responsibility’s initial forecast […]

Human beings are social creatures. We need to spend time with one another to feel well – human. BigChange may be a technology company, but we pride ourselves on our humanity – there is always a person at the end of the phone if you need us; our people are unfailingly kind and considerate – and all […]

I have lived with acute hearing loss for most of my life. Over the past year, my hearing has deteriorated – I am now profoundly deaf to high-frequency sounds. Amazing technology exists that helps me live a full and hassle-free life, and there are new developments all the time. But I do sometimes wonder whether […]

Elon Musk’s attitude to innovation is brilliantly controversial. Anything he’s already invented, he sees as ancient history. At Tesla, all his patents are available to analyse – he’s a fundamental believer in open source. Rumour has it he now wants to make all of Twitter’s algorithms publicly available too. In June 2014, Musk issued a […]

One of the advantages of doing the right thing in business is that, even if it takes a while for the market to catch up, you know that one day customers and partners will truly value your approach and offering.  This has been my experience in all my ventures. Whether I was encouraging people to […]

Nothing beats the buzz of a lively office. The chatter of colleagues. The dynamic presentations in meeting rooms. The tea rounds and sharing of treats. It all contributes to the culture – the very lifeblood – of a business. The problem is that, for many businesses, the office is no longer a hive of activity. […]

BigChange was created with a single vision: to help our customers grow and become more successful than they could on their own. It’s been humbling to see that vision become reality over the past few years. We know that our customers are also now more efficient, more resilient, and greener because of our platform. This is […]

As an entrepreneur and investor, I’m always keen to find out about new technologies and new inventions that will shape the industries of the future. These days, innovation moves so fast – if you stand still, you’ll get left behind. When I was invited to join a delegation attending this week’s “Building the Future” event […]

Sometimes, I think the character trait that has helped me most in my life is my single-mindedness. I refuse to give up, even when times are tough. I never listen to those who tell me that an idea can’t work. I stick by my principles no matter what. When I met Michael Taylor, an extraordinary entrepreneur, […]

You know what I really admire about Richard Warley, our CEO? From the moment he joined BigChange, he has stayed absolutely true to the company’s vision. He’s never been distracted by easy short-term wins or gimmicks. His determination to put the customer first has never wavered.  This laser focus has ultimately put BigChange in a strong position […]

Take a break from the Tory party tax tussles, and let me tell you what’s really happening out there in the economy. I’m talking about the story on the ground, a world away from the headlines. Despite all the doom and gloom out there, hard-working business owners and their teams are continuing to thrive and […]

A lot can change in just three short years. Here we are in the autumn of 2022, and our country is a very different place to 2019. A new Prime Minister. A new monarch. A financial crisis. A sinking economy. A nation bearing the scars of the coronavirus pandemic. In the face of all this […]

Be honest. When you hear the phrase “business continuity”, do you zone out? Yes, it’s a dry, well-worn topic, but it’s imperative to business survival.  Behind the jargon is a very real and vital concept. Business continuity simply means: can your business trade on despite disruption and economic strife? The pandemic was the ultimate test […]

Last week, Queen Elizabeth II died, ending an illustrious 70-year reign. The whole nation is now in mourning – as am I. I posted just recently about how I viewed the Queen as an entrepreneurial icon, both because of her support of business owners through the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, and in the way she ran […]

“BigChange removes all the noise and hassle so we can focus on the growth.”  I’m always impressed by how quickly and effectively entrepreneurs find solutions to all sorts of problems and challenges. They don’t think: “I’ll wait for someone else to sort that out.” They roll up their sleeves and crack on. Steve Morris, the […]

In a fast-growing, international business, communication is vital. You need to talk to your teams, your teams need to check in with each other, and you need to keep communicating with customers. This gets harder and harder as the headcount rises. Over the years, I’ve experimented with different ways of creating these conversations. There are […]

Customer service. That’s been my number one focus throughout my career. My ability to listen to customers and help them overcome challenges is the ultimate secret to my success. If you had asked me 10 years ago whether I needed a chief customer officer, I would have said: “Absolutely not. That’s my job.” Actually, I […]

I often talk about how technology can help supercharge growth for businesses of all sizes. Once you find the right software or platform for you, the results can be dramatic. Two years ago, plumber Luke Taylor was working for an insurance firm. He had been at the company six years and had itchy feet. “I […]

Entrepreneurs are good at a lot of things. They have incredible ideas that can revolutionise industries and change the world. They know how to sell their dream and win customers. They understand how to grow their ventures and inspire other people to come along for the ride. Very few entrepreneurs are good at one thing, […]

Our government may be falling apart but at least the UK tech scene is thriving. I read that the UK recently overtook China in terms of technology investment, raising £12.4bn in the first five months of 2022, which is amazing news. It is a privilege to be part of the nation’s technology sector and I’m delighted […]

It’s not just the founder or founders of a business who determine its fortunes. The people who join along the way, believe in the vision, and add their own sparkle to the strategy, are just as vital to its growth and prosperity. This is why I believe it is so important to hire for attitude, […]

The recent train strikes are causing absolute chaos across the UK. I believe it’s time to radically rethink the role of unions – and to accept that striking has had its day. The three-day strike, which will have caused six days of disruption across the UK, saw tens of thousands of Network Rail staff down […]

Throughout history, the best bosses have always led from the front. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to wage war with Pompey, the ensuing civil war culminated in the bitter Battle of Pharsalus in 48BC. Caesar was outnumbered and outmanoeuvred – his forces were being defeated. It was only by grabbing a shield and marching […]

In my experience, when entrepreneurs become successful, they begin to think about how they can give back. They start thinking about the impact they can make on society, on the next generation of entrepreneurs, and their local communities. For many years, my purpose in life has been twofold: to build meaningful businesses and to do […]

No, honestly. Bear with me. As we prepare for this weekend’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, I’d like to tell you a bit about why I believe the Queen is a true inspiration to all entrepreneurs. I am a royalist through and through. I know that not everyone feels the same way, so this is a fair […]

Nobody starts a business expecting half of the curve balls that come their way. I should know. I’ve done it three times.  However hard you try, there will be times when you feel that the whole world is against you. When you can’t see a way forward. When, frankly, you want to throw in the […]

We have a problem at BigChange. How do we show our customers the breadth of our software capability when there are an extraordinary number of features and possibilities to consider? This problem only gets bigger as our platform becomes more comprehensive and we create more layers of detail and personalisation. If you try and explain too […]

I’m not an angry man. I rarely lose my temper. But when I think about the chronic shortage of opportunities for people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, I’ll admit, I feel frustrated and enraged. Every human being on this earth deserves the chance to make something of themselves. To have independence and make their […]

If you need to hire equipment to lift, power, generate, move, dig, compact, drill, support, scrub, pump, direct, heat or ventilate, Sunbelt Rentals has it all. It’s the UK’s biggest plant rental business – and collectively with the States and Canada is one of the two largest in the world. Part of the Ashtead Group, which is […]

Three years ago, I had a wake-up call. I was sitting in my kitchen at 1am, replying to all the emails that I hadn’t been able to deal with during the day. I still had about 100 more to read and I needed to be up to get a train at 6am. In that moment, […]

I’m trying to remember a time when I started one of these quarterly update blogs without referencing the challenging economic climate. Between Brexit, Covid, the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis, it feels like the UK has spent the last five years battling one headwind after another. Throughout all this uncertainty, BigChange […]

These days, every meeting starts with doom and gloom. The war in Ukraine. Rising Covid cases. Sky-high inflation. The escalating cost of living. There’s a lot to be worried about right now, so it’s natural that these issues are front of mind for many of us. But I worry that all this negativity is sapping […]

What can you do today to help your customer be more successful tomorrow? I have spent my whole life building businesses and my obsession with my customers has been the constant that unites all my ventures, whether it’s a bakery or a software company. But when it comes to going the extra mile for customers, […]

Where are all the female apprentices? Why are so few attracted to jobs in the trades? These are the questions I posted two weeks ago. Thank you to everyone who shared and commented, I really value all your contributions. This is a topic that is very important at BigChange – and to all our customers. I want to return […]

Like many of you, I have spent the past week glued to the news, desperately trying to make sense of what is happening to the people of Ukraine. For all of us at BigChange, the conflict feels even more personal because eight of our colleagues are Ukrainian nationals, based in Kyiv. These people are part of […]

Not many schools nowadays invite carpenters and plumbers to their careers days to talk about the value of vocational apprenticeships and jobs in the construction trades – and even fewer focus this advice towards girls. If you know of one that does, I’d love to hear about it, because the number of women who choose […]

Paul Van Heeswyk is known as “Dutch” to most people, even though he’s actually more Irish than Dutch, and has an accent that’s pure Leeds. I met Dutch four years ago. He had just started his business, Crucial Engineering, and was building it from the ground up. The moment I met Dutch, I was impressed. […]