Chairman's spotlight on Luke Taylor - founder of Cloud Pluming & Heating

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Chairman’s spotlight on… Luke Taylor, founder of Cloud Plumbing & Heating

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.

Top entrepreneurs know when to ask for help

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.

BigChange: even more inclusive and successful in 2022

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

Chairman’s spotlight on… Peter Holmwood, customer service director at SES Home Services

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

Strikes have no place in a modern economy

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

Don’t wall yourself off from your team

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

There are so many ways to give back as an entrepreneur

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

Why the Queen is an entrepreneurial icon

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

Every entrepreneur wants to give up sometimes

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

Our collaboration Network is helping small firms increase revenues by 15%

Five years ago I had a brainwave. BigChange, which was just a start-up back then, was starting to make an impact and we had amazing customers coming on board every single

Embrace your inner renegade, like Elon Musk

"Look, I know I sometimes say or post strange things, but that's just how my brain works. To anyone who's been offended, I just want to say, I reinvented electric

The BigChange University: how our learning platform changed everything

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

We all deserve a chance

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,

Chairman’s spotlight on… Andy Wright, CEO of Sunbelt Rentals

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

A great PA is an entrepreneur’s secret weapon

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

It’s official: we are now the UK’s worst-kept secret

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

Stop doomscrolling and turn fear into positive action

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

Chairman’s spotlight on… Jo Sherwood, director of Sherwoods

So many of the nation’s small businesses hold fascinating stories just waiting to be told. One of these is the history of Sherwoods, which has become one of the most admired

Your customer’s success is everything

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

What do we want? More women on the tools. When do we want it? Now.

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

I stand with my colleagues in Ukraine

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

Why we need more female apprentices

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

Chairman’s spotlight on… Paul Van Heeswyk

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

Where are all the jobs for the disabled?

Here’s one thing I know for a fact. Meaningful work is fundamental to a happy life. Whether you’re 25 or 55, able-bodied, disabled, if you have special needs, or you

The deal that opened a new chapter

On the 4th of February 2021, I embarked on one of the greatest adventures of my professional life so far.

Help your stars to shine

I’m obsessed with career development. I have always said that people are your greatest asset in business. Helping those people to thrive and rise through your organisation is a particular

Chairman’s spotlight on… Steve Cardwell, founder of Generator Power

Last year, I introduced the “Chairman’s spotlight on” series to celebrate some of the incredible people I have met on the BigChange journey. There are too many unsung heroes in British industry:

Would you slash sick pay for the unvaccinated?

This week, IKEA and Wessex Water have made headlines for taking a controversial stance on unvaccinated employees. They have announced cuts to sick pay for unvaccinated staff who must isolate

2021: a year of innovation and ambition, laying the foundations for growth

It feels like yesterday that I was writing our year in review for 2020. What a whirlwind the last 12 months have been. You think that when your business comes

Chairman’s blog: Every entrepreneur needs a first-rate lieutenant

I first met Andrew Scully when he was six years old. His brother James was good friends with my eldest son, Ben, and our two families went for a walk

The leaders taking BigChange into an even brighter future

When you surround yourself with talented, driven people, wonderful things happen. That’s always been my experience, anyway.

A night to remember

Last night, the whole company came together for the first time in two years. Almost 200 team members gathered in Aspire Leeds, the former site of the Yorkshire Penny Bank,

The right to disconnect leaves founders high and dry

This month, Portugal passed a law making it illegal for employers to contact their teams outside of official working hours. Any bosses found breaking the law could be subject to

How many awards have you entered this year? If the answer is, ‘None’, this post is for you.

This week, BigChange has had the pleasure of attending four awards ceremonies. We didn’t win prizes at all of them, but it was enough to be nominated.

How are you planning to reach net zero?

World leaders have now gathered in Glasgow to debate and agree a united response to the climate emergency. There is a lot riding on COP26 – the fate of the

Come on Rishi, let me reward my hard-working team

After all his promises, this week’s Budget was something of a damp squib. Rishi Sunak tinkered with a few minor reforms and introduced a temporary boon to the hospitality, retail

Dear entrepreneur, has the virus changed your priorities? If not, why not?

The world in 2021 looks very different to the landscape in 2019, doesn’t it? Things that used to denote success and financial freedom – fast cars, luxury clothing, holidays homes

The start-up culture conundrum

One thing that keeps every founder awake at night is: how are we going to maintain my company’s culture and momentum as the organisation grows? If you Google “How to

There is plenty of work out there but are you profitable?

“Turnover is vanity. Profit is sanity.” Most entrepreneurs will have heard these words at some point in their careers. It’s a cliché but, here’s the thing about clichés, they are

The American dream

In 1986, I went to New York to work for a German bread bakery business. I was just 24. I fell in love with the Big Apple, with America, and

September – time to put the pedal to the metal

September is here, and that means one thing: just four months to go till the end of the financial year for many businesses.

Chairman’s blog: There’s luxury and then there’s LUXURY

For me, the thing that truly defines a luxury brand is exceptional customer service. When you have a Leeds accent and you walk into a department store in London and they treat you as though you’re the most important customer in the building, that’s a luxury experience.

--> 2nd September 2021 - There’s luxury and then there’s LUXURY. What really defines a luxury brand? Is it all about heritage? Is it about price? Store location? For me, the

Have a little patience

26th August 2021 - People sometimes ask me what it takes to be successful in business. Of course, there is no simple answer to that question, no magic bullet. But

Don’t lose your humanity in the race to automate

17th August 2021 - I’m on holiday this week. Yes, I actually did it! I took some time off. I’m down in London because my wife Mandy bought me a

My first week as chairman

5th August 2021 - First of all, I'd just like to express my thanks to all the people who have sent well wishes over the past week. As any CEO

Let’s do it. Let’s save the world

22nd July 2021 - What do you do when you want to solve an impossible problem? Give it to an entrepreneur.

Meet two brilliant young tree surgeons, James and Lloyd

Leeds, 16th July 2021 - Meet two brilliant young tree surgeons, James and Lloyd

BigChange wins 170 customers in stellar start to 2021

15th July 2021 - UK technology company secures contracts worth £12.5 million for revolutionary mobile workforce management platform in the first half of 2021

BigChange half-year results: Supporting the UK’s post-crisis recovery

BigChange half-year results: Supporting the UK’s post-crisis recovery Last month, the CBI revealed that Britain’s hard-working companies are powering an extraordinary recovery, taking the economy to pre-pandemic levels by the

In football – and in business – you have to stay hungry for success

June 30th 2021 - When I woke up this morning, the world looked different. Brighter. Full of promise. Why? Because the night before, England had pulled off a triumphant defeat

Time to motivate

25th June 2021 - This is it. Employers across the UK are gearing up to welcome some – if not all – of their employees back to the office. Freedom