Martin Port, Author at Port Growth Partners

Richard Warley appointed CEO of BigChange, Martin Port to become chairman

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Martin Port

BigChange, the leading workforce management technology company for the service and transport sectors, announces today that Martin Port, founder and CEO, is to move into a new role as chairman. Richard Warley, who joined the business as chairman at the start of 2021 will become the driving force of the business as CEO.

The move is announced as BigChange prepares for the next phase of its development. The business, which has achieved nine years of consistent growth, is preparing to expand rapidly across multiple international markets and is building out the next generation of its technology platform.

BigChange’s field service management technology is the core workflow tool for businesses employing field service technicians and operators. BigChange’s tools provide job scheduling, customer invoicing and payments automation, mobile workforce management, and client engagement. The Company’s platform serves 1,600 small to enterprise clients spanning more than 20 industries, from plant hire to drainage and waste, social housing to food service. Clients include Sunbelt Rentals, Silentnight, Recycling Lives, HSS and EDF.

Martin Port, founder and chairman, says:

I couldn’t be more confident that Richard is the ideal person to take on the day-to-day running of the business. He is passionate about BigChange, he’s taken the time to get to know our people and our culture, and he has an extraordinary depth of experience running billion-pound companies. It is our hope that, together, we can help BigChange to reach this milestone – unicorn status – in just a few years. We currently employ over 200 people around the world, and we hope to take that figure to 500 people.
This is a really exciting time for both me and for BigChange. I feel as though I have had a promotion and relish the prospect of a new challenge. My ambitions for BigChange have only intensified over the last few years and I know that, with Richard by my side, we have the best chance of executing our plan to become the leading mobile workforce management platform in every market we target around the world.”

Richard Warley, CEO of BigChange, says:

Martin has built a really special company that combines great technology with a very big heart and an absolute focus on making the world a better place for its customers and the people who work here. I’m excited about the scale of the opportunity out there for BigChange – both in terms of the size of addressable market and the breadth of technological solutions we can bring our customers.
Martin is an evangelist for the business and a great strategic thinker. My role is about taking this business to the next level and ensuring that we preserve all that is brilliant about BigChange’s culture while evolving into a much larger entity. I am going to continue to develop JobWatch’s functionality and relevance to the market, all while maintaining our focus on customer success and excellent service.”

BigChange has experienced 50% average year-over-year revenue growth since inception. In 2020, BigChange was recognised for its outstanding contribution to innovation when it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise, one of the highest official honors for companies in the UK. It boasts a Net Promoter Score of 84.8 – a rating that denotes world class customer service. It has also been ranked among the UK’s top employers, receiving two stars in the Sunday Times “Best Companies To Work For.”

Tips to support compliance with BigChange

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Martin Port

For mobile workers, compliance checks happen daily. They need to show simply and clearly that they are sticking to industry safety measures, the law, customer requirements, and company best practices.

The BigChange platform is designed with this in mind, and the tips below will help compliance checks run smoothly.

Mandatory Questions

When setting up worksheets to be completed on-site, simply tick the ‘Mandatory’ box next to any essential questions.

Where you need your mobile workers to complete a check before they start working, if you have one or more mandatory questions, you can set the ‘Completion time for resource’ on the worksheet to ‘Before starting the job’. This requires mobile workers to answer those crucial questions before they can get started on their job.

It’s just one way to keep your employees safe and ensure compliance checks are made on-site.

Conditional Branching

This makes sure the right questions get asked and don’t get in the way of work.

It allows you to set up worksheets so that questions are only shown if they need to be, which is important because irrelevant questions cause frustration and waste time in the field.

Conditional branching has multiple uses. For example, if a frontline worker reports that a certain hazard is present, it can automatically prompt follow ups about the nature of the hazard, and give tailored guidance. If the hazard is not present, the additional questions are not shown.

Or on a feedback form a customer rating of 1-4 could prompt more questions about why the customer was dissatisfied, while a rating of 8+ could prompt them to leave a brief, written review.

We hope these tips make compliance easier with BigChange. We’ll be back again soon with more ways to get the most from the system.

BlueSnap partnership to accelerate payments and end-to-end job management on BigChange

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Martin Port

BlueSnap to support BigChange Pay, enabling customers to accept a wide range of payment methods and manage the entirety of jobs through the BigChange platform

BigChange, the revolutionary mobile workforce management platform, today announced that it is working with BlueSnap, the global online payments technology company, to provide a comprehensive payment capability to field service companies around the world.

By integrating BlueSnap’s technology into BigChange’s software, the company’s 1,600 customers worldwide will be able to streamline their payment processes and improve their user experience by offering a wide range of fast, convenient payment options through the platform.

The new BigChange Pay service will support a wide range of payment methods, including cards, mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, and account-based payments. BlueSnap will ensure that BigChange customers worldwide can accept payment through the company’s platform, while protecting them with integrated fraud detection and chargeback management functionality.

BigChange Pay will provide detailed reporting and support automated payment reconciliation with jobs and invoices to further reduce the administrative burden on back-office teams.

Martin Port, BigChange founder and CEO commented:

Fast, efficient payment is the best reward for a job well done, and BigChange Pay will help businesses grow stronger by making it easy to deliver an amazing payment experience to their customers and get paid quicker.”

BigChange Pay means entire jobs – from quotation and job creation to service delivery, invoicing, and now payment – can all be managed within the BigChange system. That end-to-end approach enables exceptional customer service, complete control and more efficient, agile operations.”

Ralph Dangelmaier, BlueSnap CEO added:

BlueSnap is thrilled to be partnering with BigChange to offer their customers global embedded payments with BigChange Pay. With our white labeled solution, BlueSnap enables BigChange to deliver a seamless customer experience with auto-onboarding for global businesses who want to offer a localised payment experience and have greater visibility into their payment program with a merchant managed portal.”

“He was never beaten”: John Stiles on World Cup winner Nobby

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Martin Port

Nobby Stiles wasn’t a man naturally cut out for football. His son John told this month’s Motivational Monday that he was half-blind, stood at 5-foot-5, and was 9 stone wet through.

Even his name wasn’t right. After meeting Manchester United coach Jimmy Murphy, he was told:

“You can’t be a tough-tackling midfielder with a name like Norbert”.

That’s how we came to know him as Nobby.

And yet Stiles is one of only three Englishmen to have won both the World Cup and the European Cup.

John Stiles joined the BigChange team to tell the story of his father, the 1966 England midfielder who died in 2020 with advanced dementia, which his family links to years of heading the ball.

John said:

“All of us have obstacles in life and my dad had plenty, what he did have going for him was a fantastic sense of humour. He was always enthusiastic, and he was never beaten.”

Nobby was largely on the bench at United from 1960 to 1963. Five years later, he’d have a World Cup, European Cup and League Title to his name. It all came from not giving up.

Nobby was so short-sighted that when he forgot his contact lenses for his first under-23 game for England he tried to take out Scottish striker Charlie Cooke but kicked Billy Bremner instead. John recalled:

“After that, whenever they’d play together, they’d kick seven different shades out of each other.”

It was Nobby’s first step towards the 1966 World Cup. He played every minute for England – from media criticism after a crunching tackle against France, the violent game against Argentina (which finished with a chair through the dressing-room window), to the iconic image of him dancing with the Jules Rimet trophy in one hand and his false teeth in the other.

But there was a greater importance to John’s visit. Nobby passed away while suffering from advanced dementia in October 2020. He was one of many ex-players who suffered brain injuries after a long career in football – an “epidemic of dementia from heading the ball” as John put it.

Since its inception in 2020, John and his family have been ambassadors for Head for Change, a charity pushing for better protection of brain health in sport, and supporting ex-players.

John was joined by the charity’s co-founder Dr Judith Gates. She said that:

“Players like Nobby formed the foundation of the modern game but didn’t get modern-day compensation.”

Her own experience of supporting her husband and ex-Middlesbrough player Bill Gates (who suffers with chronic traumatic encephalopathy), motivated her to be part of the solution.

The instant impact Head for Change has had in setting up support groups, educating,

and funding groundbreaking research has shown the popularity of the cause.

Thanks go to the BigChange audience, who raised £1000 for Head for Change, and our speakers John and Judith. You can watch the full discussion here.

Next month, we welcome former English Netball head coach, Tracey Neville MBE. She guided the women’s national team to Commonwealth Gold in 2018 and will be joined by Leeds community-action charity CATCH. We hope to see you then.

You can register here.

Bolt the back door to your account with 2-Step Verification

Posted on 29 July 2021 by Martin Port

At BigChange, keeping customer data secure is a priority. Our ISO 27001 accreditation and independent security testing regime is testament to that commitment.

However, you also play an important role in maintaining security by keeping passwords secure. With BigChange, your data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, but using the same password for other accounts or responding to phishing emails can put you at risk.

BigChange’s 2-Step Verification (2SV) – a security feature that requires two pieces of information to authenticate you when logging in – offers another level of protection for your account and data.

While the first piece of information is your username and password, the second is an extra credential that only you will have access to, a dynamically changing pin sent to your phone via the Google Authenticator App. You can even get the authenticator for many smart watches in addition to your phone. It makes sure that even if your password is compromised, your account remains protected.

We are encouraging all BigChange customers to enable 2SV in the ‘Admin’ panel of ‘My Settings’, on the BigChange system. Hit the ‘Create’ button, and you’ll be shown a QR code that you can scan to set up 2SV.

For more tips on security, check out our Information Security Report which lays out the best ways to keep your data safe with BigChange.

Let’s do it. Let’s save the world

Posted on 22 July 2021 by Martin Port

The global small business community needs to turn its attention to the climate change crisis.

What do you do when you want to solve an impossible problem? Give it to an entrepreneur.

The people who create businesses from nothing know how to overcome every barrier and think of a way through every challenge.

That’s why the global small business community needs to turn its attention to the climate crisis.

We have eight years – just eight years – to radically change humanity’s impact on the planet before the planet enters climate change catastrophe.

It would be easy to read something like that and feel paralysed. Feel like there’s no point trying. Not the entrepreneur.

The business owner instead thinks of the small, incremental changes they can make to turn the tide.

At BigChange, we are committed to saving the planet and helping all of our customers do the same.

We are saving more than 5,000 trees from the papermill each year through our technology. We are helping customers to radically cut their carbon emissions by having fewer vehicles on the road and operating more efficiently.

Our users’ mission

Today, we have 40,000 users on our platform. This community can take the lead on sustainability, to go further and faster, well beyond simply going paperless, cutting carbon and minimising waste.

They are delivering so much more impact than BigChange could accomplish on its own, amplifying the environmental benefits in all that we create, and creating a halo effect by educating their peers and industries on how to operate more sustainably.

We work with some of the pioneers in the field of sustainability.

Fleetsolve, which provides renewable energy solutions to help clients reduce carbon emissions, is now one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of biofuel Combined Heat and Power.

Recycling Lives provides a total waste management service which supports the circular economy and increases the volumes being recycled.

Smart metering company Providor empowers people and businesses to make better decisions about when and how they use energy.

Companies like these prove that it’s possible to truly consider people, profit and planet in the creation of phenomenally successful models.

We must take action now

It’s impossible to ignore the facts anymore.

I’m not trying to scare you. I know that these things can be hard to read. I’m just trying to explain why sustainability is now an absolute focus, both for me personally and for the company.

When I started writing this blog, I wondered if it was a mistake. Who am I to tell anyone to do better? We aren’t perfect.

But no company is perfect. We shouldn’t let that stop us. Let’s just make sure that every decision we make, every action we take, from this point onwards, creates less of a negative impact in the world and – ideally – generates environmental benefits instead.

Every action – any action – is better than doing nothing. It will take 40 years for the impact of emissions today to be felt. Even if we miraculously fixed everything this year, we’ll still have to endure 40 years of climate change before things start to get better. It’s a sobering thought but one that should galvanize us all.

I’m looking at you, my fellow founders and leaders. We are at the helm, and it is our responsibility to lead our organisations and set the example for others.

We don’t have years to change course. We must be nimble now and make decisions today that we execute tomorrow.

Let’s use that to the planet’s advantage. We all need to play our part in saving the world. Let’s start today.

Meet two brilliant young tree surgeons, James and Lloyd

Posted on 16 July 2021 by Martin Port

What were you doing when you were 18 or 19 years of age? Chances are, you were going to parties, spending time with friends, maybe studying or taking a junior role in the workplace. When James and Lloyd Barnes were that age, they were working seven days a week, growing their new business Venerable Tree Care.

I met the brothers recently when they were working on some trees over the road from my house. We had some trees that needed cutting back, so I asked them to quote, and they came and did the work. Now, as you will all know, I love talking to people so I started asking them about their business, and their ambitions for the future.

They impressed me so much with their drive, work ethic, and the quality of the service they provided (if anyone reading is looking for someone to help manage trees on their property, don’t hesitate to give them a call!). They took just three days holiday last year, working in all weathers. And, at 22 (James) and 21 (Lloyd) years old, they are so inspiring in their love for the environment and their commitment to help preserve ancient and beautiful trees.

Here’s what happened when I sat down with James to ask him a few questions about their journey so far.

Me: How did you get into tree surgery?

James: Both our parents are tree surgeons so we’ve been doing this from the time we could walk. It’s in our blood. We set up our company three years ago and it’s been pretty full-on since then.

What kind of work do you like to do?

We chose the name Venerable because it means old and wise, and that’s how we see trees. We specialise in things like root improvement and tree science, and we love working on big, old trees. There are lots of generalist tree surgeons out there, but we do less of the felling and more of the preservation.

What challenges do you face in business?

We have really struggled to find software that helps us to quote and send invoices effectively. The systems we have in place are really time-consuming – time we are not being paid for. We have been looking for one professional platform that takes care of it all, syncs with our calendar, and helps us look really professional to our clients. I’m hoping that BigChange can help us with that!

Where do you get your drive?

Our parents were also self-employed from their twenties, so I think their drive has always pushed us forward, especially my mum, who is the most driven woman I’ve ever met. While all out friends were going off to uni, I was working down in London for minimum wage just to get experience doing this job before setting up the company. Lloyd and I just really love what we do. What’s better than being outside and climbing trees all day?

What are some of your proudest achievements?

We did a job for Whixley Church a while back where they couldn’t get any machinery – cherry pickers etc – near a really old chestnut that needed work, so we had to do it all using a rope and harness. We have also worked for the National Trust, removing dead trees that threatened to fall on the greenhouse at Nunnington Hall. We’re really proud that we’re attracting these kinds of clients when the business is so young.

What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far?

Definitely to buy machinery brand new. When we started out, to save money we spent our life savings buying everything second-hand. But the vans and equipment kept breaking down and there were no warranties, so it cost us a lot of money. We’ve learned to buy everything new on finance with warranties in place. That’s been our biggest lesson. That, and getting a good bookkeeper so you’re not trying to do everything yourself.

It is so important to support the younger generation of entrepreneurs – especially go-getters like James and Lloyd. I am planning a shop floor day with the pair over the next couple of weeks to find out how I can help them to grow and succeed. If they’ll have me, I’d like to mentor them and pass on any advice or experience that can be of use. And yes, we are getting them started with the BigChange software this week. I know that our technology can help them grow sustainably, and cost-effectively, and I’m so excited for the bright future ahead of them.

BigChange wins 170 customers in stellar start to 2021

Posted on 15 July 2021 by Martin Port

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

BigChange, the revolutionary mobile workforce management platform, today announced that it has attracted 170 new customers and signed more than £12.5 million worth of contracts in the first six months of 2021.

BigChange revealed that 1,600 organisations worldwide are now using its software to manage their field operations in real-time, streamline activities and boost business performance. New customers include T&M Plant Hire, JBC Industrial Services, Countyclean Environmental Services and Environ Property Services.

More than a quarter of the company’s existing customers purchased additional licences to support their own business growth in the past six months.

BigChange has accelerated its expansion plans this year following a £75 million investment from private equity firm Great Hill Partners in February. It has appointed a new Chairman with experience running leading technology companies in Europe, Japan and North America, and hired 40 new employees, including a new Chief Marketing Officer to drive its expansion plans.

The company also embarked on an ambitious innovation programme to enhance its core Software-as-a-Service platform with new data, automation and payments capabilities.

Martin Port, BigChange founder and CEO, comments:

“Businesses grow stronger when they run on BigChange. We succeed by helping our customers succeed, win more work, increase the capacity of their teams and turn their customer experience into a competitive advantage. We’ve enjoyed a stellar start to 2021 and could increase revenues by up to 50 percent this year.”

BigChange’s 2021 half-year results: Supporting the UK’s post-crisis recovery

Posted on 8 July 2021 by Martin Port

BigChange has had a fantastic start to 2021. Below we highlight the key achievements across the first six months of the year.

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 end of the year.

BigChange is among the businesses that are supporting this recovery, creating new jobs at an incredible rate, winning business both at home and abroad, and creating sustainable revenues that will help the nation bounce back from the crisis.

It is with absolute pride that I announce our 2021 half-year results.

People power

We have grown our team to more than 200 people over the last six months. These brilliant new colleagues are part of our sustained investment in BigChange’s growth as we continue to build out our capabilities and win new business from customers large and small.

In the second half of this year, we will welcome even more new faces. We are also currently building out our C-suite, bringing in top talent from across the industry to help support our growth ambitions.

Going for growth

During the last six months, BigChange signed more than £12.5m-worth of new contracts. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all 170 of our new customers – thanks for choosing BigChange.

We now have 1,600 customers in total, with 40,000 users now relying on our technology. What an incredible result from the team!

And we’re not done yet. We believe we will surpass 400 new customers by the year-end.

Based on our performance so far this year, this means we are on track to increase revenues by as much as 50% across 2021.

Loyalty and customer success

It’s wonderful to welcome so many new customers into the fold but, at BigChange, we never let new business distract us from the important job of cherishing and supporting our existing customer base.

This is why I am so pleased that our repeat orders are exceptionally high, with more than 400 customers increasing their licence base in the past six months.

I am also delighted that we have improved our Net Promoter Score.

At 84.8, this NPS shows that BigChange offers world-class service to customers. If you would like to find out more about how BigChange keeps customers happy and helps them to thrive, please read our new customer testimonials.

Our commitment to innovation

Regular readers of this blog will know that earlier this year I pledged to focus on innovation and the creation of a pipeline of new product features to empower and supercharge the global mobile workforce.

We are making good on that promise, releasing several new features in the coming months. Customers will be able to unleash the power of their data through our data-as-a-service offering, we will also offer customers large and small access to best-in-class business insights and analytics through our eagerly awaited PowerBI reporting built in the BigChange platform.

And we have upped the automation factor in BigChange Pay to take on even more of the grunt work when taking payments.

As always, all our R&D is focused on helping our customers to grow and become more efficient. If there’s something you want us to add to the platform, tell us! We have created an ideas portal to allow anyone to suggest updates or new features.

Have you graduated from the BigChange University?

I am over the moon that so many of our customers have attended the BigChange University over the past six months. In total, our sessions saw more than 2,500 attendees.

We created the University as a place where students can learn how to get the most out of the platform and find out about new and exciting functionality.

We continue to improve and update our modules to offer real, tangible value, so if you haven’t had a look yet, then book your session today.

Doing our bit for charity

As a business, BigChange is committed to giving back, both to our local community and to charitable organisations that are making a big difference to people’s lives across the world.

Last year, we decided to link our Motivational Monday series – our monthly events that welcome inspirational speakers – with charitable giving.

This has been hugely successful and over the last six months, we have welcomed the likes of: Janet Street-Porter, the journalist and media personality; Kevin Sinfield OBE – or Sir Kev – the rugby player and campaigner; Tracey Neville MBE, the netball star who played for and coached the England team; and Benjamin Mee, who bought and reopened Dartmoor Zoo.

Among the charities that the series has supported are: Living Potential Farm, which offers work experience to those with learning difficulties and disabilities; men’s mental health charity Andy’s Man Club; PhysCap, which works to improve the quality of life of children suffering from severe physical disabilities; Homeless Street Angels, which helps those sleeping on the street of Leeds; the community action charity CATCH, and veterans’ charity Help for Heroes.

It’s a privilege to be at the helm of a business that is creating so much positive momentum for the economy – and for our customers and community.

Huge congratulations to the team for a job well done.

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

Posted on 30 June 2021 by Martin Port

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 of Germany in the Euros.

It’s amazing how a win like that can change the way you feel about life. When that first goal went in, I forgot all my worries. When England scored the second goal, it felt like even the stresses of the pandemic were melting away.

This is why politicians love a football championship. They distract the nation from what’s going on in Westminster. Matt Hancock and Boris have been booted off the front pages by England’s victory.

In the first century CE, the poet Juvenal wrote that Roman emperors would use “bread and circuses” to keep the people distracted. Our modern-day emperors use the footie. But I digress…

England’s win got me thinking about the impact of success. When you’re winning, you feel on top of the world. All you need is one thing to go right, and suddenly your whole outlook is different. But successes can also be distracting – they can take one’s eye off the next win, the next big goal.

I have run a few businesses in my life and I have seen it time and time again. In one of my past companies, I noticed this phenomenon at play in the sales team. A person would have a bad run, then get one sale in and feel like they were on easy street again. It was great to see them find success but also worrying that that success meant they stopped trying.

I’m conscious that as a founder, CEO and chief visionary, I must always be on the hunt for the next big achievement. The next milestone. Life doesn’t stop because you get a win. Of course, it’s important to stop and reflect on what we have done but, after a brief pause, it’s on to the next thing.

When Great Hill Partners invested in BigChange earlier this year, that was a big win for me. That was my own personal Euros moment. All my life I’ve wanted to grow a business to a valuation of £100m, and I’d done it. It felt pretty good. But the next day, I had to think about the next goal – the journey to a £1bn valuation.

I hope that England’s players are similarly focused on the next big win. We play Ukraine next, and it’s still a long old road to the final. I gave myself the whole of Wednesday to appreciate the England win but now my mind is on the next match.

Are you hungry for your next success? Tell me what you want to achieve in the comments below and I’ll help keep you accountable.