Martin Port, Author at Port Growth Partners

CEO’s Blog – It’s 3am and I’m awake

Posted on 16 December 2019 by Martin Port

One of the downsides of taking BigChange Stateside is the time difference between the UK and the US. I’m over in Los Angeles right now, and I can’t seem to sleep past 3am.

I’m writing this from a hotel room. It’s pitch black outside and my phone keeps buzzing with emails from the UK.

There’s no way I’m going back to sleep so I’ve decided to use the time wisely: to write about my experiences expanding into overseas markets.

There are a lot of tips out there for entrepreneurs expanding beyond their home borders. The usual ones include things like, ‘Always get on a plane’ – I get on lots of planes. They also tell you to expect cultural difference and it’s true, one size does not fit all when it comes to rolling out a product or service globally.

But there is one all-important point that never seems to get a mention. You must – and I mean must – make sure that all the process and best practice that you have painstakingly built up in your domestic market is transferred to new territories. Otherwise all is lost.

That’s one of the reasons I’m in the States. BigChange is planning on making major inroads here and we already have a couple of customers. I want to make sure that our nascent business is following the processes and brand guidelines that I’ve put in place in the UK.

It’s critical for a couple of reasons. First, is the Net Promoter Score. This is the holy grail for modern companies. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the NPS, it’s an index that ranges from -100 to 100, and indicates a customer’s willingness to recommend your brand to others. It’s source of enormous pride for me that BigChange has a score of 60 in Q3, which means we offer outstanding customer service.

It’s easy for customer service to be eroded by expansion. Too often, companies chase new business without thinking of what kind of experience those new customers will have. Everyone must follow our rules, with no exceptions. Especially when it comes to RoadCrew – our customer service function. This impacts everything from how we interact with customers, to how queries are handled, and the speed of our response.

One of our best routes to market out here is through existing customers; they will help us make connections through their networks. That means we have to be doing a brilliant job, consistently.

The second reason that process is critical is because it maintains efficiency. When you are building a business that is based on automation, you need to follow the rules or else new layers of complexity somehow find their way into the system. Rules can be reviewed and updated regularly but, ultimately, they are sacrosanct.

Luckily, we use our own JobWatch software, which allows us to bake in the processes that we want followed and to check that every ‘i’ has been dotted and ‘t’ crossed. We are expanding both through proprietary sales and through resellers and distributors, so without checks in place it would be easy to lose control.

These are the things I think about when I can’t sleep, and I’m far from home. At least it stops me thinking about the Election tomorrow.

Got any unusual tips on expanding overseas? I’d love to hear them. Please share them in the comments below.

CEO’s Blog – Why I would always rather promote from within

Posted on 2 December 2019 by Martin Port

When you need to fill a role at your company, it may be tempting to bring in an outsider. You may think that newcomers bring skills you haven’t seen yet, insight from competitors, or new ways of tackling problems.

Over the years, I’ve learned that, while hiring from outside the company can be beneficial, it’s often a much better idea to look closer to home.

Here’s why:

At BigChange, our people know the business and our customers inside out. They know my priorities, as a leader. For me, customer experience is paramount. It takes time for new arrivals to understand our culture, and time is something fast-growth technology companies don’t have a lot of.

When you bring in big names from outside the business to fill senior roles, it demotivates the team. When you promote from within, everyone sees the potential to grow and pursue a long-term career at your organisation.

There are people here who started in Roadcrew and have then gone on to take senior roles. They are inspirational figures, helping junior members of the team to dream big!

Hiring through recruiters is expensive and I feel that money is better spent incentivising our people to keep growing and learning new skills in bigger, better roles.

The big promotion

We recently filled a senior position with an internal candidate, and it’s been a major coup for BigChange.

Last January, I bought a company called Labyrinth, creator of an award-winning cloud-based logistics compliance tool (now the BigChange Audit feature).

The company was co-founded by Jo Godsmark and Ruth Waring , a logistics and supply chain specialist. I’m delighted to announce that I have now appointed Jo the Chief Operations Officer of BigChange and Ruth will become Managing Director of BigChange Advisory Plus the former Labyrinth business.

I’ve known of Jo for a while. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) and the chair of the board of trustees for Transaid, a charity I am passionate about. She comes from a big business background – she’s held roles at Mars and Ford.

Seeing the impact she had within Labyrinth, I knew she would be the ideal COO of BigChange. She’s entrepreneurial, empathic, and is highly technical – she’s a chartered engineer.

She is already driving efficiencies here at BigChange, helping our hard-working teams to get the resources they need to keep improving service. She is also as passionate about corporate social responsibility as I am.

It’s been a real joy to bring Jo up through the ranks of BigChange this year. When we bought Labyrinth, we did it because of its brilliant product and people but also because of the cultural fit between our two companies. When looking for a new COO, we could have tried to poach someone from a rival but Jo ‘gets’ BigChange: she gets our mission, she gets the company dynamic, and she gets me.

The next time a senior position opens up in your company, don’t automatically call your recruiter. There may be someone in your organisation that would be perfect for the role.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – France needs a big change

Posted on 24 November 2019 by Martin Port

I was in France last week, meeting the BigChange French team out there. We discussed our progress so far and made plans for the future and then the conversation moved on to the differences between the UK and France.

They have wine with lunch over there, and the break lasts almost two hours so it was a lively debate!

I am a Francophile. I love the food and the culture. But when it comes to working practices, the gulf between the French and us is really striking.

No one can rival the UK for health and safety. We are number one for compliance in Europe, if not the world. We set the standard. My French team told me that France is the opposite: there is simply no understanding of best practice, and compliance is an afterthought rather than a priority.

According to the Health and Safety Executive, the UK has the lowest rate of fatal injury in the European Union at 0.5 per 100,000 employees. In France, that number rises to 3.3. If you look at the number of employees with long-term, work-related heath problems, again, the UK is the best performer, compared to France where more than 5pc of its workforce is affected.

It is clear that France is ready for a big change. We are going to help French companies to build compliance, health and safety, and best practice into their business models in an easy and pain-free way, while becoming more efficient. It’s a no brainer for them.

My team in France also said that customer service levels are nowhere near the high standards we have grown used to in the UK. They told me that when someone comes along with “wow!” customer service, it is really noticeable – new business floods in. We pride ourselves on always putting the customer first.

Of course, there is a lot that we can learn from the French: they are brilliant at complex infrastructure projects and some of the biggest construction firms in the world are based in France. It is also a nation full of highly-skilled workers, especially in areas such as software engineering. Britain is crying out for that kind of talent.

But it fills me with confidence, amidst all the uncertainty around Brexit, that we still clearly have so much to offer. Even after Britain leaves the European Union (if it happens), we have skills and abilities that countries like France desperately need and vice-versa.

It’s only 27 miles between Dover and Calais but France and the UK are worlds apart. I look forward to learning from our French cousins, and bringing all our experience to bear to help French companies thrive.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – A good receptionist is worth their weight in gold

Posted on 17 November 2019 by Martin Port

I think it’s important to recognise the people that have helped BigChange become a truly great company.

Those who are making this a great place to work, great at customer service; and great with suppliers. Our new receptionist has had a profound impact on BigChange. So, this blog is about Georgia.

I first met Georgia last year, when we had our Christmas party at Thorpe Park, just down the road from our offices. She was working there in a sales role, and helped to manage our booking. She said that she was on the lookout for a big change in her career, so we stayed in touch. When a front of house role opened up, she applied.

Georgia has been with us just three months but she’s made some incredible changes that are making life better for all of us.

We have six customer meeting rooms here and, every day, most are full. Georgia sends an email link from our JobWatch system to everyone at the company each day, letting us know which prospects and customers are coming in, when, and in what room. I can just pop in and greet our customer or prospective client. Someone from customer service can go say hello too. It makes people feel really welcome and valued.

She has brought in afternoon “pick-me-ups”, and always keeps the office well stocked with healthy snacks (as well as a drawer of Mars bars) to give us all a little boost if we are starting to flag after lunch.

Regarding managing our facilities we try to use our customers for all the work we can, from security services to electrical jobs and plumbing. All of these jobs are managed by Georgia, using our JobWatch system. She knows everyone, and the whole thing runs like clockwork.

Georgia has taken on the role of events coordinator, organising a Macmillan coffee morning at the office, and taking charge of the Christmas party, as well as our Secret Santa and Christmas jumper competition. Having someone who wants to take ownership of the social calendar, and is talented at organising fun and inclusive events, has been amazing for morale.

I never want to force my team to do things like Secret Santa or charity bake-offs. It’s important that these initiatives are decided by the team and organised by them too. Georgia knows the things that her colleagues love to do, and takes the time to make them happen.

I can’t tell you how important the receptionist role is at a growing company. But I shouldn’t call Georgia a receptionist, really. She’s much more than that. She’s a facilities manager, an events organiser, the face of the company, and the first point of contact many customers have with BigChange. She is invaluable.

I know that I employ a first-rate team here. But when people visit the office or call in, their first interaction is usually with Georgia. The fact that she makes everyone feel welcome, greeting everyone in that brilliant Scouse accent, is the icing on the cake.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – Save us all from the “comfort zoners”

Posted on 3 November 2019 by Martin Port

Around this time last year, I posted about “blockers”. These are the people in an organisation who resist change and stand in the way of progress https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-let-blockers-hold-you-back-martin-port/.

Blockers are a nightmare. They can be hard to spot and may drag the whole team down with them. But they are not the only threat to your business. I’m talking about: the “comfort zoner”.

This is someone who wants to change but refuses to take action to make it happen. They just keep doing things the way they have always been done. I have met a few of these in my time and it drives me mad.

We recently released a new feature called the BigChange Scheduling Assistant. It’s amazing – I know, I would say that. It looks at all your jobs over the next seven days and arranges the job to be scheduled in the best way to maximise the efficiency of all your resources. It’s a bit like Uber, finding the nearest driver to take you on your journey, except more sophisticated. The platform takes into account things like the skill level of each member of the team, vehicle type, even the Service Level Agreement that has been promised to the client. It will find the lowest cost engineer to do the job.

Around 85% of the people using BigChange’s software are engineers. These people can be driving over 100 hours a month. Every hour they aren’t stuck behind the wheel – and are on the tools – means more revenue for their company. Building more efficiency into the way jobs are scheduled can save businesses an absolute fortune. For example, companies think they need to hire another engineer to complete the workload when all they need is to schedule the jobs more efficiently. Not to mention that cutting time on the road does lots of good for the environment and reduces carbon footprint.

And yet, over the past few weeks I have been encountering a lot of comfort zoners that won’t even give it a go. They will find any reason under the sun not to press that button.

I don’t get it. Surely you can enable the functionality, see if it works, and then make your mind up if you want it? Even if you let the computer make the decision, and you check it, it would only take you a few minutes, compared to the money it will cost the company if engineers are spending unnecessary time driving. But comfort zoners always say the same thing: ‘What if X?’ Or ‘I’m worried about Y.’

How do you get a comfort zoner to see that they are a comfort zoner? The only way to prove our system works is to sit beside them and say: “You do it your way and I’ll use BigChange at the same time. Let’s see who improves efficiency?” I would do it, too.

Just think what it would do for your business if you could improve output by even 10%. Just one extra job a day? That could boost revenues, profit, and let you grow your business that much faster. Don’t be a comfort zoner. Push the button.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – My new wellbeing crusade

Posted on 28 October 2019 by Martin Port

About two years ago, I realised that I needed to make some changes in my life. Building a business can take a toll on your health and I was eating badly and hardly exercising.

I took on the challenge of losing 60lbs in six months. To keep myself focused, I created a JustGiving page to raise money, and pledged to donate £60 to Cancer Research for every pound lost. It was hugely motivating and I hit my target, raising more than £5,000 in total.

But now, I find myself sliding back into old habits. I’ve put on 1 stone since losing that weight last year. I need to set myself a new target and get back to healthy eating and exercise.

The fact that I’m back at square one and battling my weight again is hard to take. It got me thinking about wellness at work, and the changes that I would like to make to ensure everyone at BigChange feels good, and looks after their health.

I love using technology to solve problems so we have launched the BigChange Community app. The idea is to create a resource packed with useful features to help my team – and me – to stay happy and healthy.

There will be access to a GP’s advice 24/7; discounted gym membership (we contribute £20 per month to each employee); an online health checker and nutritional information. The app will also provide mental health support, featuring a helpline for emotional support.

This app will help my team to manage their health and mental wellbeing, and reduce stress. If they find it useful, then I would also like to recommend it to BigChange’s customers. Wellbeing at work is so important and many of the companies we work with employ sales people, drivers and engineers. These workers can really struggle, being out on the road for long hours.

The app will also have a business benefit. It has a first day absence service. If someone feels unwell and needs to take a day off, this would trigger a swift call back from the triage desk. They will run through the reasons for the absence and may refer them to an occupational health nurse. This would have the benefit of getting people who really should be in work back into work, prevent absenteeism, but also deliver important medical advice to those who are poorly.

I’m going back on MyFitnessPal. I’ll be bringing back my JustGiving page to raise some money for the British Heart Foundation. I am determined to keep the weight off this time.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – The 4.5-day week: revelations, setbacks and victories

Posted on 18 October 2019 by Martin Port

Back in June of this year I announced that we were bringing in a 4.5-day week in anticipation of moving to a four-day week by 2021.

I’m really passionate about this idea. We live in a modern age powered by automation. We should all be working less, taking better care of our mental health and spending more time with friends and loved ones.

Lots of people told me I was crazy. I said that we would see an uptick in productivity and employee engagement, and no decrease in service. They told me it was likely to put more stress on managers, and that lots of people wouldn’t take the extra half-day.

It turns out: I was right. And you were also right.

Today I walked around the office and spoke to people across every department about our Flexi Friday initiative. I wanted to know if they were taking the half-day, what they were doing with it, and how the system could be improved.

Overall, it’s been a success. People across all teams say it’s a major bonus of working here. New recruits told me it was a factor in their choice to work at BigChange. They couldn’t wait to finish probation so that they could also benefit from the extra time off.

“It feels like I get a proper weekend now,” said our HR director, Sonal. “It’s a big advantage of working here,” Julie from credit control told me. “The extra time off is more valuable than money,” said Isaac, 23, who joined us straight from university.

My straw poll today really brought home the dedication of my team. Tom, who works in commercial, said: “It encourages me to keep on top of things during the week but, if there’s work to be done, I won’t always take it.”

Sonal is meeting with all the managers next week to get a full report but said anecdotally that Flexi Friday has been well-received and there have been no complaints so far.

But there are issues with the new system. I worried that some of the customer-facing teams would struggle to take half days every Friday. That has been the case. Instead they take a half-day at other times in the week but it’s not the same.

Not everyone is able to go flexi. My head of professional services said that he’s told all his friends about it and they’re jealous – but he’s yet to actually take an extra half-day because he has too much on.

BigChange is growing so fast that some teams have just enough people to handle the workload. They simply can’t spare anyone on a Friday. Managers are handling the extra work of allocating resource admirably but there’s no doubt the extra employees absences put pressure on them.

One thing is clear: we need to recruit a lot more people. We can’t expect managers and teams to wholeheartedly embrace Flexi Friday without extra hands on deck. That is now a priority for me: there needs to be cover for every role. That’s the only way to make 4.5 days truly workable.

We are coming towards the end of 2019 and hurtling towards the New Year. I don’t have long to iron out the kinks before we move to a four-day workweek. But we are making progress, and there has been no detrimental effect on service or delivery. Hats off to the team for making this bold idea a moderate – if not runaway – success. And thank you to all the doubters for keeping my feet on the ground. If you have any advice on getting over these last few hurdles, get in touch.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – Why I love Mondays

Posted on 14 October 2019 by Martin Port

Mondays get a bad rep but here at BigChange they are everyone’s favourite day of the week.

That’s because of our regular “Motivational Monday” initiative. Once a month, we invite someone exceptional from the world of sport or business (or anywhere really, as long as they are inspiring) to come in and talk to the team, share their stories and give advice.

Last week, we had Sharron Davies MBE in the office. She represented Great Britain in the Olympics and won a silver medal for the nation. She told us about how arduous training was – getting up at 5am and eating just a single meal each day to stay lean – and how hard it was to survive as an athlete in the old days, before sponsorships deals and TV contracts. It was just fascinating to hear her story.

Last month, we had Mr Motivator, the legend from GMTV morning television. He revealed that he’d been homeless for a time but managed to turn his life around. Other noteworthy speakers have been: Kevin Keegan OBE, football star and manager; Gerald Ratner former CEO of jewellery chain Rateners; Olympic gold medallist Sally Gunnell, the model turned entrepreneur Caprice; the racing driver Nick Hamilton; John McCarthy, who was taken hostage while reporting the crisis in Lebanon; and Mike Newman, who broke the land speed record despite being blind, and has founded the charity Speed of Sight. These are just a handful of the incredible people that have come into the office and chatted to the team. These are small sessions. We can ask questions and have a coffee together – it’s really an amazing thing to do.

We set aside a significant budget to get these people to come in and talk to us but it’s money well spent. Not only do these stories inspire the existing team, it’s also one of the reasons we successfully hire so many great new people. These Monday Motivations also pick me up when I’m feeling tired out or low. I’ve learned something valuable from every single person that’s come and given a talk. Sometimes it’s just a reminder of the importance of tenacity. Other times, I get more practical help: Mr Motivator gave me a few tips on how to sit and stand that help my posture, and I follow that advice every day.

At BigChange, we want to change the perception of Mondays. That’s why we make it possible for people to meet their icons at Monday Motivation. It shouldn’t be a drag to go to work; it should be a joy.

What are you doing to make Mondays better for your people? Let me know in the comments below.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

BigChange named among UK’s fastest growing technology businesses

Posted on 24 September 2019 by Martin Port

BigChange, the mobile workforce technology company, has been included in the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain’s private technology, media and telecoms (TMT) companies with the fastest-growing sales, for the second year in succession.

The Leeds-based company, which entered the league table for the first time in 2018, was named in the Sunday Times as the third fastest growing private technology company in Yorkshire and 59th in the UK overall, with annual sales growth of 77 percent over the last three years.

Martin Port, founder and CEO of BigChange, comments:

“BigChange has a great growth story and we are delighted to be named as one of the fastest growing UK technology businesses for the second year running.”

“Fundamentally, our success comes down to helping customers become greener, more efficient and deliver even better levels of service. We’ve created 120 high value jobs here in Leeds, we’ve recruited a great team and we are continuing to grow quickly through new product innovation, geographical expansion and strategic acquisitions.”

BigChange provides a pioneering mobile workforce management system called JobWatch that is used by over 1,000 organisations globally. JobWatch combines CRM, smart job scheduling, vehicle tracking and a series of mobile applications to eliminate paper record keeping, automate manual processes and facilitate collaboration on the go between companies. BigChange works primarily with organisations in the construction, facilities management, field service, transport, logistics and waste management industries.

CEO’s Blog – A call to arms for all British employers

Posted on 24 September 2019 by Martin Port

It’s not often that I attend an industry event and leave feeling as though my eyes have been opened to something completely new.

But at the recent Women in Logistics conference organised by its founder BigChange Director Ruth Wearing, I was completely bowled over by one speaker: Jennifer Swain.

She works for Clipper, one of the UK’s leading logistics companies. Clipper, like many British companies, is likely to be hit by staff shortages in the wake of Brexit. Unlike many companies, it decided to take decisive action. However, the action it has taken is truly extraordinary.

Clipper has created a Fresh Start programme to widen its talent pool and help support long-term unemployed people into work. The initiative was created in partnership with several charities, all supporting vulnerable, excluded, or disabled people who have struggled to find work elsewhere. Clipper has teamed up with the likes of MenCap, the charity for people with special needs, Scope, which helps those with physical disabilities, Tempus Novo, which works with ex-offenders, and Emmaus, a charity for the ex-homeless, to name but a few. These charities represent around 11m people between them: an extraordinary talent pool that has been almost entirely untapped.

Fresh Start is an incredible example of what’s possible when you marry corporate social responsibility with smart business strategy. It’s inspiring how they have tackled an issue – finding great people to do manual work – but done it in a way where everyone benefits.

It’s not easy to run a project like this. You need to make sure your offices are completely accessible to those with disabilities. You need to make sure you are able to support those with mental health issues or special needs. You need champions on the ground to mentor and guide new recruits. You need to be completely flexible, and allow people to work when they can. Clipper has achieved a Disability Confident Committed award for its approach.

There are a few firms out there doing great work like this. Timpson, the cobblers and locksmith chain, was a trailblazer in employing ex-offenders. Recycling Lives, the waste management company, a BigChange customer is another amazing business that supports the homeless, ex-offenders and the long-term unemployed into meaningful work.

Clipper has now employed many capable staff through Fresh Start. These people are likely to be incredibly loyal and long-serving because they have been given the opportunity to forge a career with a great company. I take my hat off to Clipper.

This has spurred me on to think of how we can do more to help people who have struggled to find work into a rewarding job here at BigChange. I have a vested interest in making this work: as the father of two children with special needs, it’s a cause close to my heart. They are wonderful young adults one does work for BigChange in a software testing role and my other son works on a care farm.

This country needs innovators like Clipper, who take a problem and find enduring and ingenious solutions. Let’s all join the charge.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO