Martin Port, Author at Port Growth Partners

CEO’s Blog – BigChange gets into bed with Silentnight & Sealy

Posted on 4 August 2015 by Martin Port

Another very happy BigChange customer Silentnight Brands welcomed us to their offices in Barnoldswick today.

BigChange is an established force in mobile resource mangement, offering a system that transforms the way companies mange their mobile workforces and mobile operations, JobWatch. By challenging convention and through breakthrough innovation, BigChange is pioneering new intuitive and simple to use technology that delivers industry leading levels of return on investment.

BigChange is here for businesses of all sizes, from small and medium-sized enterprises through to large blue chip organisations. No matter your size or sector, BigChange is here to make a big difference to the way you work for the better.

JobWatch has been developed to perfectly meet the needs of any size of business from SMEs to major blue chip organisations. So whether you have one vehicle or ten thousand, JobWatch will change the way you work for the better, without adding extra complexity. Our solution delivers a level of functionality that has previously only been available to leading multinational corporations with major IT budgets.

www.bigchangeapps.com

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – Average work related accident cost per crash – £3,500

Posted on 15 July 2015 by Martin Port

Work-related road accidents are the biggest cause of work-related accidental death.

Approximately 1000 people are killed annually compared to approximately 250 fatalities due to accidents notified annually under the Reporting of Injuries Diseases & Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).

Employers have duties under Health and Safety law to assess driver competence. Even though employees who drive will have passed the driving test, this on its own is not enough. Employers should still assess individuals to determine competence, attitudes and risks etc. (Source RoSPA)

Managing a Driving for Work Policy is a legal requirement under Health and Safety Legislation & Road traffic law. Management and employees can both be prosecuted for road traffic crashes involving work-related journeys, even when drivers are using their own vehicles.

A survey of 500 business decision makers reveals that 57% of businesses are unaware that they could be subject to a public order if found guilty of a fatal accident at work. This penalty is so significant that it should ensure that Health and Safety is at the heart of business decision making. Particularly when strategic decisions about investment in training or providing new equipment are being made versus promotional spend.

When asked about the implications of breaching the Act-a publicity order or a fine of 10% of turnover, 59% of businesses regarded the former as the greater threat.

In launching the findings of the research CIEH Chief Executive, Graham Jukes said: “This poll research highlights the lack of awareness in most businesses of the effect that an accident at work may have on a firm’s ability to trade in the future. The HSE have just published their new strategy and business awareness of their responsibilities towards ensuring effective health and safety provision is at its heart. “Business leaders must act proportionately but if they fail to properly resource health and safety and something goes wrong then it will not just be the victim that suffers but the business as a whole through the link to the corporate manslaughter and homicide Act.” (Source CIEH)

A risk management policy must be written when a company has five or more employees. Business mileage is any mileage done on the behalf of the business other than commuting, unless they are travelling to a location that is not their usual place of work then it still comes under Health and Safety Law. (Source DfT & HSE).

Average fleet accident rate 65%, Average bent metal cost – £700 (per vehicle)Average hidden costs – £700 x 4 (£2800) – (between 4-36 times bent metal cost . Average overall cost per crash – £3500.

Driver training is a self-funding investment which can be funded from the savings of just fuel alone.

Some of the other benefits include:-

Reduced accident losses.
More effective vehicle use
Lower insurance premiums
Lower transport costs
Improved public image
Higher staff morale
Defence against criminal prosecutions and civil litigations

www.bigchangeapps.com

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – HELLO CHANGE, LET’S EMBRACE

Posted on 12 July 2015 by Martin Port

Change is a coming, companies want more than just location based information.

Look out for more features, Job Scheduling, CRM, Health & Safety, Financial, Mobile Apps and more. Upgrade your vehicle tracking system today and experience a BigChange for small change. www.bigchange.com

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – BigChange sees growth of over 75% for the half year ending June 2015

Posted on 8 July 2015 by Martin Port

BigChange the firm that helps transport and managed services firms eliminate paperwork and manual processes has seen 75 per cent sales growth in the first half of 2015.

BigChange is fast approaching 300 customers (4,000 installations) and it’s also received repeat orders from all existing customers.

The firm now has future contracted revenue of over £2m, with a future sales pipeline of more than £5m. Its strong performance has continued, winning an order for almost £500,000 in February.

The business was launched by technology entrepreneur Martin Port in March 2013 and provides technology that allows firms to manage their back office and integrate with tracking and mobile technology.

Mr Port told The Yorkshire Post: “The customers really appreciate being able to buy three different technologies in one system.”

The business also grew to 30 employees it hopes to create another 40 to 50 jobs in the next two to three years.

BigChange was founded without bank funding, with private investors and Mr Port contributing over £1,000,000.

He said: “It just shows you if you’ve got a great product and a good service and it’s something different, you can even grow a business without a bank. “You have to have the hunger and the know-how to manage the growth.”

While the business’ growth plan is currently based on the UK only, its software is multilingual. The company is hoping to expand into other markets in the next 12 months such as the US, Ireland, Poland and Asia.

The next 12 months will include a focus on online sales for small and medium-sized business customers, as well as further development. “We’re developing the product, developing the sales team, always improving our RoadCrew customer service and business intelligence,” he said.

Mr Port was the founder of Leeds-based vehicle tracking firm Masternaut, which he grew to £22m turnover before exiting in 2011 following a £100m merger with an industry rival. “I had a lot of success with that business and I hope to make this a much bigger success,” Mr Port added.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – BigChange is recruiting Auto Electrical Installation Engineers

Posted on 30 June 2015 by Martin Port

Due to continued growth, BigChange is recruiting full and part time Auto Electrical Telematics Installation Engineers in the Yorkshire, Lancashire, North East, Midlands and inside the M25 areas.

We require highly skilled individuals with high attention to quality and detail that are passionate about delivering excellent customer service in the field.

Candidates must have at least a minimum of 3 years’ experience installing systems in cars, light and heavy goods vehicles. Excellent Salary Package including up to 34 days holiday.

Please contact immediately by email or phone James Scully Operation Director [email protected] Mobile 07782 199420 if you have a can-do attitude with a desire to progress in our growing organisation’ please contact us. www.bigchangeapps.com

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – BigChange Customer now head of the Guild of British Coach Operators

Posted on 15 May 2015 by Martin Port

We want to congratulate BigChange JobWatch customer Richard Grey, owner and MD of Grey’s of Ely, for becoming Chairman of the Guild of British Coach Operators, rising from the position of Vice Chairman.

He succeeds John Johnson of Johnsons Coach & Bus. Taking over the Vice Chairman role is Andrew Richmond, MD of Richmond’s Coaches. Both new appointees will serve for a two year term. The Guild promotes and markets the services of its members, all of whom commit to meeting the highest quality standards, assured by regular independent audits. Prospective members have to achieve a 100% pass before being accepted into the Guild. The Guild is also registered as a Driver CPC training centre, giving members access to a suite of courses specifically designed for the coach industry. It celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. The Guild membership currently comprises 23 operators across the UK.

Greys of Ely coaches were founded in 1946 by Charles Grey purchasing the companies 1st coach in 1948. At that time the company was based in central Ely and by 1960 operated a fleet of 8 vehicles. In 1996 the company moved to a custom built site at Witchford approximately 4 miles from Ely, and now has a fleet of 30 vehicles.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – Well done Alex Epstein the Guardian small business trade winner

Posted on 16 April 2015 by Martin Port

Alex Epstein, founder and creator of Concoction (a customised haircare brand), delivers an energetic pitch.

“It has a great appeal,” says Harris. “You can tailor the product to your own needs which is great.”

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – BigChange announce the launch of Scheduling Assistant

Posted on 3 April 2015 by Martin Port

BigChange, the mobile workforce technology company, today announced the launch of Scheduling Assistant, a revolutionary new service enabling businesses of all size to maximise the capacity and efficiency of their mobile workforces.

Available as part of BigChange’s online JobWatch system, Scheduling Assistant connects to mobile workers’ diaries and telematics systems, to help back office personnel pick the lowest cost mobile worker with available time within an agreed customer service level.

Scheduling Assistant considers a wide range of factors – including the existing schedule, location, capability and rate of each mobile worker – to calculate the travel time, distance and total cost associated with assigning new jobs to them. These considerations include return journeys to base or their next job.

Back office personnel are able to allocate and dispatch a job within seconds. The customer will get immediate notification of the appointment, which they can accept instantly and get real time progress updates. The job is added automatically to the schedule on the appropriate employee’s BigChange mobile computer.

Customers already using the BigChange Scheduling Assistant have dramatically increased the amount of billable time available for each mobile worker. Early adopters have been able to extract more than £500 worth of additional billable time a month for each mobile worker and achieve significant reductions in travel time. It has also helped reduce fuel consumption, typically saving 300 miles per month for each mobile worker.

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – Lynx’s Maintenance celebrates with BigChange

Posted on 29 March 2015 by Martin Port

Lynx are a specialist family-owned building, repair and maintenance company based in Uxbridge.

They offer a fast response and first-class customer service to their ever-growing list of prestigious landlord and management clients, and maintain over 3,000 properties across the south of England.

Founder & Managing Director of Lynx Maintenance, Chris Moseley, relates ‘‘our entire focus is on making service improvements. We recognised that the technology we used was not going to support the level of growth we are experiencing; we had a back office job-management system that was 10 years old, producing so much paper, and a separate vehicle tracking system that we used reactively.’’

Lynx decided that they needed a Big Change. They wanted one system that could manage all aspects of their business, and they wanted a fully-developed, proven product that wouldn’t cost them a fortune.

Chris Moseley went on to say “we were recommended to contact BigChange, who had developed a system that did everything we wanted straight out of the box. BigChange spent time with us ensuring that the implementation process and training of our Head Office and Engineering teams went smoothly.”

The BigChange JobWatch system has everything – built-in service management, customer relationship management, job scheduling, resource time management, health and safety, equipment and stock management, mobile apps, financial features (from quotation to invoicing, with integration to accounting software such as Sage) and vehicle tracking. JobWatch features intuitive reporting, including reporting on customer service and quality, business productivity, driver behaviour and risk management.

Chris recalls how ‘’implementing the system completely did away with paper in the office and in the field. We invoice instantly when a job is completed, and have seen our productivity and service levels hit new heights. This is just the beginning, as we believe that this technology will enable our company to grow without the cost and risk that goes with expansion. We look forward to celebrating 20 years in business next year, and the BigChange JobWatch system has given us exactly the tools we need to progress and grow our family business”.

Martin Port CEO of BigChange commented “We are delighted to have completed another successful implementation of JobWatch with Lynx Maintenance. JobWatch has revolutionised Lynx practices and processes, eliminated all paperwork and time consuming manual tasks. It has even stopped Lynx using the large whiteboard in the main office where they did there two weekly manual planning.”

Martin Port
Founder & CEO

CEO’s Blog – What Are the Benefits of Good Customer Service?

Posted on 26 March 2015 by Martin Port

It isn’t fun to have a bad experience with customer service. Sometimes, expectations are not met when you are on the other side of the phone.

Studies show strong customer service pays great dividends to an organization’s long-term stability and growth; many companies employ a customer relationship management system to help keep customers happy.

The benefit of customer service is obtaining customer retention. Happy customers become repeat customers. This means competent, well-trained customer service representatives are needed to handle questions and issues; if the company doesn’t have this it often looks for a cmr solution that will reassure customers that their needs will be met. Representatives who excel at listening to the customer go a long way with the customer’s resolution of an issue. Support desk representatives that strive to help the customer can ultimately lead to better customer satisfaction.

BigChange JobWatch System offers CRM included for free in the web based back office software, combine that with Vehicle Tracking and go paperless with the JobWatch Mobile Android App your customer service levels will hit new heights.

Get in touch now to start making a BigChange for Small Change

Martin Port
Founder & CEO