Our BigChange Network can help businesses work together.
In these unprecedented times, here at BigChange we are looking at ways that we can support our customers and ultimately their customers, to ensure that the often critical services our customers provide can continue to be delivered.
To really drive back Covid-19, the national effort, as we’ve heard from government many times recently, will need to be determined, committed and flexible with everyone playing their part – there is no doubt at this difficult time we will be Stronger Together!
Our BigChange Network allows businesses to work together, to share and support the completion of critical works anywhere at any time all seamlessly and visible to those managing it in real time. The options to provide specific Risk Assessments and Job Instructions to remote workers completing the works, supports the safety and welfare of those and there is no need for any physical contact, supporting social distancing, with the end customer as all notifications, alerts, job cards and reports for works completed can be issued electronically.
There is no charge to our customers to use this service.
If you would like to use this service to support your business and simply enable working with others so you can continue to deliver key services, please click here. (Note: You will need to login first).
Please see details of our customers below that are able to still provide critical services.
I wanted to tell you personally, that I’m thinking of you, thinking about the challenges you’re facing at the moment. But what I want you to know, is that BigChange are here for you.
Roadcrew is available 365, we want to spend time supporting you, to help you, and enable you to carry on with your work where possible.
Even though our offices are closed, we are here for you. We have an army of people manning the phones from their bedrooms, from their living rooms, from their home offices. They’re all there for you. And we’re going to make sure that you know that we’re only a call away.
Please keep in touch, anything you need, we are here for you.
BigChange has appointed social housing expert David Todd to spearhead business expansion within the UK local government and social housing sectors.
Formed in 2013, Leeds-based BigChange now has over 40,000 mobile workers and back-office personnel using its pioneering all-in-one mobile workforce and job management solution which is ideal for housing repair and maintenance service operations.
Todd brings 40 years of public sector IT experience in a role as business adviser and strategist. He spent 16 years as Director of Xmbrace, later part of the Kirona Group, the provider of social housing mobile scheduling solutions acquired by Advanced last year. He is also on the board of Sovereign Property Services and Managing Director of the UK subsidiary of Cloud software specialist Luminis.
Martin Port, founder and CEO of BigChange commented:
“David has extensive experience in social housing but crucially he brings unrivalled knowledge in IT solutions for managing field services in this sector. That is of course right up our street and the advice and assistance he is providing will be central to our drive into this important sector.”
BigChange already has a strong presence amongst suppliers of maintenance and repair contract services to local authorities and social housing providers. However, with an increasing trend toward direct services, Todd believes the market is ready for the transformational solutions that BigChange offer.
Todd commented:
“Up until now, BigChange has very much been a hidden secret in the social housing sector. However, with an all-in-one cloud system combining CRM, job scheduling, vehicle tracking and a mobile workforce app, it’s a solution that I’m sure will be welcomed by many.”
He continued:
“In particular BigChange offers a completely paperless way of working with total 24/7 visibility of all mobile repair and maintenance work and that will completely revolutionise social housing services”.
The BigChange mobile app, called JobWatch, has the added benefit that it can be used for in-house and sub-contracted operations simultaneously. It also offers a booking app so housing officers and residents can request and book services from the convenience on their mobile phones.
The popularity of short-term letting sites such as Airbnb has led to an explosion in new landlords, renting out their homes to generate a bit of extra income.
Yet these amateur landlords often do not comply with the rules and regulations that govern the wider lettings market.
This may all be about to change. In a landmark move, the Scottish government recently announced that local councils will have the power to enforce a licensing scheme governing short-term lets from 2021. Many of the rules have been in place since the Civic Government (Scotland) Act was published in 1982 but they have never been enforced previously.
Scotland may be the first country to take a firm stance on short-term lets but it’s likely that the rest of the UK will soon follow.
The issue is particularly pressing in cities such as Edinburgh, home to the Edinburgh Fringe festival, which seen 4.5m tourists flock to the city last year; 9 times the city’s population. In Edinburgh alone, there are 12,000 Airbnb listings, which equates to one listing for every 42 residents in the city. This number has doubled over the past three years.
One outcome of this new legislation is that Airbnb hosts, among others, will be forced to comply with safety standards in order to operate. The aim is to protect guests, ensure that properties are fit for purpose, and to professionalise this burgeoning industry.
However, this presents an administrative nightmare for many hosts. In order to keep letting rooms or properties, they must now ensure their gas and heating is maintained, checked and serviced regularly to be legally compliant.
To reduce the burden, landlords can now use the BigChange platform to connect with experienced tradespeople, such as Registered Gas Safe engineers to service their boiler. All work will be logged on the system, providing a transparent “paper trail” to prove the landlord is fully compliant.
Michael Cairns, BigChange customer and company director at celsiusplumbers.com and founder of safehostbnb.co.uk, believes this could be a great time-saver for hosts.
He comments:
“The software will automatically book in an appointment and follow-up appointments, which takes the pressure off the landlord/hosts so they can focus on other tasks.”
Michael continued:
“They can do this safe in the knowledge they are legally complying with new licensing laws, which will demand that all certification safety checks are up to date and above board.”
It takes a lot of time to manage an Airbnb property or other short-term let and many businesses have been created to help ease the administrative burden. From property maintenance to restocking to cleaning to dealing with booking queries and responses to visitor questions, outsourcing agencies have helped lighten the load.
Michael added:
“BigChange’s platform is another helping hand for these hosts.”
He continued:
“Given the number of short-term lets in the South of England, it is likely the licensing scheme will be rolled out in the UK in the not-so-distant future,”
Michael concluded:
“This creates a big opportunity for businesses to jump on board and make life easier for landlords/hosts to be safety compliant.”
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.
BigChange, the mobile workforce technology company, today announced that it has signed former England football captain and manager Kevin Keegan OBE as an ambassador and the first coach of its new club for entrepreneurs.
Keegan, who won 63 international caps for England and captained his country on 31 occasions before moving into football management, will play an active role in the BigChange Entrepreneurs’ Club, a new initiative from the company to help company owners develop their leadership skills and improve business performance.
Launched today, the Club provides a forum for the owners of organisations that work with BigChange to meet and discuss ideas with like-minded entrepreneurs once a quarter. Keegan will support BigChange’s efforts by providing leadership coaching and mentoring to members.
Keegan believes that his experience in top-flight football will inspire a premier level of performance among the Club’s members and help them achieve more business goals.
Kevin Keegan comments:
“Management in football is similar to business. You’ve got to get the best out of your people and you’ve got to keep delivering year after year. The companies that are successful are those where leaders are passionate about making progress, they want to see how far they can take their ideas and they inspire that passion and commitment among their people too. I see that passion at BigChange and I’m excited about working with the team and its customers. There’s a great buzz at BigChange, there’s a nice mix of youth and experience, and not only can I give something to help take the company forward, I can learn things here too.”
Martin Port, founder and CEO of BigChange, comments:
“Kevin Keegan is one of the most iconic world footballers of his generation and an inspiration to me. He has achieved a huge amount both on and off the field and we are delighted to have signed him to BigChange. There is an enormous amount that businesses can learn from his focus, passion and leadership experience. The entrepreneurs and business leaders we work with are progressive and ambitious, and I am looking forward to working with Kevin to help inspire them to reach an even greater level of performance.”
BigChange provides a pioneering mobile workforce management system used by over 1,000 organisations globally that combines CRM, smart job scheduling, vehicle tracking and a series of mobile applications to eliminate paper record keeping and automate many of the manual processes undertaken by mobile workers. Easy to use and install, BigChange provides a unique system and has disrupted a market that was dominated previously by enterprise players who sold almost exclusively to large corporates that could afford complex, lengthy and expensive implementations.
BigChange, Leeds-based mobile workforce technology company, has become an Approved Partner of the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE).
APSE is a network of local government representatives formed to promote excellence in the delivery of frontline services to local communities around the UK; a key area for BigChange.
The BigChange 5 in 1 system combines CRM, Job Scheduling, a Mobile App, Vehicle Tracking, and an On-Demand Booking App. that eliminates 100 per cent of the paper to automate all of the manual processes undertaken by back office and mobile workers. JobWatch can be used to simultaneously manage both in-house and sub contracted operations through their brand new BigChange Network Platform; a single system that provides full management and financial reporting enabling digital transformation.
Martin Port, CEO of BigChange, comments:
“As local authorities strive to improve efficiency and accountability, there is a growing need to eliminate cumbersome paperwork by introducing digital working. It’s especially important for council services involving staff who are out and about all day doing essential community work or providing transport services,”
JobWatch is already in wide use to manage services such as Special Education Needs, Waste, Passenger Transport, Property Servicing and Repairs, Social Housing, Highway Maintenance and Pest Control. The system is easy to configure for any service and includes a new booking app allowing local residents and businesses to book services from their smartphones.
Port says:
“We see membership of APSE as the ideal platform to engage with local government and especially those people who are forward-thinkers looking to improve public services through the use of the latest technology,”
Port adds:
“With JobWatch we have developed a platform that is already being used to completely transform council services. It replaces a number standalone legacy systems with a much more useful and affordable 5 in 1 solution utilising the latest cloud and mobile technology.”
By utilising the cloud and mobile apps, BigChange offers a highly flexible and simple to use solution and requires no special IT equipment or support – everything is available 24/7 though a secure web connection from any web-connected device.
BigChange, Leeds-based mobile workforce technology company, has become an Approved Partner of the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE).
APSE is a network of local government representatives formed to promote excellence in the delivery of frontline services to local communities around the UK; a key area for BigChange.
The BigChange 5 in 1 system combines CRM, job scheduling, a mobile app, vehicle tracking, and an on-demand booking app. that eliminates 100 per cent of the paper to automate all of the manual processes undertaken by back office and mobile workers. JobWatch can be used to simultaneously manage both in-house and sub contracted operations through their brand new BigChange Network Platform with a single system that provides full management and financial reporting creating digital transformation.
Martin Port, CEO of BigChange comments:
“As local authorities strive to improve efficiency and accountability, there is a growing need to eliminate cumbersome paperwork by introducing digital working. It’s especially important for council services involving staff who are out and about all day doing essential community work or providing transport services.”
JobWatch is already in wide use to manage services such as Special Education Needs, Waste, Passenger Transport, Property Servicing and Repairs, Social Housing, Highway Maintenance and Pest Control. The system is easy to configure for any service and includes a new booking app allowing local residents and businesses to book services from their smartphones.
Port adds:
“We see membership of APSE as the ideal platform to engage with local government and especially those people who are forward-thinkers looking to improve public services through the use of the latest technology,”
Port continues:
“With JobWatch we have developed a platform that is already being used to completely transform council services. It replaces a number standalone legacy systems with a much more useful and affordable 5 in 1 solution utilising the latest cloud and mobile technology.”
By utilising the cloud and mobile apps, BigChange offers a highly flexible and simple to use solution and requires no special IT equipment or support – everything is available 24/7 though a secure web connection from any web-connected device.
Over the last 5 years BigChange has built a great company and I want to share with you some of our accomplishments since we launched in January 2013. We’ve created THIS VIDEO that features some of the major highlights.
Growth – Both our company and our customers have grown significantly over the last 5 years. Since Year 1 we have grown from a £300k annual turnover to £7m in 2017. There are many great entrepreneurial customer stories of growth driven using BigChange technology. We have recorded over nearly 1 billion kilometres of driving equivalent to 2,330 trips to the moon or 16 trips to mars, customers have invoiced fast approaching £200m through the system and completed over 4m jobs, 1 job every 2.5 seconds.
Awards – In 2017 alone, we won over 10 awards including the prestigious Deloitte Fast 50, recognising the fastest growing tech businesses. We ranked 25th in the UK and 98th in the Fast 500 in EMEA.
Unique Technology – BigChange has developed a 4-in-1 System that is unique in the marketplace and includes Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Job Scheduling, a rich Mobile App for Tablet or Smartphone and integrated Vehicle Tracking & Fleet Management. This innovative system continually evolves with new features. Our latest development is the BigChange “Uber for Service and Transport” customer branded on-demand Booking App (iOS/Android) where BigChange clients can rapidly deploy their own app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, request a demonstration now.
Investing in People – We now have a 60-strong team who continually strive for excellence and are collectively responsible for our rapid growth and achievements. I am proud of our success. We provide lots of employee benefits including a series of “Motivational Mondays” that we have held at the beginning of each month as part of our Team Building events. We kick off 2018 welcoming Toya Wilcox with her own unique story and journey through life.
RoadCrew Customer Service – A highly dedicated team that is growing fast, and providing the very best service and support 24/7 . RoadCrew provide Implementation, Training & Technical support for the Office Employees, Drivers & Engineers every individual can call us at NO COST for telephone support.
Customers – 650 Companies representing over 15,000 mobile subscribers reaping the benefits of the BigChange system in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. We have no barriers, our system can be used in any country in the world as it is multilingual and multi-currency. BigChange has customers operating in many Public & Private sectors including Construction, Hire, Highways, Civil Engineering, Utilities, Facilities Management, Waste & Recycling, IT Services, Medical, Foodservice, Transport & Logistics, Passenger Transport Home Delivery and Couriers.
Benefits & Savings – Customers have generated significant financial tangible and intangible benefits, including and most importantly, improved Customer Service all driven by the use of BigChange technology. Glowing testimonials, Press Coverage and Case Studies prove the added value that the system delivers. (Hyperlink website)
CEO Shop Floor Days – I want to meet as many customers as possible in 2018. I would like to visit your offices and understand your businesses better and even go out with Engineers and Drivers, to make sure you’re getting all the benefits out of the BigChange system. Please let me know dates when you will be free just email [email protected] offering me dates any Tuesday, Wednesday or a Thursday.
Partnerships – We work closely with technology leaders such as Google, Samsung and Amazon, as well as industry trade bodies such as the Road Haulage Association, Freight Transport Association, Service Associations and Tech North.
Corporate Social Responsibility – At the heart of BigChange is a real commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. As a Corporate Partner of the fantastic charity Transaid we are getting involved with as many events as possible. I along with a group of Transaid’s key supporters I will be making a trip to Zambia in March 2018, to better understand the international development organisation programmes in the country. Also, various other charities which include amongst others BRAKE, the Road Safety Charity and even a local social enterprises.
We look forward to welcoming many more new customers in 2018 and continuing our strong partnership relationship with growing existing customers.
All at BigChange wish you a joyful festive season and a happy and healthy New Year.
All the best
Martin Port CEO
Tel +44 113 4571000 Ext 333
Mobile +44 7973 671779
Mobile Workforce Management specialist BigChange has won contracts to supply its three-in-one JobWatch platform to over 5,000 mobile technicians at leading players across the Utilities Sector. The orders come from companies operating in the Public & Private sector involved in Water, Gas & Electric including the installation of 2nd generation Smart Metering.
BigChange’s three-in-one solution is delivering a paperless revolution for users and combines a cloud-based Job Planning, Scheduling & CRM back-office, Android mobile app running on rugged Samsung tablets and hard-wired or app based live tracking of vehicles and resources. Industry specific versions of the JobWatch system have been implemented by Sutton & East Surrey Water PLC, Sheffield Council, Smart Metering specialist Providor part of Lakehouse PLC, Hewer Facilities Management, The McDougall Group, Woods Building Maintenance and 2015 BBC Apprentice winner ImpraGas.
Replacing manual planning and paperwork, the BigChange system allows back-office users to plan, manage, schedule and track work effectively including planned maintenance and urgent reactive work. In the back-office, the system is enabling planners to respond faster to customers, intelligently allocating work orders based on real-time engineer availability, skills, live location and parts stock. This is significantly increasing productivity; minimising customer wait time and driving first time fix at competitive cost. Assets and equipment are fully-managed by the system, allowing service requirements to be achieved effectively and an integration with trading platforms such as Homeserve allows for seamless collaboration with service partners.
Mobile engineers and technicians benefit from an easy to use Android mobile app that replaces all paper job-cards, risk assessments and method statements. Technicians start their day by completing an electronic timesheet and vehicle check, before instantly accessing the day’s work orders. Integrated sat-nav with live traffic ensures the best route is taken and customers receive proactive ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) alerts by text and email. On arrival, the JobWatch app guides technicians step by step through job-specific workflows and captures essential information such as site-photos or test readings. Users can search for parts and add them instantly to the job. Proof-of-service and customer signature is captured and synced with the back-office instantly. The system generates invoices, custom reports, certificates, legal documents and fully branded job-cards that are automatically shared via a customer’s booking portal or email. This paperless approach is saving BigChange customers hundreds of thousands of pieces of paper annually, along with the manual back-office administration that was required to manually process these documents.
The turn-key solution is transforming the way companies manage their entire customer experience such as companies fitting and maintaining Smart Meters nationwide on behalf of the major UK Power networks. For example, Customers are handled by a centralised call centre, who use automated workflows in the BigChange back-office to quickly ascertain the type of meter installation required and offer customers a selection of available appointments via the scheduler. This triggers automatic ordering of parts and materials required and technicians complete their jobs on the BigChange app. The system can plan and manage thousands of jobs per day.
The BigChange JobWatch system is also delivering superior value for Heating, Gas, Electric and Home Automation businesses such as ImpraGas, founded by 2015 BBC Apprentice Winner Joseph Valente and owned 50/50 with Lord Sugar. The company is on a mission to revolutionise the plumbing industry, using the BigChange platform to offer customers a faster, improved service. The technology is not only managing the entire operation all the way from quotation to invoice but is also ensuring consistent service quality and compliance. Gas Safety inspections are completed on the app and stored and shared electronically with customers and landlords. BigChange JobWatch is enabling service innovations such as real-time booking on the company’s website as well as a fully-branded ImpraGas mobile booking and payments app.
Joseph Valente, Founder of ImpraGas commented:
“We chose the BigChange system because we have ambitious plans to grow the company as quickly as possible and needed a system to manage our workforce efficiently and help us provide an excellent service to our customers. BigChange has transformed the way we do business.”
BigChange by name, BigChange by nature! BigChange is an established force in mobile workforce management and telematics, offering a system that transforms the way companies manage their mobile operations.
JobWatch from BigChange is the paperless way to plan, manage, schedule and track a mobile workforce. This powerful all-in-one Mobile Workforce Management platform combines back office software, mobile apps, fleet management and real-time vehicle tracking in one simple to use system. Using JobWatch, customers can manage their entire operation, from quote all the way through to invoice.
