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Author: Martin Port

How to become a great leader

An image of Kevin Keegan 1
Posted on by Martin Port

In this special video series, former England footballer and manager Kevin Keegan gives his secrets to great leadership.

In the first of nine videos with BigChange founder Martin Port, Kevin explains how everyone can learn to be an inspiring and effective leader.

Watch the video or read the transcript below.

Martin:
Great to see you Kevin. It’s been four or five months since we’ve last seen each other. I know you’ve missed me because it’s mentioned every time we’ve spoken on the phone and I’ve missed you so much.

It’s great to welcome a BigChange ambassador, but you’ve been much more than an ambassador, you’ve been helping and coaching me over the last four months, over the phone, on leadership.

I really want to be the best leader and I’ve learnt so much from you over the period of time we’ve been working together. How did you become a great leader?

Kevin:
They say you’re a born leader. I think, like a lot of sayings, there’s actually a lot more to it.

For me, I learnt at a very young age from my father. He said “Son you go and learn from him” – and he might send me to work at the market stall in Doncaster where I was born.

A lot of kids would think what can you learn at a market stall in Doncaster? I tell you, you meet the world there – and I took that with me.

When I started working at Scunthorpe United – my first professional club – with a manager called Ron Ashman, his strength was communication. Everybody felt they knew where they stood with him.

Though he wasn’t great when we lost. He was a great winner but when we lost the whole world went down. So I learnt to try not to be like that when you lose a game.

Of course, I then had the pleasure of working with managers like Sir Alf Ramsey for my first two England caps.

Going into that I thought, this man won the World Cup in ‘66 for England, he was way ahead of his time, what did he have?

He had this air about him and confidence, without being arrogant, that he just knew what he was doing. So you felt comfortable following him.

You should be picking up little tips with everybody. Bill Shankly [Liverpool FC Manager] would say “Guys in this game, you are here for the fans out there”.

You’d realise that it’s not just about playing on the pitch – you are part of a community. He took the game and said “first and foremost you’re part of the Liverpool community, then you play for Liverpool FC”.

I’d go out with the senior players when I first got there, visiting hospitals and homes. As just a 19 year old kid, I was getting taught by the older players about how to communicate with kids and fans – which was sometimes rough.

I learnt from all the people I ever met. From a very young age, I found that everyone comes into your life for a reason. Even when you meet someone who’s very arrogant and rude, and it shocks you, think ‘what have they done wrong?’

You learn how not to communicate, how not to treat people. So even though it’s a bad experience, take the lesson from it. When you do that often enough, it becomes part of you.

I suddenly found myself captain of England and it’s not just calling the coin toss. When things aren’t going right in the 90 minutes you’re on the field, you’re the manager out there.

You have to take responsibility and give directions.

You learn from everybody and it’s the same for business.

BigChange: even more inclusive and successful in 2022

Even more inclusive and successful in 2022
Posted on by Martin Port

Our government may be falling apart but at least the UK tech scene is thriving. I read that the UK recently overtook China in terms of technology investment, raising £12.4bn in the first five months of 2022, which is amazing news. It is a privilege to be part of the nation’s technology sector and I’m delighted to report that BigChange continues to beat its growth targets while also meeting its ambitious goals around people and corporate responsibility. Here’s a little look at what we’ve achieved so far this year.

Maintaining momentum

We continue to excel in customer acquisition, winning almost 200 new customers over the past six months. That represents around £14m in new contract wins, across a diverse range of sectors.

In building services and property maintenance, we were delighted to welcome both RGE Services and First in Service into the fold. Motivair Compressors bolsters our pumps and compressors division. In plumbing and heating, we have welcomed Boiler Plan UK and Sun Realm Heating. Reflecting the changing world around us, we have seen continued success in the EV charging sector, and are delighted that Muller EV is now a valued customer. Internet provider, FibreNest Utilities, a subsidiary of Persimmon Homes, also joined the client roster this year, and we are still performing strongly in cleaning services, winning JM2 Services. 

Our international business is also thriving. BigChange Canada recently won its first customer with more to follow in the second half of 2022. We now have 200 customers in France, Cyprus and Australia. Our continued success against a backdrop of economic uncertainty proves that our software does exactly what we promise, giving customers the edge they need to navigate difficult trading environments.

We believe that customer wins will only accelerate over the coming months. We have attended eight events across the UK and overseas so far in 2022, where we have demonstrated the power of our technology. We have a further seven planned and it is such a delight to be able to meet prospective customers in the real world again. We have seen really fantastic results from these interactions.

All about customer success

Once a customer joins BigChange, we make it our mission to help them achieve their goals. This is why we have established a 15-person strong customer success team. All customers are automatically assigned a go-to person to help them grow during their BigChange journey.

Customers can leverage the insights from the BigChange University to help them get the most out of our software. BigChange University is now digital, which means our busy customers can access bitesize content at times that are convenient for them. We are also incentivising customers to keep building on their knowledge of BigChange through a new certification system which recognises Core, Advanced & Expert users.

Our BigChange Network exists to help customers to collaborate and support one another on their growth journeys. Over 200 customers have joined the Network over the past six months. 

Our commitment to supporting existing customers is reflected in our renewal rate, which beats industry figures by a significant margin. One of our biggest customer success stories, Sheffield City Council, just renewed its long-term 1,500 licences for tracking and JobWatch, and this is typical of customers’ commitment to BigChange.

People first and foremost

I’m delighted that BigChange has retained its two-star rating from Best Companies, reflecting our strong culture and outstanding levels of engagement. We are not resting on our laurels, however. We always review the Best Companies feedback to look for ways to improve our people strategy.

Growing the team

We are still hiring! The company continues to grow and attract international talent. In the last quarter, we hit 250 people. Our new tech internship, which has just launched and complements our existing internship scheme, will help maintain our talent pipeline and allow us to actively grow the UK’s tech talent pool.

An equal opportunity employer

BigChange is home to a diverse and passionate workforce, and we want to keep on breaking down barriers and providing opportunities for people with different skills. This is why we are actively encouraging people with disabilities and special needs to apply for our opportunities.

A new starter with autism recently joined our customer service team. We have the tools and neurodiversity training in place to help them to thrive here. We have partnered with Lighthouse, a school for autistic young people, and have committed to supporting three young people on supported internships from October 2022 for eight months.

Investing for the future

2022 has been a huge year for development. We have invested heavily in new features and functionality. From improvements in job finance, and updated search functions, to new SMS and alerts features for stock replenishment and expenses, we are listening to our customers and giving them the tools they need to be even more efficient.

We believe that the future of BigChange lies in empowering customers to make our software their own. This is why we are investing heavily in “self-serve” technologies. Our software is becoming more and more intuitive by the day. I’m really proud of everything our technology team has achieved and look forward to bringing you more updates soon!

Business in the Community: board member (2020 – present)

Posted on by Martin Port

As a member of Business in the Community’s Yorkshire and Humber advisory board, Martin liaises with other local business leaders to help others in the community.

Business in the Community is the oldest and largest business-led membership organisation dedicated to responsible business.

Martin’s role is to act as “critical friend” and sounding board to the Business in the Community (BITC) team. He is also an ambassador for BITC, encouraging membership recruitment and engagement, and championing responsible business in the region.

MoreLife (UK): board observer & strategic adviser (May 2022 – present)

Posted on by Martin Port

Martin is a board observer and strategic adviser at MoreLife, a health company that makes the lives of individuals healthier through lifestyle behaviour changes. 

MoreLife aims to make the lives of individuals healthier through healthy lifestyle behavioural interventions such as weight management, giving up smoking, NHS Health Checks, healthy eating or improved physical activity.

The organisation works with individuals on their own, with their families, within groups from the local community, school or workplace.

Rated People: board observer, strategic adviser & shareholder (Feb 2022 – present)

Posted on by Martin Port

Having led a seven-figure funding round in Rated People, the UK’s leading online marketplace connecting homeowners with skilled tradespeople, Martin is a significant shareholder and strategic adviser in the fast-growing business.

The Rated People platform is used by nearly 1m UK homeowners each year, looking for the right trades businesses who can help them complete domestic and commercial jobs.

More than 50,000 tradespeople are featured on the site, from builders to roofers, plumbers to electricians, and more.

World Jewish relief – Ukraine crisis appeal

Posted on by Martin Port

The impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are catastrophic. For us at BigChange, the conflict feels even more personal because eight of our colleagues are Ukrainian nationals, based in Kyiv.

So we are supporting Ukraine nationals wherever we can, and one way is by donating money to the World Jewish Relief’s Ukraine crisis appeal. It’s the least we can do at this unsettling time.