Richard Warley, BigChange’s new Chairman, has revealed that, of the many positions he’s held in his career, “the one that I am the most excited about, based on all of the companies I've seen, all of the experiences that I've had, is BigChange.”
Speaking to BigChange’s founder and CEO Martin Port in a new video for the BigChange community, Richard said, "It's been a terrific two or three months that we've had together with the team and I'm so looking forward to the next three, four or five years that we'll have building this into a global business."
Richard said, from his first impressions, BigChange is, “at this wonderful point now, where we've got a business that is working really well, that huge market opportunity ahead of us, and arguably, the best, best product in the market.”
He commented that, “We've obviously spent a good amount of time talking about the company's purpose and values. And I think those are the things that really resonate very strongly at this stage, and really set the company out for terrific success in the future.”
When asked about Martin’s ambition to build a billion pound business, Richard said, “Given the context of where we are right now, given the context of the market opportunity ahead of us, that ambition is wholly realisable, and actually might be a little bit conservative.”
Watch the conversation between Richard and Martin via BigChange’s Vimeo channel:
https://vimeo.com/560804647
Richard brings almost 30 years of experience in investment banking, private equity and operational leadership roles at leading technology companies across Europe, Japan and North America to BigChange.
Read the Video Transcript Below
Martin Port (MP): Richard, welcome to BigChange. I'm delighted that you've joined the board as Chairman. I'd love you to introduce yourself to the audience, we're really looking forward to hearing from you.
Richard Warley (RW): It's fantastic to be part of the BigChange team and more particularly the BigChange family, because that's certainly the impression that I've got from this business.
I've had the huge privilege of working for some terrific businesses during my career to date, including Merrill Lynch and Fidelity. I've had the privilege of working in different sectors, in law and finance, in private equity. And also on the operating side of the business.
You know, I've had, as I said, a huge privilege to work with some terrific people and some terrific companies. The one that I am the most excited about, based on all of the companies I've seen, all of the experiences that I've had, is BigChange.
MP: What are your first impressions of the company Richard?
RW: So it does come back to the name, BigChange. You’ve clearly had a philosophy, and a view that you wanted to do something really significant with this company. What has been achieved by you and the team today is nothing short of phenomenal. But I think what the future holds is truly exciting.
And we've obviously had the chance to get to know each other for the last three or four months now. And to really talk about what this business is about, what the heart and soul of this business is, what makes it tick, what makes the team so passionate about being here, and what it can achieve in the future.
And we've obviously spent a good amount of time talking about the company's purpose and values. And I think those are the things that really resonate very strongly at this stage, and really set the company out for terrific success in the future.
Sustainability, absolutely the heart of what we do, what we can do for our customers. And that’s environmental sustainability, and also the social elements. And economic elements that go along with that. And the things that we can give to our customers with the platform that we built are just terrifically terrifically important from that perspective, and also growth growth for our customers and growth for our team internally.
We are at this wonderful point now, where we've got a business that is working really well, a huge market opportunity ahead of us, and arguably, the best, best product in the market.
So I think this company is in an incredibly exciting phase, it's gone through a really successful first period of growth. And it's now got the investment of backing from Great Hill Partners, and we can take it on the next part of its journey. So it's a very, very exciting position to be in.
MP: As you know, Richard, it's my ambition to build a 1 billion pound business. What's your thoughts on that?
RW: It's fantastic to have a huge ambition. Given the context of where we are right now, given the context of the market opportunity ahead of us, that ambition is wholly realisable, and actually might be a little bit conservative.
What we're really doing is helping businesses that haven't necessarily had access to great technology. That large companies have had access to that, they've had the financial resources, and the technical resources to bring on board that can really help their productivity.
The mid market, the smaller end of the market have not had that. And what we're really doing is opening up that part of the market to have access to those tools that will enable them to compete in a fair way, with much larger companies.
MP: Thank you, Richard. I'm really looking forward to working with you. We're going to take BigChange to such great heights.
RW: And I'm absolutely delighted as well. It's been a terrific, you know, two or three months that we've had together with a team, and I'm so looking forward to the next three, four or five years that we'll have building this into a global business.
