60 seconds with…Conor Shaw, CEO - Bizimply

Looking back on 2020, which was your professional most successful initiative/achievement?

Building and understanding the power of trust in our people. When faced with adversity I had no choice but to absolutely trust our team to do the right thing, stay focussed and get the job done, and boy I have been rewarded with the most wonderful fast moving team in the tech sector.

What are your most priorities in terms of planning for this year? 

Building further and faster on our innovation agenda, working with our customers and the industry to solve their new (and some old) problems to make every shift run like clockwork.

With the ending of the BREXIT transition period and new rules being here, what do you think the impact will be?

Staff availability in the cities will be affected as the UK becomes a little more difficult and less attractive to work in for EU nationals. Ingredient costs are also likely to rise due to the extra burden on customs and freight.

The Government has put in place several measures in order to help business owners and operators throughout the pandemic and lockdowns. What are your thoughts on what is available to you?

The government support has so far been OK, furlough has “kept the wolf from the door” but was probably not anticipated as a yearlong solution. The rent/landlord supports need to be resolved now, to allow the sector to re-emerge with some security that the legacy debts can be dealt with and managed without weighing too heavily on the next 18 months of recovery.

As we all know, employees’ and people’s well-being & mental health have been critical points during 2020. How have you incorporated them in your operations, and have you changed your ways of working in order to accommodate different working patterns (flexible hours, working from home…)? 

Flexibility in working time, linked to the above line on trust. Better communications across the team. Previously we had a hybrid workforce with some being based at home and others from the office. The move to 100% working from home has improved communications. This is something we need to learn from and protect as offices reopen and people return.

What positive lessons do we need to learn from what the industry has been through?

People when communicated with and trusted will give back far more than any attempt to control and monitor. It is an old one, but this period has confirmed that old truth.

Conor Shaw 

Bizimply