Last September we brought you the exciting news that we had found an investment partner in the Business Growth Fund (BGF), and Rob Johnson was appointed as Investment Director on the 365 Response Board.
Since then, we’ve had a few whirlwind months of hiring talented people and strategising to prepare and ensure rapid and continued growth throughout 2021.
When interviewed, Sarah Fatchett, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at 365 Response spoke candidly about the reasons for investment at this stage of the business.
“What became apparent in the early stages of the pandemic was that we would really benefit from a partner to help us navigate the now constant new unknown because we didn’t know what was coming next and it all seemed such a strange and unusual environment. Our ambition is to pursue a joint strategy of build and grow and also buy and grow and to take the opportunity of finding like-minded companies that we can work with to form a partnership chain. As such, we needed a partner that could rapidly move with us; someone who could sit on the board with a strong, external voice and great strategic connections with a whole host of businesses across different sectors.
“Another key element was access to capital to bring in potential acquisitions and a really good process to invest in high-quality talent and product. We’re really struck by the concept of building talent density and building on being the employer of choice for the best talent out there – this is something that’s extremely important to us.”
Rob Johnson, Investment Director at Business Growth Fund (BGF) gave an insight into why he was keen to partner with 365 Response.
“There are quite a lot of reasons – in fact, there’s a huge amount to like about the business. Firstly, the management team. They have all come from an operational, industry background, so they’re used to solving real-world problems and know first-hand the challenges public sector organisations face every day in delivering critical health and social care services. The solutions they have created to help address these issues have a positive impact on the end-user, transport provider and the local authority council/NHS Trust which is ultimately responsible for the delivery of these services to disadvantaged and more vulnerable members of society.
“Secondly, the business model and market opportunity was compelling. What you have in 365 is a unique product offering, a positive market backdrop and competitive landscape, and attractive financial fundamentals. In the public sector, there are still organisations and teams working off Excel spreadsheets and using pen and paper to manage complex workflows. There is a clear need for digital innovation here but, for one reason or another, no one has managed to do this successfully at scale yet. This is in part due to the need to balance commerciality with compassion when selling to the public sector and being able to articulate the wider social and operational benefits and cost savings offered by the product, rather than simply the technical features. This is something the team is able to do very well. Sarah, in particular, has got this know-how and experience in spades.”
Joint values and shared importance of investing in talented people secured this partnership, along with hard work and diligence. Read the full interview.
