Where has the time gone? Advice Cloud is celebrating 10 incredible years of supporting technology suppliers as they navigate the tricky waters of public sector procurement. Our journey from the early days to now has been amazing, filled with growth, achievements, and great client successes.
A Message from our CEO & Founder, Chris Farthing
“Blimey. 10 years ago today I woke up and headed off to the Amex stadium to the 1st SE7 Digital Conference. Only this time I was heading there as a supplier, not part of a Public Sector procurement team.
I’d met a friend for a coffee the day before and was in all honesty terrified. I had quite a comfortable life working as a contractor with a 10-minute (including coffee pick-up) commute to work. I had a very young family (18-month-old) and lots of responsibilities. As someone who has struggled with imposter syndrome and various other mental health challenges, I questioned everything, asking him “What have I done? I feel like I’ve just poured petrol on my life.”
“Well, what if you’ve just set light to the rocket, Chris?” he responded.
A decade later, that rocket has become a vibrant, purpose-driven consultancy with around 15 incredible people from all walks of life. Together, we’ve achieved so much, stuck to our purpose, and built a team culture that’s guided us every step of the way. It may sound cliche but I do sometimes have to pinch myself and remind myself as to where we’ve come from and what we’ve collectively achieved – our results speak for themselves.
There are countless people to thank, but a few deserve special mention: Tony Singleton, Jos Creese, Mark Watson, Ella Grant, Danny Wright, Morgan Williams, Kamla Braithwaite, Rob Macleod, Lindsay Smith, Si Conroy, Stephen Allot, Matt Stanley, Dave Briggs, Will Callaghan, TechUK, Sarah Hinchliffe and the whole Advice Cloud team. Apologies if I’ve missed anyone off the list, it’s not intentional I just have less memory now!
Here’s to the future – we have some big, exciting plans ahead, and I can’t wait to share them when the time is right.!”
Celebrating Our Clients’ Successes
Over the past decade, we’ve had the privilege of working with over 500 technology suppliers, with around 75% being SMEs. We’re incredibly proud to have helped them break down barriers and win over £1.5 billion in public sector contracts! Watching our clients succeed has been one of our greatest joys, and we’re excited to see what the next 10 years will bring.
Our Team Journey and Culture
Embracing a New Way of Working
We’re proud of the unique culture we’ve built at Advice Cloud. We’ve embraced a ‘Teal Organisation’ model, focusing on self-management, openness, and a shared purpose. Every team member has a voice, and we work together to drive social value and improve public services.
Becoming a Remote Team
In early 2020, we transitioned to a fully remote team, moving out of our base in Hove. This shift has given us the flexibility to work from home (and abroad!) while still keeping our team connections strong through regular fun days and meet-ups.
Health and Wellbeing
Team wellbeing is a top priority for us, led by our employee-driven Health and Wellbeing group. Through this, we’ve implemented some incredible initiatives over the last couple of years, such as an Employee Assistance Programme, monthly Deliveroo credit (and an extra cheeky Deliveroo order today to celebrate!), quarterly team fun days, and the 4-day week!
A 4-Day Work Week
In November 2023, we introduced a 4-day work week. This now allows our team more time to enjoy life outside of work without any reduction in pay. To give us a helping hand, we teamed up with the Sussex 4 Day Week research programme. This 12-week trial led by Dr. Charlotte Rae at University of Sussex aimed to improve workplace wellbeing and productivity. While it’s a great next step for us as an organisation, it also means we’re contributing to local research! We continued after the trial and made the 4-day week permanent in Spring 2024.
Practicing What We Preach
As part of our commitment to working with suppliers who positively impact the public sector, we’ve been busy getting everything in order ourselves, too!
In January 2022, we achieved the Social Value Quality Mark (SVQM) Bronze, recognising our efforts to create positive social impact—a step we encourage all our clients to take as well.
We’ve measured our carbon footprint for three years running and are proud to say we’re certified Carbon Neutral. We’ve also completed Carbon Literacy training in 2023 and made company-wide pledges to reduce our emissions, with a commitment to reaching Net Zero by 2035.
Here’s to the Next 10 Years!
As we celebrate this milestone, we know this is just the beginning. We’re excited to continue partnering with technology companies, building a community with our clients and boosting their Buyability™. We want to be the ones to help SME suppliers become unstoppable forces in the public sector market.
Internally, our sights are set on achieving Great Place to Work certification and B-Corp accreditation in 2025, ensuring we grow in a way that’s good for our team, our clients, and the world around us. We also want to continue shifting from a founder-led to an employee-led organisation, with the long-term goal of becoming an Employee Owned Trust by 2030!
A heartfelt thank you to our clients, team members, strategic advisers, and partners for being part of this incredible journey. Here’s to the next decade of success, growth, and making a difference together!
