Great year for firm which loves that Sunday night feeling
TECHNOLOGY
Growing team – Fitfactory ’ s workforce has increased from 20 to 28 this year .
WE DO LIKE MONDAYS
Great year for firm which loves that Sunday night feeling
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : CHRIS BOOTH
A
trip to Portugal confirmed to Fitfactory Technology CEO Jason Pritchard that the thriving Stockton-based software specialist is going about things the right way .
It Ain ’ t What You Do , It ’ s The Way That You Do It , as the song goes – and for Fitfactory , the way it operates , with a culture in which staff collaborate and feel valued , is just as important as the bottom line .
It ’ s been a fantastic 2024 for Fitfactory , with excellent results , exciting products in development and a string of awards to its name .
But Jason admits his recent trip to Portugal , where he took part in a CEO summit , provided welcome reassurance that the Fitfactory way is the right way .
He says : “ I was the only CEO in a group of 22 companies asked to do a presentation on cultural change and it went down a storm .
“ I had super-experienced CEOs telling me how inspired they were and asking how to build a management team like I ’ ve got .
“ I explained to them it ’ s a journey they have to go on – it probably took us 18 months to really start to build a culture that would make people happy and thrive and allow them to collaborate . “ One CEO asked me why we do what we do and the answer ’ s simple – I don ’ t want people to be unhappy . That ’ s it . Life is hard enough as it is – everyone ’ s going through something . We work in order to live but it doesn ’ t have to be horrible – it can actually be nice !
“ It ’ s a fine balancing act because we ’ ve got investors we need to show growth to . But a lot of trust is given at the start because that allows them to foster that culture .
“ And nobody wants to be thinking about work when they ’ re at home , worrying on Sunday about coming in on Monday . And that remains our ethos – avoiding that Sunday night feeling .” And it ’ s clearly working , with satisfied staff driving results regarding improved delivery times , consistency and customer service .
It ’ s been an amazing journey since Jason joined Fitfactory in 2021 .
The company ’ s gone from making a loss to making £ 350,000 this year – a £ 1.1m swing in three years – and now employs 28 people , having begun the year with 20 .
It ’ s on track for 30 % growth this year – a fourth
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