Business News The Griffin Report


James Rigby heads Europe’s biggest privately-owned IT company. And, says James, this global company with a total turnover of £2.2bn and 2,500 customers in 50 countries, loves being based in Tyeseley, Birmingham. Jon Griffin, Chamberlink’s award-winning columnist, went to meet James in Tyseley.


charge of the largest arm of the Rigby Group, itself one of the most successful family firms in the UK. James Rigby may have learnt


H


much at the knee of his father – renowned serial entrepreneur Sir Peter Rigby – but 15 years at the helm of SCC, Europe’s biggest privately-owned IT company, tells its own story of personal achievement. “I came in right at the bottom of


the business. I was based in the warehouse and went into junior management. You never quite lose ‘he is only there because he was born with a silver spoon’ but I am 48 now, I have worked really hard to get where I am today. When you are younger, you do feel that pressure. It was quite hard. I learnt a lot from my father – he is quite a people person, he does not sit in his office, he walks around talking to people finding out what is going on.” James scaled the heights at


Tyseley-based SCC during three decades, establishing a distinguished business career in his own right in the family-owned organisation, which owes its extraordinary progress to his father’s decision to plough his £2,000 life savings into a recruitment firm in Sutton Coldfield back in the mid-70s. Sir Peter’s relentless drive and


vision gave birth to an organisation which spans hotels, property, airports and other enterprises. Today, the Rigby Group, whose chief operating officer is James’ brother Steven, runs 115 different companies in 20 countries, employing more than 8,500 people worldwide. And the biggest single group


concern is Tyseley-based SCC, which has a workforce of 5,500, total turnover of £2.2 billion and 2,500 customers in more than 50 countries, including major operations in France, Romania, Spain and Vietnam. James pinpoints SCC’s family


roots as crucial to the firm’s remarkable growth – and is keen to stress that Birmingham will always be home.


e started off at the bottom of the business in the warehouse – now he’s in


‘If you look back at the financial crisis, we were investing in the business, in data centres and cloud platforms – we could have battened down the hatches’ - James Rigby


“Our structure as a private


business gives us a lot of flexibility. Profits are largely re-invested back into the business. If you look back at the financial crisis, we were investing in the business, in data centres and cloud platforms – we could have battened down the hatches. “You have to have an


understanding of the sector, you have to have vision and strategy, there is a lot more freedom here, there are relatively short lines of decision-making. “There are 5,500 people in this


company, it is not just about me, it is about enabling and engaging with the management team. I am very collaborative, a people person.


I like to have an open-door policy. My job is as much as anything to listen and collect the best ideas from the business by letting it breathe. “We have gone from 10 years


ago selling products to now becoming a full end-to-end service provider. It has made the business much more stable in terms of income streams. “These are five to 10-year-old


contracts – we are good at what we do for our clients, although we are not quoted in the press every day. In some ways, we are still a best kept secret.” Their annual report gives a clue. It says: "SCC enables people to do business by planning, supplying,


integrating and managing their IT. We've been trusted to run IT infrastructure services for leading businesses across Europe for 40 years. “SCC's portfolio of services spans


from supply through to fully- managed services, infrastructure optimisation, unified communications and data centre services. “SCC delivers managed services,


professional services and data centre services to a portfolio of customers from the public and private sectors, including financial, logistics, utilities, communications, manufacturing, services and retail.”


Contd on page 20... September 2019 CHAMBERLINK 17


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