Commercial Director Neil Muttock joins The Business Desk Roundtable.
Evolve’s Commercial Director, Neil Muttock accompanied 11 other business professionals at a roundtable event hosted by The Business Desk. The event was chaired by industry professional Michael Taylor. The panel was brought together to discuss understanding the dynamics of workplace life, they spent the time delving into the conversation discussing how a workplace can build a culture of learning and opportunity.
Lancashire, UK – 2023
The session revolved around several key themes: business circumstances, workplace design, the changing dynamics of businesses with regard to colleagues, hybrid working, and working from home. Throughout the discussion, Neil revealed some of the strongest attributes of Evolve.
The conversation began with an exploration of business circumstances. Each participant took turns describing their respective businesses and their current positions. Setting the stage for the discussion, each person shared their work ethics and beliefs. Evolve’s commercial director initiated the discussion by providing an overview of Evolve, highlighting its remarkable growth of 43% year over year through a combination of organic strategies and strategic acquisitions and how this offered not only opportunity but new potential cultural challenges. He then delved into the details of a recent acquisition, explaining its significance for Evolve and painting a picture of the future. Following the acquisition, Evolve had no choice but to relocate to a larger office space, as they knew it was integral to house the group under one roof, which is where they are currently based in Wigan.
During this period, Evolve not only experienced revenue growth but also expanded its workforce, which doubled within a few months and continues to grow on a weekly basis. Neil proceeded to inform the panel about Evolve’s rebranding efforts, which aimed to align the company more closely with its core values. The organisation sought to reaffirm its mission of helping multi-site brands unlock their potential through network technologies. Emphasising fairness as part of their values and ethos, Evolve ensures that team members’ shift patterns are rotated and distributed equitably, despite their service desk operating around the clock.
The conversation then shifted to the importance of workplace design, which holds great significance at Evolve. They prioritise creating a collaborative, well-lit, and functional space. In 2022, Evolve invested £450K in their new office in Wigan, ensuring it was conducive to hybrid collaborative work. Being a technology-oriented company, Evolve places a strong emphasis on automation and innovative ways of working, making it crucial to provide the best possible working environment for their employees.
While acknowledging the prevalence of AI in everyday life and its benefits in code refinement and development, Evolve firmly believes that AI can never fully replace human workers. Their service desk incorporates a human touch to ensure customers have a superior experience compared to interactions with robots.
The conversation then turned to the evolving attitudes of businesses towards their colleagues, a subject that deeply resonates with Evolve in their day-to-day work environment. They value the unique learning and working styles of each employee and embrace cognitive diversity, fostering an inclusive environment. To facilitate this, Evolve provides breakout spaces and various meeting rooms, allowing employees to work in settings where they feel comfortable.
Aligned with their commitment to cognitive diversity, Evolve takes pride in hiring individuals based on their values and personalities rather than solely focusing on experience. They believe that skills can be taught, and they aspire to work and succeed together with their employees as a cohesive team.
Returning to the discussion on workplace dynamics, the conversation addressed the increasing trend of working from home. While Evolve offers flexible working arrangements when necessary, they do not consider long-term remote work to be feasible for the telecoms industry. Citing a study by the Royal Society for Public Health, they highlighted the challenges faced by individuals working from home, such as reduced connection to colleagues (67% of businesses), difficulty maintaining work-life boundaries (56%), and the need for mental health support (34%).
Recognising the inherent need for collaboration, Evolve places humans at the centre of their business operations. They understand the significance of establishing a positive work culture and believe that it is the responsibility of the leadership team to shape this culture and foster a conducive working environment.
The session proved to be highly beneficial for Evolve, as Neil gained a wealth of insightful information from like-minded individuals at the event. A comprehensive overview of the roundtable discussion will be available to read on The Business Desk website.
For those interested in learning more about Evolve and their values, they can visit their website.
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About Evolve Business Group and Evolve
Evolve Business Group is an independently owned company that specialises in providing end-to-end IT and managed network solutions to a range of businesses. Evolve is helping businesses to reduce costs and simplify the management of services and give business owners and their teams more time to do what they do best.
Founded in 2005, it has worked with a variety of clients across different industries around the world, building a team of highly experienced specialists to help create effective and efficient packages using any combination of different offerings. It keeps a range of cross-sector networks protected and connected.
