Let the UK’s Tall Tech Poppies Flourish

Many leaders, including myself, have highlighted the current potential for a golden era for UK technology.

For the first time in a generation, we can see a rich pipeline of fantastic Digital and Tech companies poised to list publicly on The London Stock Exchange – Deliveroo announced last week; DarkTrace; Oxford Nanopore; Trustpilot; PensionBee amongst many others.  

This position reflects recent welcome changes in the way we think about the Tech business and the potential for the UK. But there is still much more to do in changing the psyche that we developed during a period of decline as a post-industrial, post-Empire former power. A mindset that reached its nadir in the early 1980s. 

The US Experience

I grew up in that period and started work as things were beginning to change.  

After college, I joined the UK’s early Tech industry. Luckily, I got recruited into Oracle’s `can do ` culture in a largely US-dominated sector. Within a relatively short period of time, I was working in Silicon Valley, part of the founding team at Chordiant which grew rapidly from zero to $70m revenues in just 4 years, backed by US venture capital. Our destiny was a 'unicorn' IPO on Nasdaq, the US exchange that had been established to meet the liquidity needs of the new generation of fast-growing companies. Chordiant was my first CEO gig living the culture of ambition and growth towards global market leadership.

The US software psyche was so different from UK tech companies. In the US board rooms, the discussions were always about growth with a realisation of barriers to smash through. The board discussion was animated about becoming the market leader - creating new categories, expanding into new countries, identifying acquisitions and so on with a rounded discussion on risk and execution capability. All enabled by bold, aligned, and strategic financial backers that shared the same vision. 

In short, a growth mindset with the ambition to win on the global stage. Driving the agenda was customer obsession, employee engagement, clarity of strategy, flawless execution and building exceptional value for all stakeholders. And despite what you might expect as a UK reader, it wasn’t to be achieved at all costs, it was about dreaming big and doing it the right way. 

Returning to the UK

I returned to the UK fifteen years ago, as CEO of Micro Focus. At the time, Micro Focus was ‘on its knees’ - suffering rapid revenue declines and customer attrition - we set about a turnaround based on the leadership lessons I’d learnt in the Valley. 

Three years later, we had re-built a company that had tripled its revenues, attracting new customers, winning in the USA, and lifting the spirits of employees – to become an acknowledged market leader in Application Modernisation space. Shareholders were delighted with the accompanying seven-fold stock price increase. Residents of Newbury benefitted as we reached out through multiple charity, youth, and community projects.

During this time, I met many UK tech boards, and I was shocked by the different level of experience, ambition, and culture from that I had witnessed in the US.  It seemed many UK Tech Boards were consumed by the sole aim of ‘exit’ - selling out at what they believed to be the optimal time with short-term thinking. This toxic ‘throw the towel in’ mentality was in stark contrast to what I’d seen in the US with the embodiment of the American dream expressed in achieving global market leadership for the long-term. 

UK Tech renaissance

But roll the clock forward to the present. What a difference I see in UK Tech compared to those dark days only 15 years ago. Lessons have been learnt and the riches of UK talent and experience abound.  

By chairing Tech Nation and through my angel investing, I am privileged to meet many of the UK’s amazing Tech Founders/CEOs, so I am not at all surprised by the rich pipeline of UK Tech IPOs that has resulted.

There are now many UK based serial CEO entrepreneurs, serial tech investors, a stronger VC community and excellent, experienced UK ‘digital native’ board members - a cohort with raised ambition on the world stage where the adage of software companies ‘Grow fast or die slowly’ is well understood.

Stars are aligning

So much so, I believe we are now at a seminal moment for Tech in the UK with all the stars aligning. 

Major reviews by Lord Hill and Ron Kalfia leading the UK Fintech charge have been recently published. We have a supportive Government and Prime Minister with big ambitions to transform Britain into a ‘science and technology superpower’- critical to defining a positive vision and achieving prosperity for Britain in a Digital Age.  The positive narrative and support from political leaders creates the environment for the Tech ecosystem to invest and flourish.

Of course, there is plenty to do to realise this ambition – ‘cracking the code’ of market failure in skills, talent, access to capital - particularly outside London, delivering effective support in regions. But the UK Tech ecosystem is mobilised for action.

Elephant in the room

Yet within this amazing story of renewal, there remains an elephant in the room. We still need to transform aspects of our national UK psyche. 

The USA has a culture where heroes are created from Tech success and we need to similarly celebrate our UK Tech role models. We want the best and brightest teenagers to look to Tech and be inspired to pursue a career as Tech entrepreneurs or have the ambition to work in Tech. 

Unfortunately, in the UK, we still fall victim to an aspect of our culture - that self-destructive ‘Tall Poppy’ syndrome.

Our UK tendency to resent, discredit or disparage those who stand out by having created notable success or gained public prominence, undermines the impact and devalues the collective success of Tech entrepreneurs, potentially discouraging others to follow the same path. 

The HUT Group

A recent example is the brilliant e-commerce company The Hut Group (THG) that concluded the biggest listing in the UK last year. Its shares are up 50 per cent since it floated. The Hut Group is a great success for the North West – a regional posterchild.

Matthew Moulding has built this Cheshire-based global giant relentlessly since 2004. The company leadership deserves huge credit in overcoming adversity and working harder than any of us can imagine in building such a success. 

The media headlines, however, downplayed this massive achievement - the star entrepreneur, the leadership, the jobs created, the UK taxes paid, the choice of London to list, the north-west success and, instead, provided negative commentary, focussing on Matthew’s income, wealth, and governance questions. 

In the UK, we still seem to delight in spotting the tallest poppy and cut it down to be like all the others – a self-destructive race to the bottom.

Let the tall poppies flourish

The UK narrative must change and journalists, editors and those writing and posting in media, both traditional and social, have a key role to play to shape the future of UK Tech.  

We should expect much better from our media and our fellow citizens in terms of balance and celebrating role models and business heroes for the next generation.  

Likewise, in a relatively small country in geographical terms, it is unsavoury at best, and fundamentally damaging at worst, to see media from London ignoring the importance of other areas of the UK or conversely, the regional media sniping at London. This internecine squabbling is entirely self-defeating. We need to execute the strategies to encourage entrepreneurs throughout a prosperous UK, including positioning London as the most attractive capital city in the world in which to invest, grow and float Tech businesses. Ambitious regions across the UK prosper with the prosperous London. Tech is a fiercely competitive global environment. It is ‘Team UK’ versus the World. The realisation that competition is from across the pond and from China and India should encourage the UK to raise our game and support Team UK. 

Let’s finally see the tallest poppies flourishing and being appreciated as part of developing that winning UK psyche of achievement and celebration that will be crucial to underpinning the UK’s future Tech success. Culture always ate strategy for breakfast and let’s be proud of, rather than suspicious of, a winning UK culture of ambition.