30 - More Than Just A Number

For many people 30 is a turning of age that gives rise to questions, goal setting and inward analysis. 30 years ago saw the Church of England allowing the ordination of women; £60M being stolen in the Knightsbridge Security Deposit robbery and the Channel Tunnel being given the go-ahead. For those of you who remember them, those events now seem so, so long ago; don’t they?

Right now and much closer to home, 30 is more than just a number for the team at Big Red Digital. Why is that? Well for any of you who get our regular updates, you’ll know that 30 years ago this month, our CEO Chic McSherry started a journey that ultimately led to the birth and development of Big Red Digital. And what a journey that’s been.

Chic recounted his 30-year story for us. And for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, here’s how it goes...

“It goes like this…30 years ago this month I started a little business called Accounting Software Consultants Ltd. No prizes for guessing what we did! I genuinely had no real clue as to what I wanted it to become, and in reality I only did it so that I would have time to pursue other things…and look how that worked out!

My first member of staff was a fresh faced college kid called Tommy McLaughlin and we hit it off immediately. He quickly gained the trust and respect of every client with his quiet, confident and professional manner.

That business eventually became Prosys Business Solutions and grew to almost £2m in turnover with 25 employees. We had clients throughout the UK, North America, Europe and Australia. To this day I still bump into staff all over the world who worked for me back then and who are now in senior positions with global companies.

In 2006 my business partner in Prosys decided he wanted to retire. So I broke Prosys up into its constituent parts; sold off the reseller and support business, Syscare, and kept the software development part, iPort.

iPort had several different component companies and in 2017 I brought all these fragmented parts together and built them into one coherent business – Big Red Digital.

Big Red is now forging ahead with world class software products and winning numerous awards and accolades. The management team, which is made up of Chic, Stevie Blood and still includes the amazing Tommy McLaughlin, is developing a partnership that will drive the business forward through this decade and beyond - long after I am gone from the business.”

During his 30-year journey, Chic was often questioned by clients cautious about dealing with a small software house. “What happens if you go bust?” they’d ask. We still hear it to this day. Never one to blow his own trumpet too loudly, Chic would smile, put his best foot forward and allow his vision to drive things forward.

You’d need a whole lot more than one hand to count the businesses that have gone bust on our patch in the last 30 years, but testament to our vision and determination, we’re not only still here, but we’re going strong with a long, clear vision to drives ours and our client's ongoing successes.

To what do we owe this 30 years of success?

To you of course! Our customers! Our continuing journey is due to the amazing, diverse, interesting, challenging, demanding and loyal customers that Chic and the team have had the privilege of working with over the years.

Thank you all…and here’s to the next 30 years!

Related Article:  More about our history...