George Griffiths was brought up on the values of uCheck, having helped out with the family-run business since he was seven years old. He took a keen interest in the running of the business and came on board full-time in 2013, with the goal of creating a fluid and successful Business Development structure.
In 2018, George became the Managing Director of uCheck. He is proud to take the baton for running the company and to promote his family’s vision: to always care about getting it right.
Here are his words about life as a Managing Director and his hopes for the future of uCheck.
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?
uCheck has been a massive part of my life, even going back to when I grew up. As a child I’d help out in the office folding paper forms – I even went into school one day with blisters because I had folded so many! A while ago we worked out that over the course of 10 years I had folded over 100,000 forms.
Fortunately, in 2010 the business went online and that completely changed the service we could offer. It enabled us to branch out into the market on a national scale.
In 2011, I graduated from just helping out and became involved with the Business Development side of the business. This mostly involved reaching out to potential partners and offering them our unique online solution for CRB checks. Processing checks online put our clients at a huge advantage in the industry as they no longer needed to wait weeks, or even months, for their CRB results.
Although my role has changed a lot since then, I still stay involved in our Business Development activities, going out to visit clients as much as possible. What’s great about my current role is that rather than being involved in just one area, I now have an overall insight into our business, which is really exciting!
What makes you the proudest about uCheck?
Since starting the company, it has always been the mission of uCheck to grow our business in line with our morals and principles.
The way we do business is driven by our mission: to always care about getting it right. The resulting management structure and list of over 25,000 happy customers and counting is something I’m extremely proud of.
Tell us about an accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career to date.
Being part of the continued growth and development of uCheck and it’s services is something I consider to be a huge accomplishment.
The main achievement that springs to mind is the creation of our unique HR Platform. It was borne out of clients highlighting that they had to use multiple systems to achieve all the checks they required. Although processing checks online was still relatively new, we used our clients’ feedback to design a multi-product platform.
There was no comparable product on the market so we were really starting with a blank canvas. I was heavily involved with our developers and helped to coordinate the many different cogs that made up the system.
Although the HR platform has been easing the admin burden for our clients for years, our work still isn’t done. We’re always looking for ways to improve our system and have recently released a Mobile Tracking App for iOS. I really don’t ever see a point where we wouldn’t welcome feedback as it continues to inform our company developments.
On a more personal note, do you have any hobbies?
I take a keen interest in most sports specifically tennis and football and enjoy playing either (weather permitting!) I completed the London Marathon in 2016 and the Great West Run in 2015 and 2018 raising over £5,000 for some fantastic charities. I also love to cook and can regularly be found at the local cookery school trying to polish up on my skills.
If you could have dinner with one celebrity, dead or alive, who would it be?
I’m a huge James Bond fan so it’d have to be Sir Roger Moore. He was the best Bond in my opinion and I’m sure he would have plenty of stories to share, especially seeing as he spent 12 years in the role.
What do you most enjoy about your job?
I love communication; it’s proven to be the key to success, especially for such a growing and agile business like uCheck. It’s one of the biggest things I’ve learnt over the years and is something I continue to prioritise for our employees and clients. Most challenges arise from poor communication, so I’ve worked hard to ensure all of the necessary tools are in place to strengthen our communication.
As I mentioned before, our morals and principals are imperative so if I don’t share those visions, through communication, then can I really expect everyone to be on board?
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
I have received a lot of advice and guidance over the years but the main piece of advice that I put into practice every day was from our Business Coach. He explained it’s important to make forward steps an inch at a time – no matter how small.
If I were to make 1 small step every day, I’ve made 365 steps a year so if you put that into perspective, that’s actually a huge accomplishment. It’s not always about changing everything over-night because that’s not realistic. By having this mindset, I’m able to focus my attention on the positives and drive the business forward in the best way.
And lastly, what excites you most about the future of uCheck?
The fact we’re in technology and the market we’re in, it’s always expanding and the opportunities are endless. We’ve got an excellent team here at uCheck that support each other so I’m excited to see what new opportunities arise and where that will take us in the industry. It won’t always be plain sailing with plenty of challenges, but there is no doubt that the future looks great and we should have a lot of fun along the way!
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