Ten years ago, the world felt like it was shifting. Brexit happened. AirPods launched. Leicester City won the Premier League at 500/1. And we started UP3 with nothing but a belief there was a better way to build a ServiceNow partner. We had no idea what we were in for.
This is what a decade of building taught us.
1. Start with conviction, not a perfect plan
In 2016, all we had was a rough plan on a Trello board and a belief there was a better way to build a ServiceNow partner. No customers. No team. Just a clear point of view and the conviction to back it. We’ve learned that conviction outlasts any plan.
2. Know exactly what you are - and commit to it
From day one, we were clear on what we were building: a ServiceNow Managed Service business. A specialist, focused on running ServiceNow for our customers, not just implementing it and moving on. And we were ambitious about it. The goal from the start was to be the #1 ServiceNow Managed Service Partner in the UK. Saying that out loud in 2016 felt bold. We meant it. Today all of our customers use our Managed Service, we hold more ServiceNow Validated Practices than any other EMEA partner, and we were the first ServiceNow partner anywhere in the world to earn one for AI.
3. Hire people who can’t leave a problem alone
We wanted people who couldn’t leave an unsolved problem alone. Who’d be turned off by industrial two-year CMDB projects and genuinely excited by the complex, high-stakes ones. An army of passionate and specialist problem solvers. We’ve always found that our work attracts great people and the culture keeps them. Getting that right early shaped everything. Culture isn’t a values statement on a wall. It’s every hiring decision you make, compounded over time.
4. Your first customers give you more than revenue
Our early clients, including Virgin Trains and The Pensions Regulator, gave us proof that the model worked before we had the track record to justify their trust. After twelve months, we had £595K revenue and a client base that gave us far more than income. We still work with some of those first customers today. That’s not a coincidence. Long-term relationships built on consistent delivery are the foundation of our company.
5. Starting from nothing is hard. Scaling is harder.
Scaling a business is harder than starting one. After reaching £2M revenue in year two, the real challenge becomes hiring people who are better than you at things you used to own and genuinely letting them take over. Growth requires the business to become less dependent on you, which is an ongoing process that never fully ends.
6. The model that got you here won’t take you further
By 2021, five years in, something had to give. We had built deep specialisms in rail, public sector and energy and utilities, working with organisations where the stakes were high and the margin for error was low. Our team was growing fast to meet that demand, and our processes were creaking under the weight of a business that had outgrown them. The turning point came when Ruth discovered the Scaling Up methodology, a framework built around People, Strategy, Execution and Cash. Committing to it changed how we led, how we made decisions, and how we held ourselves accountable. From that point, everything accelerated.
7. Discipline is what makes ambition possible
This one surprised us. We used to think structure slowed you down. It doesn’t. The governance, processes and commercial rigour we’ve built are what allow us to take on more complex, higher-stakes work with confidence. You can’t operate in rail, defence or central government without it. Discipline isn’t the enemy of ambition. It turns out it’s what makes ambition sustainable.
8. Culture has to be actively protected - especially at scale
Some things haven’t changed in ten years. We still believe the best work comes from long-term relationships. We still believe outcomes matter more than activity. And we still believe our people are what make the difference. But keeping the culture intact at 100 people takes a completely different level of effort than it did at 10. It doesn’t just happen. You have to mean it, and it has to show up in how you hire, how you lead and what you’re willing to protect.
9. Stop occasionally. Look at what you’ve built.
We spent most of the last decade heads down. Ten years forced us to stop and take it in. A team of 100 specialists. £14 million revenue in the last twelve months. Consistent double-digit growth year on year. Deep specialisms in rail, transport and public sector, working with some of the most critical organisations in the UK. Standing in a room full of our people at this year’s kick-off, we both had the same thought: we learn from this team every single day. Don’t wait for a milestone to feel proud. But when it arrives, let yourself enjoy it.
10. Build it with someone you’d want beside you for the hard days
Building a business is relentless. Who you do it with matters enormously. We’ve been building UP3 together for ten years, working together for fifteen. We’ve talked each other off ledges, disagreed, found our way through and come out stronger. It’s an honour and privilege to do this work. To do it with your closest friend, while still making each other laugh every day, is the cherry on top.
If the first decade was built on bravery, the next will be defined by leadership. For our customers, for our people and for the market we operate in. We’re stepping into it with ten years of lessons, a team we’re genuinely proud of, and the same energy we had when we first sketched this out on a Trello board.
Ten years older. A lot wiser. And just as determined.
