Sam Alsop-Hall is the co-founder of Mprove - the UK’s first “system-flow consultancy” for the healthcare sector, delivering new, innovative and cost-effective solutions to improve health and social care delivery.
How long have you been in your current job? Liam Molesworth and I co-founded the business in March 2020, so we’ve now reached two years of trading.
How has your company had to respond to the Coronavirus crisis? Setting up a business two weeks before the nation entered lockdown restrictions means we’ve faced extremely unique circumstances. The main challenge was trying to scale-up and hire while operating on a 100 per cent remote basis. To add fuel to the fire, we didn't have the typical governance systems and processes in place at the time.
Yet, in some ways it was the ideal time to start a business, as the level of disruption in all aspects of the market meant we could adapt quicker than other organisations. Being in the healthcare sector, there was a need to think differently and move at pace, especially in terms of digitising and improving patient flow – which is exactly why we set up the business to begin with.
What do you think the pandemic will mean for your industry in the months and years to come? Healthcare has been directly impacted by the pandemic. As such, the sector will need to refocus its efforts on controlling finance, delivering elective care recovery and also developing and digitising new models of care.
How do you get the best out of your staff? We operate with an acceptance of failure and high levels of trust and autonomy. This approach allows our team to maintain psychological safety and focus on doing the right thing for our clients and customers. We also believe that people don't live to work, so supporting our staff to achieve their goals outside of the workplace is a big focus for us.
How many emails do you tend to get in a day, and how much time do you have to read them? Hundreds! However, we have a wonderful executive assistant who reviews and refines our emails so that we can prioritise effectively.
How do you hope your colleagues would describe you? Hopefully they would describe me as someone who leads from the front and operates with integrity, but I’m often moving from one task straight onto the next idea – sometimes I need to slow down!
Highlights of your career so far? It would easily be moving into a new city centre office with our team just 12 months after we began. That was a huge milestone for the business, having started with just Liam and I. I’m also extremely proud to support, mentor and develop our five apprentices into the talent of tomorrow.
Any particular faux pas or embarrassing moments in your career you would prefer to forget? I once went to a client breakfast meeting in the Wirral, leaving home at 4:30am and arriving at 7am only to discover the client was at a swimming competition in Tokyo with his son!
Pet hates? People who say one thing and do another. I think people should always aim to be authentic and honest.
If you could go back and give your younger self some wise advice, what would it be? You don't need to go to university to be successful. In fact, I’d advise my younger self to get out into the working world as soon as possible and invest in himself earlier.
How do you relax away from work? I'm a keen but terrible golfer!
What do you believe is special about the Birmingham business community? I genuinely believe that Birmingham businesses have a grit and determination that mark us apart from other cities. All of those I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with seem to find a solution to a problem, no matter the challenges.
Tell us something about you that most people probably wouldn’t know: I own a neon light importation business with a friend. It started as a side hustle but has become quite successful over the years.
You can take one book, one film and one music album onto a desert island – what would they be? Book: Steven Bartlett’s "Happy Sexy Millionaire"; film: Batman; Music album: Bicep debut, LP Bicep
Your five dream dinner party guests, dead or alive? Oscar Wilde, Jurgen Klopp, my late Grandfather, Adele and Kim Kardashian
What would you choose to eat for your last supper? Steak and chips from Gaucho!
