Ben

We spent the first few years doing a lot of R&D, supported by government grants. Around 2018, we reached the point where we had a fantastic new product, the contactless Donation Station, that was ready to go to market.

Covid slowed things down, as I’m sure it did for everyone, but after the pandemic period, that’s when the real growth kicked in. We were able to attract venture capital funding as we felt sure there was more growth to be had. That was about a year ago – and we’ve been continuing on steady growth trajectory ever since.

We’ve grown the team a lot in the last year or so. The sales of the main donation product continue to increase. We are a tech company in essence – we buy the hardware, but it’s the software and tech that we’re creating. Our main clients are hospitals, museums, churches, other religious organisations, other charitable organisations. They use our product to better fundraise, to make it easier to receive donations for their work.

We are also moving into the area of helping businesses and charities better fundraise in all sorts of ways, which we expect to be an area of further growth in 2024. The supermarkets and other large corporates are all looking for effective ways to raise money for good causes, and a lot of them are interested in the kind of thing we’re doing.

We’ve only covered the UK market to date. International markets are where there is the possibility of scale. We are developing other products as well with that in mind. Our Donation Station Lite range will hit the market next quarter.

We currently have a staff of around a twenty people. Our work culture is friendly, based on mutual respect and a desire to do the best for our charity customers. We celebrate the things that make us different: our talents and skills, our interests and approach to solving problems. We’re all working for a common cause. 

I feel that lifelong learning is such an important thing. Particularly given the fact that our whole business revolves around socially driven projects. Diversity of thought and belief are welcome within the team and our current staff already reflect that. Our ambitions are based on healthy growth, through smart thinking, rather than harder effort. Work-life balance is so important.

I want GWD to be successful, but I also want it to be a great place to work. I think the rewards of having a good culture in places of employment aren’t talked about enough.

We’re on a journey to help increase funds for good causes and the only way to do that is with a great team who are enjoying the journey as well.