AT THE TOP TABLE
The software boss working to ensure company joins the tech elite
SOMETIMES PLACING a pin in a map is the best way of finding the job of your dreams.
Just ask Zandra Moore, who is transforming Leeds-based Panintelligence into one of the UK’s leading technology companies.
“Most of the good things that have happened to me have been happy accidents,” she said. “I’ve got an open mindset. I have always believed in my power to change things.”
She first became aware of Panintelligence – or Pancredit as it was then called – almost a decade ago when she had her own consultancy, Sales Cake, and was working part-time.
The Huddersfield University graduate had already built a strong reputation as a software sales consultant who had worked in Australia, Asia and the UK. Now she was looking for a fresh challenge which could fit around family life.
Ms Moore added: “I put a pin in the map to find all the software companies within a two-mile radius of our home.”
She emailed bosses at Pancredit, which was within easy travelling distance of her house, and they invited her in to work on sales one day a week. After Pancredit was sold, she decided to take a stake in what is now Panintelligence.
She added: “I had been involved with the company for a long time and had opened a lot of the doors.
“I knew where the money would be in the future. I liked the market and loved the team. I knew that I could work with them.”
So after discussing this with her husband Jamie – who also gave the management a grilling – Ms Moore emptied her savings to take a stake in the business.
“We had both to be all in on this because you have to work as a team,” she added.
Today, Panintelligence stands on the threshold of greatness after gaining a place on a programme for the corporate world’s rising stars.
Panintelligence has been named as one of the 30 companies selected for Tech Nation’s Upscale 5.0 programme for the UK’s fastest growing scaleups.
The Panintelligence software operates across a wide range of sectors, from healthcare and local government, to retail and education, It provides business intelligence dashboards and analytics.
The business, which is now led by Ms Moore, is helping to save lives by using data to identify people who may be at risk.
As chief executive, Ms Moore has been delighted to oversee a raft of major contract wins, including a deal with global retail tech business PCMS, whose customers include Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and US firm Walgreens.
As part of the contract, Panintelligence data analytics software has been rolled out across thousands of British and American high street stores, providing retail managers with a visual overview of the stores’ front and back-end operations. A spokesman for Tech Nation said that Upscale 5.0 is the UK’s leading growth programme.
The Upscale programme is designed to support the UK’s leading scale-ups by tackling the leadership challenge in the UK tech sector. The programme aims to create a peer-to-peer network of companies who are growing their business .
It includes sessions led by tech entrepreneurs from some of the UK’s most successful companies. Thirty per cent of companies joining the programme are from outside London. These achievements show that Ms Moore’s bold decision to pour her savings into Panintelligence was a very smart one.
“We had a number of plans and one of the biggest things was re-writing the software,” she said.
“We have become very good at keeping clients. We tried to work out what the perfect client looks like. What is the right market for us?”
In common with many bosses at fast-growing technology firms, much of her energy has been focused on finding the right staff.
“It took a while to build the core team,” she recalled. “Staffing numbers have grown from 20 to 43 in two years. This was all organic. When you get to a critical size it is really important to find the right managers. It is all focused on playing to people’s strengths.
“It is also family friendly,” she added. “People can have a balance between home and work.
“People are more productive and make better decisions when they have a balance. Getting the key staff right is critical.”
In recent years, many Northern-based technology companies have sought backing from City-based investors. Ms Moore has been surprised by the lack of knowledge of Leeds in some parts of the City.
“I felt like I should have had more information to educate them – like a slide deck of information about Leeds and its strengths,’’ she said.
“You have got to find individuals who have a connection to the city. They need an appetite and curiosity about the city.
“As a sales person, you are trying to look for common ground and look for a place to connect so it is easier to build up trust and a dialogue. Our main investor – YFM – has a base in the North.”
Panintelligence has got plenty of scope to keep growing its global footprint.
Ms Moore said: “We will be launched on the AWS platform (a market place for tech products) which places us alongside the world’s biggest brands.
“People will know that we have been through a rigorous process to get through that. We will get noticed more. We can build wherever the customer demand comes from.
“There is lots of interest from the US, Australia. New Zealand, Holland and Switzerland. Our current plan is to have 70 to 80 staff within the next three years.”
Ms Moore’s decision to work with Panintelligence was the happiest career accident of all.
Most of the good things that have happened to me have been happy accidents.