{"id":14536,"date":"2019-10-17T02:36:08","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T07:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/?page_id=14536"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:20:28","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T18:20:28","slug":"sportsafe-uk","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/success-stories\/sportsafe-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"How Jon Neill Grew Sportsafe UK from One Man with a Van to Dominate an Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-margin-bottom:25px;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start\" style=\"max-width:1224px;margin-left: calc(-2% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-2% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.96%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.96%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:0.98%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:0.98%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:0.98%;--awb-spacing-left-small:0.98%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-one\" style=\"--awb-text-color:#58585a;\"><h1 class=\"title-heading-left\" style=\"margin:0;\">How Jon Neill Grew Sportsafe UK from One Man with a Van to Dominate an Industry<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.96%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.96%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:0.98%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:0.98%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:0.98%;--awb-spacing-left-small:0.98%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"text-align:right;--awb-max-width:600px;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none rounded-image\" class=\"image-magnify\" class=\"image-scroll\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"566\" height=\"272\" title=\"Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.04\" src=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.04.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.04.png\" alt class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-14537\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27566%27%20height%3D%27272%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20566%20272%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27566%27%20height%3D%27272%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.04-200x96.png 200w, https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.04-400x192.png 400w, https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.04.png 566w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 566px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-2 fusion-flex-container align-testimonial-single nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-justify-content-center\" style=\"max-width:calc( 1200px + 30px );margin-left: calc(-30px \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-30px \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-2 fusion_builder_column_1_5 1_5 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:20%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:15px;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:15px;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:15px;--awb-spacing-left-medium:15px;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:15px;--awb-spacing-left-small:15px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"--awb-margin-right:0px;--awb-max-width:250px;--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-2 hover-type-none rounded-image\" class=\"image-magnify\" class=\"image-scroll\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.18-e1571173694951-300&#215;300\" src=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.18-e1571173694951-300x300-1.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.18-e1571173694951-300x300-1-300x300.png\" alt class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-14538\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27300%27%20height%3D%27300%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20300%20300%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27300%27%20height%3D%27300%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.18-e1571173694951-300x300-1-200x200.png 200w, https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Screen-Shot-2018-04-11-at-14.36.18-e1571173694951-300x300-1.png 300w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-3 fusion_builder_column_2_5 2_5 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-color:#ffffff;--awb-bg-color-hover:#ffffff;--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:40%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:15px;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:0;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:15px;--awb-spacing-left-medium:15px;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:15px;--awb-spacing-left-small:15px;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\" style=\"--awb-text-font-family:&quot;Barlow&quot;;--awb-text-font-style:normal;--awb-text-font-weight:400;\"><p>The tools in the Align software and the customer service their team provides &#8212; it makes it possible for me and my team to accomplish the big things we set out to do.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-2 fusion-sep-none fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-six\" style=\"--awb-margin-bottom:0px;\"><h6 class=\"title-heading-left\" style=\"margin:0;\">Jon Neill, Founder<\/h6><\/div><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-3 hover-type-none\" class=\"image-magnify\" class=\"image-scroll\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"100\" title=\"sportsafe-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/sportsafe-logo.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/sportsafe-logo-200x100.png\" alt class=\"lazyload img-responsive wp-image-15627\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27600%27%20height%3D%27300%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20600%20300%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27600%27%20height%3D%27300%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/sportsafe-logo-200x100.png 200w, https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/sportsafe-logo-400x200.png 400w, https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/sportsafe-logo.png 600w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-3 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start\" style=\"max-width:1224px;margin-left: calc(-2% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-2% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-4 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:0.98%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:0.98%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:0.98%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:0.98%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:0.98%;--awb-spacing-left-small:0.98%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><p>In the United Kingdom, it\u2019s a best practice that sports and fitness equipment \u2014 whether at a hospital, high school, college or university \u2014 be inspected once per year. Like a car that needs to meet certain regulations, sports equipment must be checked to ensure its continued safety.<\/p>\n<p>But in the sports equipment industry, 90% of inspections result in the identification of needed repairs. And, with 50,000 UK schools and 10,000 other sites owning sports equipment, that means there\u2019s no shortage of inspections and repairs to be handled.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsafeuk.com\/\">Sportsafe UK<\/a> and its founder, Jon Neill came in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy the time I sold Sportsafe at the end of 2016, we serviced 20,000 of the country\u2019s schools,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s 40% \u2014 a lion\u2019s share of the industry\u2019s work!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But when he founded the company in 1997 with a team of two and a single client, Jon\u2019s success was far from inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn my two decades with Sportsafe, we never had a year in which we didn\u2019t grow,\u201d Jon recalled, \u201cand we never had a year in which we didn\u2019t make a profit. But it wasn\u2019t until our last three years where we really started to take-off. And I don\u2019t think that would have been possible without <a href=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/\">Align\u2019s strategic planning and execution tools<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"Font__title Font__title--alt\">Early Success Leads to Challenges<\/h2>\n<p>Jon left school when he was 17 and entered the sports equipment industry working for a company that would \u2014 decades later \u2014 become a competitor. He grew into a successful engineer and stuck with that company for 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>As he gained experience, he saw inefficiencies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember coming home from work and telling my wife I wanted to start my own company,\u201d Jon remembered, \u201cand that, even though I didn\u2019t have any business experience, I thought I could do this better than anyone else was doing it. She told me I was crazy and reminded me I couldn\u2019t even install a shower pump in our house,\u201d he laughed, \u201cbut I thought I was onto something!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under Jon, Sportsafe doubled in size every year for its first decade. They used innovation to help usher an industry that relied almost entirely on typewriters into the digital age. And, as the company grew, the team earned accolades, awards and a larger share of the market.<\/p>\n<p>But eventually, that growth got to be too much. The team couldn\u2019t keep up, and Sportsafe began experiencing cash flow issues. \u201cWe were just growing too quickly,\u201d said Jon, \u201cand we couldn\u2019t cope with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut besides the cash flow issues, I was noticing other problems. I wasn\u2019t convinced we had the right people in place and that was having a huge effect on our culture. We needed to change. I wasn\u2019t sure exactly how, but we needed to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"Font__title Font__title--alt\">Transforming a Culture<\/h2>\n<p>It was about this time that Jon brought on <a href=\"https:\/\/boolkah.com\/\">Peter Boolkah<\/a> as a business coach to help him address some of Sportsafe\u2019s biggest challenges. They created a senior management team and Peter introduced Jon to an early version of Align.<\/p>\n<p>One thing Jon said he noticed about Align right away was that it helped him and his executive team identify who in the organization was a good fit for the culture they were trying to establish and who wasn\u2019t. \u201cSome people didn\u2019t like the transparency Align brought to their work,\u201d he said. \u201cThey complained it felt too much like Big Brother watching you. But we also saw another group of employees emerge who loved that transparency as well as the accountability that came with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And Jon learned those were the people \u2014 the ones who thrived on accountability \u2014 he wanted. \u201cAs we progressed, we had more and more people who craved that. They loved seeing their task status turn green when they were on track, and they loved getting the rewards that came with it. They loved it so much it became a habit. Align helped motivate them and it kept us moving toward our priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The software pushed the senior management team to create a One Page Plan outlining the direction and big priorities of Sportsafe in a single, succinct document. Now every employee \u2014 whether they were a manager, an engineer, an accountant or a secretary \u2014 could see how their individual roles and tasks fit into the company\u2019s long-term plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was incredible,\u201d Jon recalled. \u201cWe had 110 people pulling in the same direction. Teams would meet in their 15-minute Huddles every morning to check-in on their tasks, and each employee was able to see how their tasks for the day would advance the priorities in our One Page Plan. They said they felt like their work mattered \u2014 because it did!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the day, each employee would update their Align Dashboard with the progress they made, as well as any questions they had, allowing managers to quickly check in on the status of their team\u2019s work and plan for the next day\u2019s Huddle. Everyone in the organization had real-time data at their fingertips and an eagle-eye view of the company \u2014 including Jon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had offices in Scotland, Birmingham (UK), Wales and London. It would have been so easy for us to retreat into our own silos. But Align helped prevent that. All the offices would be making their updates on the Dashboard at the end of the day, and so senior management could see how everything \u2014 from Scotland to the Midlands \u2014 was progressing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"Font__title Font__title--alt\">Transforming an Industry<\/h2>\n<p>That organizational focus allowed Sportsafe to transform their company, as well as an entire industry.<\/p>\n<p>Jon remembers when they received their first computer in the late \u201890s. \u201cI had to watch a VHS instruction guide to learn how to turn the thing on!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But much has changed for his company since then, and Jon feels Align has a lot to do with it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we uncovered an innovation we wanted to implement throughout the organization \u2014 before Align, it might take us a year. Often, we\u2019d lose steam and putter out before we finished. Or we\u2019d get distracted. But, with Align, the entire company is singularly focused on a priority, and its software forces you to talk about that priority every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All of a sudden when Sportsafe decided to make an innovation a focus, it would become an organization-wide habit within a single quarter!<\/p>\n<p>And these would often result in big gains for Jon\u2019s most important stakeholders: his employees and his customers. One example of this is when the company gave each of their engineers an electronic tablet to take with them for each inspection.<\/p>\n<p>Before the tablets, engineers had to type up a three-part paper report after each site they visited. Besides taking a huge amount of time out of an engineer\u2019s day, and aside from costing the company a lot of money, this archaic system also meant the customer would be waiting weeks to find out if their athletic equipment was safe for users.<\/p>\n<p>But life was different once Sportsafe implemented tablets. They had trackers on them, so the company and their customers knew exactly when the engineer would be on site. And the tablet would dictate workflow so the engineer didn\u2019t miss any steps like a risk assessment or a follow-up. \u201cAnd most importantly,\u201d Jon remembered, \u201cas soon as the engineer finished an inspection, all they had to do was push a button and the process that once took weeks was now automatic: if the sports equipment was up to code, the customer would immediately receive a certificate; if it wasn\u2019t they\u2019d receive a quote for the work that needed to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And, if you\u2019re hoping to service 20,000 schools in a year, that automation is key.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done it without Align,\u201d Jon insists. \u201cWhen we decided to move forward with an innovation, we\u2019d make it a priority for the quarter. And once it became a priority, every employee in the company had tasks on the Dashboard that moved us closer toward implementation. It would be in our One-Page Plan, our Leadership Team would talk about it in our meetings, and employees and teams would discuss it with their managers each day in their Huddles. We were 110 people moving to the beat of one drum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That organizational focus would pay huge dividends for Sportsafe again and again, but perhaps never more than in 2015 when Jon\u2019s team decided to solve its \u00a3100,000 problem: something they call, \u201cReturns.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"Font__title Font__title--alt\">Saving \u00a3100,000 Can Be a Lot of Fun<\/h2>\n<p>Jon explains, \u201cA return can be any kind of failed job, and it\u2019s one of the most important aspects of a company like ours.\u201d A return might occur because Sportsafe\u2019s warehouse didn\u2019t have the correct parts because a school was closed the day an engineer was supposed to inspect their equipment, or \u201cfor one of a thousand other reasons. But, whatever the reason, it means the job didn\u2019t get done, and that costs us money and affects customer satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To address the problem, Jon turned to Align\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/aligntoday.com\/blog\/choosing-a-quarterly-theme\/\">Quarterly Themes<\/a>\u201d feature \u2014 designed to be a fun motif a company can use in its internal marketing to rally their team around achieving a priority. Sportsafe was masterful at using this tool. Their marketing team would create videos and presentations and \u2014 depending on the quarter \u2014 they would create Star Wars themes, Superman themes, and a host of others.<\/p>\n<p>But the Returns Theme was their most successful. When Returns became a priority for the quarter, the company set a 5% return rate as the goal \u2014 way down from their then-current rate of 25%. That meant one out of every four site visits was a \u201cfailed job,\u201d costing the company more than \u00a3100,000 each year!<\/p>\n<p>The team identified best practices in minimizing Returns, and every Sportsafe employee \u2014 from the warehouse team and the marketing team, to the engineering team and the administrative team \u2014 focused on tasks in their Align Dashboards that would address this company-wide priority.<\/p>\n<p>Presentations and internal marketing materials were created, prizes were awarded to the team members who most impacted the goal, and the whole team was rewarded when benchmarks were reached.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew Align\u2019s Quarterly Themes worked well for our company, but I didn\u2019t think there was any way we\u2019d get down to five-percent,\u201d Jon admits. \u201cBut never underestimate the power of a motivated team. In a single quarter, we got down to 4.5%, and it never went back up!\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 class=\"Font__title Font__title--alt\">Good Habits are Also Hard to Break<\/h2>\n<p>Jon sold Sportsafe at the end of 2016, and just as it played an important role in his management of the company, it also provided additional value as he handed it off to its new leadership.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI remember when they came to visit our Quarterly Meeting,\u201d he said, \u201cthey were blown away. They looked at our One Page Plan and they said our strategic outlook was far beyond what they had seen from other companies. They loved our culture. They loved the way we innovated and the buy-in from our team. They couldn\u2019t believe our Dashboard and the accuracy of data at our disposal. Align was a huge, huge tool for me as I sold. I knew we were an organized company, but it allowed me to show that off to potential buyers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But just because Jon is no longer leading Sportsafe doesn\u2019t mean he isn\u2019t still using Align to make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met a university professor in Colchester shortly after selling Sportsafe,\u201d Jon said, \u201cand we came up with a plan to build an athletic center. We worked together for two years on it with a small team of six and \u2014 of course \u2014 Align. Now they have a \u00a312 Million center and I\u2019m really proud to have taken part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd I\u2019ll keep turning to Align as projects come up in the future. The tools in the software and the customer service their team provides \u2014 it makes it possible for me and my team to accomplish the big things we set out to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Sportsafe UK took off from 1 to 100 employees, CEO Jon Neill turned to proven business habits in Align to build an culture of success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":14565,"parent":11712,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14536","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3.1 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Jon Neill Grew Sportsafe UK from One Man with a Van to Dominate an Industry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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