Lee Rorison is founder and CEO of Seriös Group, a data and test solutions provider based in Newcastle’s Hoults Yard. He has a technical background in data architecture and engineering. Seriös, founded three years ago, delivers data integration and analytics solutions to large corporate organisations, and employs a team of more than 50 data and test specialists.
What was your first job (and how much did it pay)? My first job from school was working in Asda supermarket as a porter in 1999, which essentially involved collecting trolleys from the car park and returning them to the collection points. It was minimum wage pay, around £3.50 an hour at the time. My first professional job was clinical data entry for a data management company in 2007, earning £14k a year.
What is the best advice or support you’ve been given in business? The best advice was from my graduate mentor telling me to “make sure you pay the bills first”. I used to have grand ideas as a graduate and the company I worked for were happy to support me with those, with the caveat that clients needed servicing first to pay the bills. The same company believed in me and my ideas, and that gave me the perfect playground to develop in my chosen field, learn from great people around me, and I’ve carried a lot of that advice and support right the way through to my professional life today. Making sure the bills are paid first is critical to the success and growth of our business.
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What are the main changes you’ve seen in your business/sector, and what are the challenges you’re facing? I’ve seen a huge shift in big businesses who used to rely on large scale resource augmentation models transition to an outcomes-based delivery model. This has been particularly pleasing to see as it aligns perfectly to how we operate at Seriös Group. Naturally I face many challenges trying to scale a start-up tech business organically. The biggest challenge is both finding and retaining great people, swiftly followed by ensuring as the business grows, we maintain the high levels of quality that we promise our clients and that they have become accustomed to.
How has the pandemic changed the way you work? We formed in February 2020, just before the pandemic happened. The initial plan for the business would have seen us deploy our people on to client sites to deliver our solutions alongside each client’s team. However, the pandemic enforced remote working, which enabled us to pivot immediately into a remote working model. We have carried this model forward and still deliver remote solutions today, meaning we can be more competitive with our pricing and cost base.
Who is your role model in business? I don’t have one role model! I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great people over the years and been inspired in different ways by many. I like to think I’ve taken the best bits of different people and use them in my working life today in differing circumstances. If I had to pick one role model, it would be my graduate mentor, who gave me a chance in data consulting, believed and backed me. I also see a lot of how they operated in my day to day.
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What would your dream job be? I’m kind of in it! Scaling my own data solutions company. If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing though, my dream job would be being involved in a Formula One team analysing their performance data
What advice would you give to someone starting out a career in your sector? Always focus on the processes and methodologies required to design and implement a data solution. Don’t get too hung up on the technology. Technology is great but is effectively an enabler to deliver solutions. Operating in a technology agnostic manner opens up lots of new opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t exist if you focus on one technology stack. The real value sits in the underlying processes and methodologies.
What makes the North East a good place to do business? We have it all in the North East, but all roads lead back to the people. Our universities and colleges are fantastic, our experienced and skilled people are incredible, the openness of businesses to talk to each other and network is unlike anywhere else. What has really taken me aback is the willingness of senior stakeholders in similar businesses to ours in region to offer help and advice by sharing their own growth journeys. There’s a real family feel in business in the North East where everyone wants to improve together and collaborate.
How important is it for business to play a role in society? Hugely important. Especially today when environmental, social and governance (ESG) is such a prominent metric in the world of business. We’re proud to be involved in regional charities and local colleges, and sharing our skills and knowledge through user groups. We’re also proud to work with the region’s exceptional sports clubs, like the Newcastle Eagles and Sunderland AFC. Businesses are so much more than just economic entities and should embrace being part of the societies they do business within. We have a real opportunity to inspire others, develop youth, enrich communities and promote entrepreneurship, as well as helping to raise vital funds for charity.
Outside of work, what are you really good at? Good question. Scaling Seriös Group takes up the majority of my time, so my time for active hobbies is sadly limited. I spend most of my time outside of work relaxing with my wife Lorraine and mini Dachshund dog Hugo, watching Formula One, watching football (Sunderland is my team!), or watching the basketball at the Newcastle Eagles, where Seriös Group are proud to be sponsors. I seem to be good at bringing people together in social settings. Something I’ve had lots of practice of doing over the years. Once upon a time I used to be a decent goalkeeper in football as well.