In 2008, Fiona Bradley founded accredited qualifications provider Sage Qualifications to provide an income for her and her children after a difficult experience with divorce. After many years of working all hours and having her laptop screen open in the evenings in an effort to get her business up and running, not only has she built a thriving company, but also secured the International Association of Bookkeepers’ [IAB] award for Innovation in Education in the year 2022. Speaking on The Leaders Council Podcast, Fiona told of what meant into making it all possible.
Sitting down with The Leaders Council’s Scott Challinor, Fiona revealed how after her marriage broke down, she built on bookkeeping skills that she had learnt within business in an effort to provide a better life for herself and her children.
“A long time ago, I did run a retail grocery shop with my husband. Sadly, that relationship didn't last. But we were partners in the business and when he when the marriage broke down, he took the business on and began running it by himself. So, I needed to find something else to do.
“At this time, I had two small children and I was a single parent. So, it seemed to me that the easiest thing to do since I learned the skills or some skills of keeping books while running the retail business was to take in books a little bit. So, I could do bookkeeping from home and look after my two children, one of which was preschool age. So, it initially fitted well because I could work in the evening. I had no formal qualifications in the area having previously trained as a cookery teacher, so I went back to college, I did an A-level in Accountancy first of all, to enable me to have some skills in bookkeeping, and a pathway to going on to further education.
“From that, I did an undergraduate degree and then a master’s degree in Business Policy, all with learning in the evening. While it was hard working on Sundays and at times, I thought I was going to give up, but all of this was really important to get me on the career ladder in the direction that I wanted to go. So, I eventually became Business Link’s adviser on computerised accounting, I enjoyed it and got an aptitude for it and that drove me to take it all forward. It wasn’t my chosen career path at school, but often life takes you in different directions and you have to take the bull by the horns and run with it.”
When asked about what kept her motivated during those times where she came close to giving in, Fiona candidly replied: “To be absolutely frank I needed the money! I needed to create an income stream for my children, I very much didn't want them to be sort of labelled as poor children from a struggling single parent family and I think it was a reaction to that and I think I felt I had a point to prove and so I persevered.
“But it suited me in that I could take them to school and bring them home all around my work. I even took my laptop to a local swimming pool sometimes and worked while they were swimming. It suited our way of life but it became a bit of a running joke! My four-year-old daughter at the time came home once after staying over with friends and said ‘mummy, it’s really strange that when my friend’s mummy and daddy wake up in the morning, they sit in bed with a cup of tea and not up in bed with a laptop like you do!”
However, being awarded the tag of “family workaholic” is one that Fiona has taken firmly in her stride.
“I have had to live with the family workaholic tag! Don’t ask me about what happens on EastEnders or Coronation Street! The TV might be on in the background in the evenings, but I've always got a blow glow on my face! I don’t class myself as a workaholic even though the family may well do, but that’s simply because I enjoy what I do, and needless to say if there’s something else happening or I’m needed elsewhere, I will always make time.”
Moving the discussion onto the IAB awards success, Fiona opened up about the key innovation which made the award win possible and told The Leaders Council about AutoMarker, a new piece of software developed in collaboration with Innovate UK.
Reflecting on how her business has modernised since its foundation, Fiona said: “As I look back, when we started these qualifications, we produced in bulk. Would you believe we printed them on a printer and used to comb bind them, and then we used to deliver paper qualifications that were hand-marked? Now everything's on a portal and we've got tens of thousands of learners on the portal. Nothing is printed, everything is either an e-book or video. And the big thing we develop with Innovate UK is the AutoMarker. So that investigates the learner’s software, and it marks it as they go along. If a transaction is green, it's correct and if it's red, it's not correct, and it will show them what the right answer should be. So, they can go about and correct that transaction.
“It’s definitely changed what we do and we’re also able to look at localising it. We now operate in Ireland and we’re looking to take it over to Canada and the US.”
Sharing her emotions in the wake of winning the Innovation in Education award, Fiona added: “It’s a little bit of a humbling experience really. I’m just doing something that I really enjoy and that I love.
“But I think that if you're faced with a problem, the key to success is not to think it’s an unsolvable problem. You very much can if you look around the problem and find a different way forward. So, the award was welcome and it’s a massive achievement and we are incredibly proud to receive it. It’s the first time we’ve had an award for our software and we’re all very, very proud of that. We’ve all played a part, everyone on the team, and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash
