Glen Manchester - Thunderhead

Entrepreneur Glen Manchester set up Thunderhead, winner of the 2008 Deloitte EMEA Technology Fast 500 index, in the technology recession during the early years of the 21st century. The same DNA that went into setting up the company has enabled the document automation provider to weather the 2009 recession.

“Recession creates necessity and necessity is the mother of all invention. We were formed in a technology recession post the dot-com burst in 2001,” says Manchester. “I took it upon myself to form my company. As a result of that, we’ve sold our technology all over the world.”

The UK-based software company, which provides products and services for the document generation market, has been consistently successful since it started trading.

Sales have soared and it has quietly acquired a reputation for excellence among customers, which now include financial and insurance institutions as well as public sector companies across the globe.

Thunderhead was founded in 2001, but Manchester spent two years researching the market and perfecting the technology before it was launched. The company aims to provide a cost-effective way for companies to manage all their communication processes – and that means penetrating the dull sounding world of back offices.

In the early days the investment banks proved lucrative customers. Manchester had recognised that there was a gap for bankers – rather than their back office teams – to process the thousands of trades that were generated every day in the credit derivatives market. Banking giants including UBS and Morgan Stanley were seduced by trade processing software that could reduce average processing times of six hours to just three minutes.

It was only because of the years of planning that Manchester was able to crack the previously impenetrable world of investment banking.

“I like good planning,” the entrepreneur says. “It is a lot better to research before you do anything.”

It also gave him the confidence to pursue the banks – and demonstrated his belief in his product since Manchester was funding the business without generating income for over two years.

With strong foundations in place Manchester has been able to expand Thunderhead even during the current recession. “We have maintained our focus on ROI [return on investment]. Everyone is interested in things that give them a payback,” he says. And Thunderhead’s document and communications solutions can save companies both money and time.

Manchester has driven the expansion into new channels and also into new markets including the US.

Expanding to the US marked a turning point for Thunderhead. “It is not the logical expansion for a UK company,” says Manchester. “It is very expensive.”

This year Thunderhead has continued to expand locally in Europe but it is also partnering with global companies – such as IBM - to ensure there is a cohesive relationship with companies on a global scale. “This is an evolution for us because we are focused on direct selling,” says Manchester. “We are at a point of maturity where it makes sense.”

Manchester already has a successful track record as an entrepreneur. He funded Thunderhead from the money he made selling his previous start-up, Geneva Digital. He sold it in 1999 to Canadian document company Xenos and remained with the company as CEO until he returned to the UK to set up Thunderhead.

Manchester has the can-do attitude that marks him out as an entrepreneur. He jokes that entrepreneurs are ‘a mad bunch’. But he also believes that true entrepreneurs have to be passionate about their company, product or service. “It is about an ability to be evangelical about your innovation or invention, and in doing so to bring others on board with you,” he says. Added to this is good planning and strong due diligence. With these ingredients ‘anything is possible’ says Manchester.

He also believes that timing plays a part in success – getting the market at the right time with the right product is key. Certainly that holds true for Thunderhead. It was built in a tough market, which means it is resilient. And now it is delivering cost-effective and efficient solutions for companies that are looking to reduce costs.

But despite the ingredients for success Manchester is not resting on his laurels.

In the current market he says there is no room for mistakes. “It is about optimising every risk. There is no room for error in a market like this,” he says. “You have got to make sure everyone is executing well. In a bull market you can paper over the cracks. Now everyone has got to be focused and pull together. It is about a common vision.”

Glen Manchester was a keynote speaker the January 2009 Entrepreneur Country Forum. Watch the post-presentation video interview here.