IOD dinner 18/3/15
Robert Sillars
Good evening.
I am honoured, as CEO of Sigma to be here standing before you tonight as sponsors of this event.
Before preparing this speech I thought it would be a good idea to ask a few people what they thought
Sigma did and I was rather disappointed when “just stationery and schools equipment” kept coming
up time and time again.
In one case, where we had designed and installed a complex IT infrastructure for a large local
organisation, the senior management of that company was completely unaware that we were involved
in the process, they though t we supplied just the pencils.
I like to call it “stealth marketing” and I hope that this evening I can remedy this and that you will all go
away with a better understanding of our business and how we fit into the Community.
Sigma has been established for over 83 years, a little longer than I have been CEO.
Our company actually brought the first computer to the Channel Islands, back in the days when a
computer that filled a whole room had less processing capacity of today’s handheld device.
Sigma employs over 140 people across both islands, with specialist staff over 9 separate divisions.
We have large IT teams based in both islands involved in designing, implementing and supporting a
large number of businesses both large and small, including banks, hotels, law firms, e-gaming
companies and retail outlets. We support the tills in most of the large shops and restaurants in the
high streets of both Islands and we specialise in advising on the best security, disaster recovery and
storage solutions for our clients and ensuring we support their businesses at all stages of growth and
in every capacity.
Sigma supplies the products and services to ensure the smooth running of a truly diverse range of
businesses, from small owner/manager businesses to large corporations including sourcing and
supplying stationery, furniture, printers and document management solutions. We currently have over
1,000 active business accounts across the Channel Islands.
In addition to these divisions, in Jersey, we have a busy print works which supplies States
departments and a variety of organisations and bodies with printed material and products.
Our training division is the primary training arm for Pitman training in Jersey. In fact, one of our Pitman
Training students there (Jessica Riley) was in the final 3 shortlist last year of “Super Achievers 2014 –
Young Achiever of the Year”, a national competition. We also support Guernsey based students and
companies with the training to achieve qualifications in a huge variety of disciplines from digital
marketing to accounting technician to name just two that come to mind.
In Guernsey we also operate a fulfilment division which offers a bespoke service into Europe for our
diverse client base, including local businesses.
It has been an exciting time for Sigma over the last year, including heavy investment in people and
technology across both Islands, a new logo and strapline “Your business, completed” which reflects
how we support every aspect of our clients’ businesses. We also proudly launched a new website and
accompanying sales collateral mid-2014.
Late 2014 Sigma acquired locally based software development and consultancy business, Global
Computing, complete with its Profile payroll, HR and training software and “Clearview” accounting
software, complementing our own in-house payroll/HR software product. The new, combined payroll
software manages more than 30,000 customer employees throughout Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man
and other jurisdictions.
Through the acquisition of Global, we have also acquired the accountancy software “Clearview”, a
truly amazing product that has been developed by the Global software team based here in Guernsey.
Clearview addresses the needs of businesses that feel that there is a general lack of flexibility and
adaptability in existing well-known accounting software such as Quickbooks and Sage and is used by
several businesses locally.
On a lighter note, you may have seen us recently in the Guernsey Press, supporting our preschools
with our “Cash4schools” competition, which culminates later in the year in us donating £5000 worth of
equipment to a number of schools across the Island.
We also support Sigma Sparkes, the female basketball team which is currently top of the league and
the Sigma U14 football team.
Since late in 2011 as a States Member I have been a member of the Education Board and since
February 2012 the Minister of Education. As you would expect this was a steep learning curve for a
businessman who left school too many years ago to remember. It has been an incredibly exciting and
hard journey, but it has made me reflect on the purpose of education and the community’s role in
supporting our young people.
Ken Robinson is a leading thinker and expert on educational reforms and I fully agree with him on the
purpose of Education – it has four main roles
The first is individual;
All children are born with immense, natural powers of imagination and curiosity.
In addition to what they have come in common, all children have their own particular aptitudes,
dispositions and potential passions. One purpose of education has to be to help realise the unique
abilities of every student.
The second role is cultural.
Education should help our children understand the achievements and traditions of their own, and
other, communities in an ethos of empathy and tolerance.
The third is economic, to enable all students to achieve financial independence and contribute to
wealth creation that are both ethical and sustainable.
And the fourth is social.
Effective schools sit at the heart of strong communities. Through outreach programmes, work with
adults and partnerships with parents and families, schools must foster the spirit and practice of
community life and responsibilities.
These four purposes are embedded in Guernsey’s curriculum where we strive to ensure our young
people leave school as successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and
responsible citizens. All of these objectives resonate with Ken Robinson’s arguments and to deliver
these we often talk of a partnership between the students, the schools and the parents.
I believe however that there is a fourth element of the partnership.
We often hear the expression – it takes a whole village to educate a child. In Guernsey it is perhaps
more accurate to say –it takes the whole island to educate a child.
I believe individual businesses have a key role to play in supporting our young people with their
education. It is in businesses interests to be at the core of the community and working with our
schools. At SIGMA we have taken an active role in supporting the “Every Child Our Future” charity.
Our staff support teachers by helping develop literacy skills for children to enable them increase their
ability and confidence to become creative, to innovate and become critical thinkers.
We help the teachers to encourage and enable learners to become creative, innovative and critical
thinkers by supporting pupils literacy skills through the Every Child Our Future charity.
ECOF relies on local businesses as a source of both funding and volunteer mentors. The charity aims
to provide a sustainable, on-going scheme for training, its reading recovery programme targets those
youngsters who need help in improving their literacy levels. It co-ordinates the deployment of over
250 volunteers from the business community going into schools and giving one hour a week of 1 to 1
reading support. This has proven to be a very effective form of early intervention which is already
yielding significant impacts and improvements in literacy levels.
The benefits of corporate sponsorship to businesses are many-fold:
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Enhancement of job related skills such as problem solving and leadership through specific
volunteer training
Opportunity to mix with a variety of people and better understanding of their local community
Enhancement of volunteers’ personal development by improving listening, empathy, time
management and communication skills
More loyal and conscientious workforce
Meeting a company’s corporate social responsibility requirements
Producing a future workforce with better literacy and numeracy skills
I would like to finish this evening by posing a challenge for every business in the room tonight – What
can you do as a business to work with our schools and become the fourth pillar in our educational
partnership.
Thank you.