INNOVATIVE.MARKET-DRIVEN.FLEXIBLE

Business: Scout7
Established: 2001
Business Stage: Second decade
Pictured above: Lee Jamison, Managing Director
Located: IBIC Centre, Holt Court South

Scout7 the business:
Professional football’s global leader in the provision of web-based scouting, recruitment, player administration and management solutions.

What makes Scout7 unique:
Our solutions are used at all levels of the professional game and uniquely, are utilised by staff across all departments within a club, both at executive level and at the training ground. This is because our solutions have allowed pro clubs to enhance their traditional working practices for the digital age, so from the moment a player is first identified by a part-time scout, through to when a transfer is approved by the Board, the entire process has been managed intelligently through our bespoke management applications. Then once a player is recruited, their activity whilst at the club can also be logged, ranging from all the training sessions they have participated in, through to injuries, rehabilitation and individual match performance.

The Scout7 story so far:
With a background in IT, at the tail end of the 1990’s I foresaw that the onset of the internet would revolutionise the distribution of information on a global scale. Being an avid football fan and amateur player, I turned my attention towards professional football and the opportunity to distribute global player information to the industry. After discussions with associates and tentative enquiries with local clubs, in early 2001 Scout7 Ltd was established and the first version of our flagship application, ProScout7, was launched.

Today, we are firmly established in the English, French, German, Spanish and Dutch markets. Our flagship application, ProScout7, is now a standard component in England, with more than 50 clubs in the top four tiers of English Football using the system daily to manage their scouting and recruitment operations. Scout7 now has more than 150 clients in 23 countries, with approximately 2,500 users – the largest client network in the industry.

Scout7 and Birmingham:
The company was founded in Birmingham and a lot of the initial investment came from Venture Capitalists based in the City.  Our Chairman, Mark Ansell, has a background in Corporate Finance and has previously served on the Board at high profile institutions in the City, including Aston Villa Football Club and Marketing Birmingham. Although we are an international operation, a number of our key members of staff are  originally from the area and we also count graduates from Aston University amongst our growing business development and technical teams.

When and why Scout7 moved to Birmingham Science Park Aston:
We first moved to Birmingham Science Park Aston in the winter of 2005. From working exclusively in professional football, where you are only going to have one or two clients per town, having a central location is absolutely vital to manage your client base. BSP-A has excellent transport links and facilities, both for office working and also staging meetings with blue-chip clients on site. The site also has fantastic links with local businesses and institutions, which we benefitted from directly last year when we set up a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Aston University, in part through our mutual connections.

Best business lesson learned:
The only constant in business is change. It’s clichéd I know, but it is so true. I believe that those businesses who recognise this fact and actually embrace change tend to be more flexible, dynamic and ‘ahead of the curve’.

Best business tip we have to offer:
Smile, be positive and be a good people-person – it’s not necessarily how good you are, but more importantly how good your team become.

How to see more of Scout7:
Visit our website at www.scout7.com

An interesting fact about your business or a member of your team:
One of our UK Account Managers Jon Howard used to play professionally and is infamous for having a goal disallowed in an FA Cup Semi-Final in 1997, when his side Chesterfield were 2-1 up against Premier League Middlesbrough. Had it been given they would have probably progressed to the final – and even 15 years after the event, he is still in demand from TV and Radio stations for his opinion whenever the issue of goal line technology rears its ugly head!