0:00
I'm obsessive there's a lot to do if you
0:02
weren't doing this what would you be
0:04
doing i' open a barbecue restaurant I
0:06
think there's something therapeutic
0:07
about the cooking I've never had much
0:08
time for it sometimes the thoughts about
0:10
what Will creep in and it's frustrating
0:13
cuz you don't want to be thinking about
0:14
that on a Sunday night maybe or Saturday
0:16
afternoon or even you know 10 11:00 at
0:18
night during the week is that a struggle
0:20
sometimes yeah of course I'm obsessive
0:22
there's a lot to do I love the business
0:24
there's a big opportunity I know a lot
0:27
of people are counting on us talk to me
0:28
about work from home and the policy at
0:30
Checker trade and what your thoughts on
0:32
it as well it's always in the news at
0:34
the moment what do checker trade where
0:36
from home policy yeah we're mostly in
0:37
the office these days four five days
0:39
yeah four days and um it's made a huge
0:41
difference for us uh in terms of
0:43
positivity and our you know just
0:45
describe it as the overall office
0:47
environment whenever somebody comes to
0:48
visit our office it's the first thing
0:49
they say is this feels like a kind of
0:52
preo office hello and welcome to bordom
0:55
uncovered from City am with me John
0:57
Robinson my guest for this episode is
0:59
the CEO of Checker trade Jambo palen
1:02
appan after taking on his first
1:04
leadership role at an early age the CEO
1:06
has held top jobs all across the world
1:09
in a career that's taking him from
1:10
Silicon Valley to portsman headquartered
1:13
Checker trade via Dubai but with the
1:15
issue of fake reviews and Rogue Trad are
1:17
still hitting UK customers how is
1:19
Checker trade attempting to stop Cowboy
1:21
Builders and maintain trust in an online
1:24
Marketplace without any further delay
1:27
let's dive in well jamby thank you very
1:29
much for coming on board un covered it's
1:30
great to have you thank you for having
1:31
me SP I've got to start with the issue
1:33
of trust you're in trust business it
1:35
seems to me people come to your website
1:38
and trust that the reviews and the
1:40
trades people that you've got involved
1:41
in your company are trustworthy aspace
1:45
um how does that sit with you that must
1:46
be quite a difficult thing to maintain
1:48
trust is really a core part of who we
1:50
are if you think about the foundation
1:53
story of our business Checker trade was
1:55
founded in 1998 after a tornado tore
1:58
through a town in West Sussex and town
2:00
was infiltrated with Rogue trades and
2:03
our business started as a directory of
2:05
trusted trades whose work could be
2:06
verified and provided quality service
2:09
and 26 years later uh while we've
2:12
evolved to be a digital business that
2:14
Foundation of trust is really critical
2:16
we go through a 12-step vetting check
2:19
for all members that join the platform
2:21
um we denied over 1300 applications last
2:24
year for members who tried to get on the
2:26
platform and didn't meet our standards
2:28
and um that trust piece is a really
2:30
critical component of why consumers
2:32
trust us but also why quality trades
2:34
people want to be members of the
2:35
platform because Road triggers do get
2:37
through you know you've had so many
2:39
people be rejected but there are still
2:42
stories out there of Rogue Traders being
2:44
on the platform and then taking
2:46
advantage of of people in the UK how do
2:48
you combat that yeah so I think it's
2:50
important to remember the scale of the
2:52
platform over 2.2 million consumers used
2:55
check trade last year uh and uh for us
2:58
that trust is really important part of
3:00
why they use it we have a couple of
3:03
mechanisms in place to help support
3:05
customers in the rare event that
3:06
something does go wrong the first is um
3:09
we have customer support team that is
3:11
available and can support consumers
3:13
through those challenges that they have
3:15
and in the vast majority of situations
3:17
the work is rectified right um and I
3:19
think that's important because if you
3:21
get a recommendation from your
3:23
neighborhood WhatsApp group your
3:24
neighbor is not going to do that for you
3:26
right the second is we have an actual
3:30
as part of jobs that are done on the
3:31
check of trade platform it's a th000
3:33
pound guarantee for worksmanship and
3:35
quality that will help consumers in the
3:38
event that does something does go wrong
3:39
and that's something that we have enough
3:41
confidence in the platform And Trades
3:43
people on the platform in to actually uh
3:45
support directly and then the third is
3:48
in the rare event that something does go
3:50
wrong we help consumers with the process
3:53
uh in order to file the appropriate
3:55
claims uh and support them in that
3:57
transition is there more we can do yes
4:00
but I think it's important to also
4:01
realize that um the scale of the
4:04
platform is is an important part of um
4:08
how we can help support consumers
4:10
through those challenges and and
4:12
certainly the best place uh for
4:14
consumers to feel protected that's
4:15
really interesting that there's a
4:16
financial element of this because you
4:18
know we got our house repointed last
4:20
year and the Builder just didn't finish
4:23
the job yeah 95% of it yes five the 5%
4:26
of it he he didn't do and we got him you
4:29
know through a neighbors Facebook group
4:32
basically and uh good reviews from the
4:34
local community but didn't it was a bit
4:36
of a nightmare in the end it's
4:38
interesting that if we'd have gone
4:39
through Checker trade that might have
4:41
been a different story 100% And I think
4:43
part of it is the trades people care
4:45
deeply about their review score they
4:47
care deeply about the history of reviews
4:50
it's their pride but also their
4:51
livelihood and so their incentives are
4:53
to ensure that jobs are done right again
4:56
in a rare event that something goes
4:57
wrong majority of the time people come
5:00
out and fix it themselves because they
5:01
care deeply about that feedback loop and
5:05
livelihood it's not going to be lost on
5:07
the viewers and and the people listening
5:09
um that you're not from Sussex you're
5:11
not from these Shores originally uh tell
5:13
me about your childhood growing up in in
5:16
the states yeah it was um uh a really
5:19
interesting journey to come here uh with
5:22
you all today I'm originally from San
5:24
Francisco from the Bay Area uh that's
5:26
where I was born and raised my parents
5:28
originally from India moved to the US to
5:30
study they're both Engineers my mom's a
5:33
software developer my dad works in
5:35
semiconductor manufacturing not a lot of
5:37
people's moms are software developers
5:39
and I think I thought everybody's mom
5:41
was a software developer if that makes
5:42
sense um but it really shaped my view of
5:45
how I think about um what is possible
5:49
Right to grow up in that environment at
5:51
that time where the wave of the internet
5:54
and everything that came from it um was
5:56
really built and I think what it really
5:59
taught me was a couple of things one is
6:01
I'm exceptionally grateful to my parents
6:03
uh for the uh the incredible sacrifice
6:07
that they went through um to move to the
6:10
US and um help us understand the
6:12
potential of um of ourselves but also I
6:16
think to really see the powerful
6:19
implication of technology in
6:21
accelerating our lives uh and improving
6:25
uh how we live them and I think that's a
6:27
really important principle for me I
6:29
ended up here in the UK very
6:32
circuitously uh through uh initially a
6:34
role at Uber where I was leading Uber's
6:37
International expansion into emerging
6:38
markets and then uh LED Uber's uh
6:41
business um in the Middle East and
6:43
Africa and then eventually uh moved to
6:45
Europe to run Uber Eats uh in this part
6:48
of the world uh I've got an English wife
6:50
which is also a big part of the real
6:51
reason um and uh we've got two two
6:54
daughters as well that uh have London
6:56
accents so every morning I still have
6:58
that bizarre moment of hang on how did
7:00
this happen uh but this is home and um
7:02
I'm really grateful for it I mean
7:04
talking about the US what do you think
7:07
the US is doing better than the UK right
7:10
now I think for me the thing that um I
7:13
think I notice in terms of where Britain
7:17
can improve is around much more optimism
7:21
in terms of what's possible right
7:23
there's an incredible education system
7:25
here there's incredible uh ambition uh
7:28
and I think there's a lot of what makes
7:31
great foundations of a growth economy uh
7:34
I spent some time mentoring students in
7:37
East London at a school and what I find
7:40
is over the five years or so that I've
7:42
mentored those students uh at the
7:44
beginning they all wanted to be Bankers
7:46
right they thought that was the kind of
7:48
goal over time their Ambitions have
7:51
evolved they're really interested in
7:52
technology and Entrepreneurship and
7:54
working at check trade that's great I'm
7:56
sure some I'm sure some of them will
7:57
join sometime um but I think that's
8:00
great to see that Evolution and I think
8:02
my question is how can um all of us
8:06
business government schools support that
8:09
Evolution towards creation as really the
8:13
goal um versus extraction right and I
8:16
think for me that optimism the ambition
8:20
that Relentless positivity is a really
8:22
key part of what's required to run any
8:24
business um but I think is also uh
8:26
something that we could benefit more
8:28
from what do you think about the UK
8:30
government's growth agenda I think it's
8:33
a tough situation right and I think
8:35
there are many factors that have
8:36
contributed to it that are all conflated
8:38
together um my sense is that uh folks
8:41
are very well intentioned right and
8:43
we've had really positive engagement
8:44
with government about what the potential
8:47
levers are but I think there's still
8:49
uncertainty in terms of the impact of
8:51
those levers right and I think it's
8:53
really important to bring Clarity
8:55
particularly to small business if I
8:56
think about our members and the type of
8:58
business that that they run and
9:00
represent uh Soul Trader uh who installs
9:05
um uh you know guttering in the Midlands
9:08
or a small gas engineering shop in
9:10
Portsmouth um they need support right uh
9:14
things like the National Insurance
9:16
change were impactful for those uh for
9:18
those sorts of small businesses and so
9:21
um for me I think there is more to do to
9:24
actually uh reduce barriers to growth uh
9:27
particularly for small business and
9:28
that's something that we're
9:29
um really an active dialogue with uh
9:32
governmental how would you reduce those
9:34
barriers I think there's two really
9:37
important principles that touch our
9:38
industry one is around planning
9:41
permission and rules and really allowing
9:44
for uh more growth in terms of sectors
9:48
right uh I redid the windows in my house
9:51
not that long ago when I go to quote to
9:53
do them and three check trade yeah well
9:56
this was before I worked there and uh
9:58
this was uh uh what I was surprised
10:00
about was um the highest EPC rated
10:05
windows I could get for my home were C
10:07
rated windows and I asked why and the
10:10
reason was that the council rules
10:12
actually prohibited more energy
10:15
efficient windows from being installed
10:17
because they went against certain look
10:19
and feel rules right and I don't live in
10:21
a listed property or anything like that
10:24
so I thought that was um interesting and
10:28
uh you know my energy bills are higher
10:30
for it and so I think there's a lot to
10:32
do around planning regulation and
10:34
liberalization is great to see that the
10:35
government's tackling that but I think
10:37
there's more to do there I think the
10:39
second big area for Us is around um the
10:43
acute trade shortage in Britain right
10:45
Britain needs about a million new trades
10:47
to enter the sector over the next decade
10:50
Plus in order to just meet existing
10:52
projections of demand that's because of
10:55
retirements people who've left because
10:57
of brexit Etc and um I think there's
11:00
still more government can do to support
11:02
that moving the apprenticeship Levy
11:04
towards much more of a skills-based
11:06
program uh and allowing a mechanism for
11:09
businesses to be easier to start in the
11:11
trade sector um and I think those two
11:13
things can be big levers but they do
11:15
require belief and commitment to get
11:17
through you worked all across the world
11:19
in so many different senior leadership
11:20
roles what's the difference in between
11:23
doing business in the UK to doing
11:25
business in the US I think there's a lot
11:27
of similarities right cultur and in
11:30
terms of um how uh business and uh teams
11:35
operate I think there's actually a very
11:37
unique difference that does impact
11:39
things from a macro level down and
11:41
that's actually on the Capital Market
11:43
liquidity so if you think about
11:45
particularly stamp Duty on shares that
11:48
actually disincentivizes a liquid
11:50
Capital Market and I know there's
11:51
broader questions right now about
11:53
Britain's Capital markets and how to
11:54
encourage Great British and European
11:57
businesses to list here but many of them
11:59
are listing in New York or uh in
12:02
Amsterdam or other places and I think
12:04
there is a relationship between um those
12:07
rules and the liquidity of the capital
12:09
markets that um uh are clearly
12:13
interrelated and I think important to
12:15
resolve if we want to create an
12:17
environment where uh you know British
12:19
pension managers are investing more in
12:21
British assets would you be calling on
12:23
the government then to to reform those
12:25
rules well I think there's uh there's a
12:27
big opportunity there right uh to help
12:30
improve what Capital Market liquidity
12:32
looks like and also to support uh more
12:35
active um interest in listing in Britain
12:39
okay brilliant I'm interested Jambu um
12:42
what type of leader are you does it come
12:44
naturally to you are you somebody who
12:47
who shouts a lot in meetings do you you
12:49
hold people to account or are you sort
12:51
of more um maybe cabinet rather than
12:54
presidential um I think for me my
12:57
leadership style is evolved right it's
12:59
evolved as a result of the businesses
13:01
I've worked in the people I've worked
13:02
with taken everything from uh I've taken
13:05
little pits from from every environment
13:07
I've been in I've been in deeply
13:09
technical product oriented businesses
13:11
I've been in high growth businesses I've
13:14
been a software investor uh and now I'm
13:16
uh really fortunate to be leading
13:18
Checker trade and I guess um the summary
13:21
of how I think about leadership is
13:22
really around two core principles the
13:25
first is to be very very empowering
13:29
right and very empowering of a team
13:31
because I think my view is that when you
13:33
hire great people we've got an
13:34
outstanding team in ch trade that's come
13:36
together uh over the last 18 months
13:38
people that have worked in the business
13:39
for many years and people who joined um
13:42
as I joined and and more recently that
13:45
group is really really um exceptional
13:49
they hold themselves to a high standard
13:51
and I think the best thing I can do is
13:53
give direction and um Empower them to go
13:57
and do those great things there's second
13:59
part to it though and this is a bit
14:01
controversial but I think there's been
14:03
this perception that leaders are out of
14:05
the detail right if you're the leader in
14:07
the presidential format you are floating
14:10
above but I think for me the thing that
14:13
I've learned is the best leaders know
14:15
exactly when to get into the detail they
14:18
are deeply obsessed with customer
14:20
experience the technology product we
14:22
deliver how we deliver it the feedback
14:24
that we hear and how we can iterate and
14:27
I think that principle is to the ability
14:30
to then take that approach and allow you
14:33
to move at a velocity that is required
14:35
in an increasingly Speedy World um and
14:39
so I was never somebody that you know
14:42
had this ambition to be a CEO um but um
14:45
again very very fortunate to have had uh
14:48
incredible mentors people that I've
14:49
worked with colleagues and peers who've
14:51
really helped me learn um how uh my own
14:55
style has evolved I also think the big
14:57
thing that's probably changed my
14:58
Approach is because becoming a parent
15:00
okay my daughters are five and two and
15:02
that's made me infinitely more patient
15:05
understanding also makes you really
15:07
manage your time well because you know
15:09
that um uh they'll remember right uh
15:17
around we're going to do some quick fire
15:20
questions now six quick fire questions
15:22
um to see uh what your reactions are and
15:25
then we're going to compare those to the
15:26
previous guests guest we've got in the
15:28
future so first one um what was your
15:30
first job was a waiter at an Indian
15:32
restaurant who inspires you my parents
15:35
my kids if you had to and you had to
15:38
appoint a celebrity to your board who
15:41
would it be and why does it have to be a
15:43
living no I'm uh always amazed by
15:46
Charlie Munger who was Warren Buffett's
15:48
business partner I think for two reasons
15:49
one is really deep intellectual
15:52
curiosity yeah which I think is the most
15:53
important thing in a board member and
15:55
two is a desire to seek the truth what's
15:58
the best thing about your job uh
16:01
interaction with our team and customers
16:04
and if you weren't doing this if you
16:05
could possibly imagine what would you be
16:08
doing I'd open a barbecue restaurant
16:11
we'll definitely come back to that um
16:14
this question if if you were PM for the
16:16
day what would you do but maybe if you
16:17
were presidents for the day what would
16:19
you do I'll take the PM answer if that's
16:22
okay um I think for me it would be the
16:24
planning piece I think there's so much
16:26
that follows on from that and if you can
16:28
do that and you can really bring that um
16:31
uh into a place that's PR growth it
16:33
would have a huge knock on effect on
16:36
economic growth employment and addition
16:39
you sure you don't want to answer the
16:40
president question pass today you can do
16:42
more than wel to we'll hold the whole
16:44
episode absolutely fine tell me about
16:46
this restaurant then I don't know I
16:47
think there's something therapeutic
16:49
about the cooking I've never had much
16:50
time for it but uh I missed the uh the
16:54
two foods that I missed from the US
16:56
they've gotten a lot better in Britain
16:57
over the last uh years since I've been
16:59
here is uh barbecue and the Mexican food
17:02
yeah and I think maybe there's a bit
17:03
more to do there that's interesting okay
17:05
well we'll see if you open that a
17:08
successful chain of restaurants in a few
17:09
years let's talk about that work life
17:11
balance then because it must be
17:13
incredibly difficult because you've got
17:14
a job that must be all consuming but
17:17
then You' got two kids and a wife at
17:18
home how do you manage that I think
17:21
there's two principles that are really
17:22
important to me one is I'm Relentless
17:25
about um time management and
17:27
prioritization um really really
17:29
important to me that uh people are
17:31
prepared for meetings don't have
17:33
unnecessary meetings really focus my
17:35
time and structure my time in a
17:37
particular way I spend usually Mondays
17:39
on our internal operating mechanism
17:41
Tuesdays with customers Wednesdays with
17:43
our product team Thursdays and Fridays
17:45
wrapping up and catching up with others
17:48
in the industry or um or board members
17:51
uh and I find that structure really
17:53
helpful um this the second is um work
17:57
expands to the the time you give it and
18:00
I find that flexibility around when and
18:03
how you think about it is important so
18:05
it's not really balance for me I enjoy
18:08
what I do um but I also know when it's
18:10
important to be present for my kids at
18:12
their school events or at bath time um
18:14
and also when it's important to be
18:16
flexible with that the the last piece is
18:19
um I found the fitness to be really
18:20
important really and uh there's almost a
18:23
direct relationship between the amount
18:24
of time I've spent in the gym that week
18:26
and the mood that I'm in I'm an early
18:29
and uh early to the gym and that makes a
18:32
big big difference in terms of managing
18:34
it I find in my job you know my life I
18:37
can be doing something to be fully
18:39
present in that away from work but
18:40
sometimes the thoughts about work will
18:42
creep in and it's frustrating because
18:44
you don't want to be thinking about that
18:45
on a Sunday night maybe or Saturday
18:48
afternoon um or even you know 10 11 o'cl
18:50
at night during the week do you is that
18:53
a struggle sometimes yeah of course yeah
18:55
I find it a struggle yeah of course it's
18:57
I'm obsessive there's L to do I love the
19:00
business there's a big opportunity I
19:02
know a lot of people are counting on us
19:04
to support um them whether the consumer
19:07
trades people um and I feel that
19:10
heavily talk to me about work from home
19:13
and the policy at Checker trade and what
19:15
your thoughts on it as well it's always
19:16
in the news at the moment um what do
19:19
checker trades work from home policy
19:21
yeah we're mostly in the office these
19:22
days four five days yeah four days and
19:25
um it's made a huge difference for us uh
19:27
in terms of positiv ity and our you know
19:30
just describe it as the overall office
19:31
environment whenever somebody comes to
19:33
visit our office it's the first thing
19:34
they say is this feels like a kind of
19:37
preo office and and Vibe obviously we're
19:40
flexible right I think that's really
19:41
important to me when you've got things
19:43
you need to do for your children or
19:45
medical appointments or things you know
19:47
of course right um make sure that you do
19:49
those things um but I think it's uh it's
19:52
the evolution of of where we're headed
19:54
so you're absolutely fine with four or
19:56
five days with a bit of flex ibility
19:59
that sits well with you as as a as a
20:00
leader yeah I think the flexibility is
20:02
key right and I think at the end of the
20:04
day um that culture and what you build
20:06
is really important so um at the that's
20:10
sort of how I think about it we've got
20:11
flexibility around different types of
20:13
roles that are more Specialist of course
20:14
that are more remote oriented um and I
20:16
think that delineation is important as
20:18
well so there are some specialist
20:19
engineering roles for example that are
20:21
remote and that's okay cast your mind
20:24
forward maybe about five years what are
20:27
the main challenges do you think that
20:28
check traes going to be facing in 2030
20:32
if I take a step back um this is a
20:35
massive industry the home repairs and
20:37
Improvement sector 2.4% of GDP employs
20:41
two million people and is still
20:43
relatively undi right and I'm not saying
20:46
AI is going to fix your boiler or lay
20:48
your carpet but I think there is a role
20:50
for technology to play in accelerating
20:52
that transition so imagine a world where
20:55
each home in the UK has a report that
20:58
allows for you as a consumer to know how
21:00
to make that home more energy efficient
21:02
well we've produced that now and that
21:03
exists and any consumer can go and check
21:06
out the check and Trade Home Health
21:08
Report to do that and I think that's
21:10
just the start of what the intersection
21:12
of Technology um Ai and really great
21:15
quality trades people can be and so
21:18
there are areas like uh you know imagine
21:21
a world where a drone could help you
21:24
understand what's wrong with your roof
21:26
and a great trades person could come and
21:28
help you fix it um and I think that as
21:31
we think about core areas of belief like
21:35
the green energy transition or how to
21:36
rebuild the housing stock in Britain um
21:39
we have a really important role to play
21:41
there I also think we have a role to
21:43
play in helping make trades people's
21:45
lives easier and how they run their
21:47
business we've got amazing trades people
21:49
with amazing Stories We we ran our first
21:51
Checker trade Awards last year
21:53
recognizing some of the best and
21:54
brightest across Britain and the stories
21:56
of the work that they did the charities
21:58
supported how they got things done for
22:00
customers was really inspiring but we
22:03
also know that trades people have a lot
22:04
to do they are time poor they do admin
22:07
in the evening and the weekends with
22:08
their partners and we can help them in
22:10
how they run their businesses not just
22:12
how they generate leads for their
22:13
business um so that's a really inspiring
22:16
and exciting future and uh certainly
22:18
plenty to do yeah absolutely I've going
22:20
to put this scenario to you Jan I've uh
22:23
come to your offices I'm coming for an
22:25
interview um middle management let's say
22:28
what are the three main qualities you're
22:31
looking for in me that will make me a
22:33
good employee in your eyes um I think
22:38
resilience comfort with
22:40
ambiguity um and optimism and I think if
22:43
you have those three things you can
22:45
learn almost everything else talk to me
22:47
about comfort with ambiguity what do you
22:50
mean by that I think uh we are a Growth
22:52
Company a company that's also evolving
22:55
right taking this great history that we
22:57
have and found that we built and
22:59
evolving into more of a technology
23:03
Marketplace and uh part of our role is
23:06
to help really Define what that can be
23:09
in a customer Centric way and so if what
23:12
you're looking for is perfect clarity on
23:14
what to do or how to do it or what
23:17
success looks like I find that that is
23:20
there are places where that's great
23:22
where there's a written Playbook on
23:23
exactly what to do and exactly how to do
23:25
everything um but that I find um is not
23:31
helpful in a company that is in the kind
23:34
of growth trajectory that we're on and
23:36
so that comfort with ambiguity I think
23:38
is a really critical component to being
23:40
in a growth business and being in a tech
23:42
business that's really interesting and
23:43
finally final question um what does it
23:46
take in your eyes to be a good
23:50
CEO um I uh I work with an executive
23:53
coach who's been an incredibly helpful
23:55
mentor to me um and I think for me uh
24:00
you've got to have really two things one
24:03
is you've got to have a really deep
24:04
passion for the product problems and
24:07
team that you're uh working with because
24:09
I think other if you don't it's um it's
24:12
it's tough I think probably more
24:14
critically it's this um real optimism
24:19
and positivity that is required because
24:22
everybody is going to look to you and
24:23
understand how you're doing how you're
24:25
feeling is a reflection of how the
24:27
business is going so there are many
24:28
different personality traits and
24:30
character types and people who are Broad
24:32
and people who are narrow and people who
24:34
are more financially minded and people
24:35
who are more product minded I think many
24:37
people can do it um but I think those uh
24:40
those two things I think from a uh a
24:43
values perspective are really critical
24:45
brilliant Jan thank you very much for
24:46
your time thank you really enjoyed it