Mprove founder reveals how they’re a family-first company

Sam Alsop-Hall is the co-founder of healthcare consultancy Mprove with partner Liam Molesworth and is a working dad with two daughters and another child on the way. We asked him about being an entrepreneur, navigating the pandemic and how he is pushing the business into the future.

Tell us about setting up your companies. What were some of the best lessons you learned?

Mprove is the UK’s first “system-flow consultancy” for the healthcare sector, delivering new, innovative and cost-effective solutions to improve health and social care delivery. My co-founder, Liam Molesworth and I co-founded the business in March 2020. Setting up a new company two weeks before the nation entered lockdown restrictions means we’ve faced extremely unique circumstances, particularly when trying to scale-up and hire while operating on a 100 per cent remote basis.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that things won’t always go to plan. When our business was just six-months-old, I ended up in hospital for eight days. You can’t plan for every eventuality so you must be agile and ready to adapt. For me, maintaining good communication and choosing to do business with people you trust is key. My business partner Liam and I have known each other for years and have never had an argument – not many people can say that!

How does being an entrepreneur affect you and your family?

I am lucky enough to have two daughters, with a son on the way and I’m also very fortunate that my wife is our homemaker. She provides the stability and consistency that our children need. In doing so, I’m provided with the platform required to build the businesses.

At Clive Henry Group, which we recently set up as an umbrella to our three businesses, we don’t have a work-life balance, we have a work-life ecosystem. This is fluid to allow individuals’ flexibility. Sometimes the businesses are the priority, sometimes family is the priority; we manage it depending on what needs our focus at the time.

What kind of family-friendly employment policies do you have in place across your businesses?

Given that we started Mprove during the pandemic, we have naturally established a very flexible working policy. There are no set days for the team to be in the office and no set hours to work. I prefer to operate with high levels of trust and autonomy, focusing on outputs rather than hours. For example, someone could be more productive at 5a.m., like Sean, or be a night owl like Sarah.

We also have a strong family-first culture, allowing our team to postpone or cancel and rearrange things if required. We are also in the process of organising family insurance and health policies, so that our team feels supported in all manners.

How do YOU work in a family-friendly way?

Ultimately, time spent with my family is extremely important, so I make sure to take a five-day break each quarter to spend dedicated time with them or go on a family trip. The rest of the time, my wife has access to my work diary. This way, she is able to add in family engagements such as sports days, school plays or even just help with the school run. It also means she can prepare when I have trips or meetings that mean I am away from home or not back until after bedtime.

How do you see that part of the business moving forward, so you keep the best workers. How could policy change?

The nature of what we do means we can easily provide flexibility. As such, we are happy to discuss part-time, full-time, seasonal or even ad-hoc working arrangements to attract and retain the best talent. We’ll continue to operate like this, as we believe people work to live rather than living to work!

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