Reflections on a year like no other with Aveni’s CEO Joseph Twigg

Written on
byHayfa Bukhari
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Whilst many will be glad to see the back of 2020 – for good reason – we look back and reflect on just how far we have come as well as look forward to what the new year brings. Our CEO, Joseph Twigg takes a moment to celebrate our achievements. We also take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all the fantastic people we have worked with throughout this unpredictable year, shed some light on great work and spread some positive energy in the process. 

 

Hi Joseph, how’s it going? How has 2020 been?

Where do you start?! In terms of Aveni, we’ve had an eventful year, we’ve had a rebrand, our team has doubled in size, we launched products, helping with vulnerable customers, we started working with the biggest FS firms in the UK and all on Zoom. It’s been pretty challenging but we know how lucky we are. We’ve all drawn inspiration from the heroes at the NHS, we’ve seen communities come together, banging pans, It’s been great to be part of and quite inspirational.

 

What challenges have you faced working as a startup during the pandemic? 

It’s challenging and one thing you realise quite early on in a pandemic, no one from IT or business continuity is going to give you a call and tell you what to do, you have to do everything yourself. I’m really proud of the team here at Aveni, we just got on with it. The transition to remote working was seamless, and no one complained. Everyone realised how lucky they were in the context and the backdrop of the pandemic. We did pretty well and I’m really proud of the team. 

 

One challenge that we had was building the team, as you know our team has doubled in size, over the last 8-9 months, I’ve not met half of our colleagues face-to-face. You know that faces quite a challenge with onboarding, culture and height. I’ve got no idea how tall anyone is, which can be a problem when you meet face-to-face…

 

What can we expect from Aveni next year?

We’ve got some really exciting features in development for Aveni Detect, our core platform. I look forward to meeting everyone face-to-face, solving height differences and I think everyone is looking forward to going on a nice long holiday somewhere warm!

 

What was your worst purchase of 2020? 

It has to be the reebok step, hand down. The neighbours downstairs use the term herd of elephants…

 

Describe 2020 in 1 word

Tiring…

From our colleagues around the globe, we would like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a healthy, prosperous New Year.  

 

Stay safe, love team Aveni. 

Stay in touch. Find us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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