Episode 68Ben Dorks – From local entrepreneur to global tech CEOSUMMARYBen Dorks – From local entrepreneur to global tech CEOBen Dorks has taken Nottingham-based Ideagen from a £100m local software company to a £1bn international tech business. He left school with just a handful of GCSEs. But his drive, ambition and entrepreneurial spirit have built him a career as a hugely successful international CEO. A lifelong Nottingham Forest fan, his company’s logo also sits proudly on the shirt sleeve of the team he supports.And he has turned his passion for football into community impact, teaming up with Forest to launch the Think Big initiative that helps local teenagers discover careers in technology.In Episode 68 of the Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast, Ben tells Visiting Honorary Professor Mike Sassi about his desire to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.INTRODUCTION• Ben Dorks left secondary school with four GCSEs. His first job was selling paper, pencils and pens.• In 2004 he and his brother co founded the Plumtree Group – an information-management software business focused on healthcare documentation. In early days, he covered the company’s payroll using credit cards and even remortgaged his home to keep the firm afloat.• In December 2012 Ben sold Plumtree to Ideagen and joined the company as Sales and Marketing Director.• He went on to become Chief Customer Officer, overseeing global sales, marketing, product, and professional services.• He also led Ideagen's successful transition to SaaS – a cloud-based recurring-revenue model. By 2021, 83 per cent of revenues were from Saas.• Ben was appointed CEO of Ideagen in May 2018 and began a strategy of growth through acquisition. Under his leadership, Ideagen has completed 29 acquisitions, including InspectionXpert (Sept 2018) and ConvergePoint (June 2025).• In 2022 Ben orchestrated the sale of Ideagen to HgCapital private equity for £1.1bn.• Since taking over as CEO, he has grown annual revenues from £30m to more than £300m.• In 2021 Ideagen teamed up with Nottingham Forest to launch the Think Big programme, to encourage teenage school pupils to take up careers in tech. More than 56,000 pupils, from 60 Nottinghamshire schools, have taken part.LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS from the conversation with Ben Dorks…• Resilience is essential: Ben’s early experiences – remortgaging his house and facing financial pressures – taught him the importance of resilience“It comes down to a belief in yourself. It comes down to a belief in the vision of what you’re trying to do and trying to achieve. And it comes down to, yeah, can we execute?”• Embrace risk and uncertainty: Leadership involves making big decisions and being comfortable with risk, especially when the outcome is uncertain“Ultimately, it’s about your risk profile. How you think about the challenges ahead. The resilience you have to cope with the normal ups and downs of running a business.”• Sales is a strong foundation: Ben credits his sales background for developing critical thinking, resilience, and the ability to understand and solve business problems.“For me, sales is a fantastic career. Now I genuinely believe that’s been the foundation of everything that I am today.”• Lifelong Learning: Leaders must be constantly adapting to rapid changes in technology, markets, and the world – especially in the current “super cycle” of AI“I think you are always the sum of all of your experiences. You have to be a lifelong learner.”• People, Product, and Customer Focus: Successful tech businesses revolve around engaged people, great products, and satisfied customers.“There are your people, your products, and your customers, and they are a fortuitous circle, because if you have great products, your customers will love you, and your people are engaged.”• Authenticity and Visibility: Ben believes in being authentic, transparent, and visible as a leader, modelling hard work and commitment for his team“Be authentic, be transparent... I also think it’s important to be visible. It’s important for staff to see that I’m working really, really hard.”• Value Cognitive and Background Diversity: Building high-performing teams requires a mix of entrepreneurial, corporate, and international backgrounds to foster challenge and improvement“I’m super conscious about cognitive diversity. People diversity is a given. But cognitive diversity is about where you’ve come from.”• Cultivate Future Leaders Early: Ideagen identifies high-potential employees and gives them leadership opportunities early, including running projects or business units“We’re putting those people in charge of small, mighty teams, really early, really young. We’re saying; Go and lead this project… Go and lead this business.”• Critical Thinking in the Age of AI: Future leaders need strong critical thinking skills to adapt, refine, and challenge AI-generated solutions“You the ability to understand AI and then critically adapt the prompt that you’re putting in to keep refining and refining the answer.”• Give Back and Inspire: Ben’s commitment to the Think Big initiative and community programs shows the importance of using leadership to inspire and create opportunities for the next generation“The Think Big initiative uses the Nottingham Forest Community Trust... to go into schools, to 14, 15, and 16-year-olds, and talk to them about what careers in tech are.”RELATED LINKSFind out more about Ben Dorks…• On the Ideagen website• On Ben Dorks’ LinkedIn pages• In this Sky News storyIf you enjoyed this episode NBS Business Leaders’ Podcast with Ben Dorks, listen to previous episodes with…The former CEO of fashion retailer ASOS Nick BeightonThe CEO of transport tech company Microlise Nadeem RazaThe MD of beauty accessory brand Tweezerman UK Ajay Sethi

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