Culture Matters

Through our culture, our people can do their best work.

Our team is made up of people from many different backgrounds. Software. Physics. Engineering. Mathematics. Some from general science and technology. Some from backgrounds you wouldn’t expect for an embedded software company. But no matter where our people are from, we all have one thing in common: we aim to deliver to the highest quality for our customers..

So how do we make sure that we recruit and keep such excellent people?

Our people have room to breathe

There is no crunch at Bluefruit. No weekends or long evenings spent cramped in an office, working on a project. We know that excessive pressure and stress can drive poor coding practice and lower quality output, so we do everything we can to avoid it.

Instead, we provide the space needed to think and innovate. Everyone on our team has access to flexi-time. This means we have the chance to balance our work and our life outside the office. Our open-door policy also means that if one of us needs to talk, we have the space to do so.

Our people are empowered

For Bluefruit this means our people can influence the processes and decisions that affect their work. It means having better learning, with feedback loops that help deliver rich information on whether a process is working or not. It also means quicker learning, encouraging swift feedback and an agile approach to change.

We also welcome ideas and suggestions from all levels of the company and encourage open and regular communication within project teams. Everyone is listened to and given a chance to have their voice heard.

Building an Employee Ownership Trust

As 2019 was ending, Bluefruit Software became employee owned. Today, employees own 51% of the business through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Our Founder and Director, Paul Massey, has already talked about why we formed an EOT.

What does an Employee Ownership Trust do?

There are several responsibilities that the Trust oversees. Their core mission is to ensure that Bluefruit Software operates in the interest of its employees.

One of the main areas of business the EOT does input on is bonus distribution. Companies that are employee-owned and have an EOT can distribute up to £3600 in tax-free bonuses to each employee per tax year. This is, of course, dependent on the performance of the business and affordability, but is a significant incentive from the Government, who view Employee Ownership as a very positive thing.

Our people can be more and do more

Amplifying learning and empowering our team is a big part of our Lean-Agile approach. Daily stand-up meetings where we can identify sticking points, and end of project retrospectives help with this. Regular training sessions and trips, and opportunities for self-study offer further opportunities for us all to grow.

Our people are a team

We work across different projects, across different teams, but we don’t make strangers of each other. Beach barbecues, paint balling and bowling are some of the activities we like to do as a group. And if that’s not your pace? We have yoga classes, a pool table, board game evenings, lunchtime and after work videogames, and crafting sessions.