Where Are They Now: Emma O’Brien, founder of Embridge Consulting

The LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders programme has celebrated more than 300 exceptional individuals since its launch in 2018. In this series, we reconnect with some of our alumni to find out what happened next in their growth journey, the impact of being part of the programme, and their ambitions now.

Tech transformation specialist Emma O’Brien works with charities, local authorities and the NHS to help them adapt to the digital age. Since featuring in The LDC Top 50 in 2022, O’Brien has grown her business, Embridge Consulting, and taken on more complex contracts.

She says: “Over the last two years, we have worked with some amazing not-for-profits as well as continuing to support many public sector organisations that need digital transformation to make a big impact. We have increased our recurring revenues through our industry leading Business Transformation as a Service (BTaaS™) platform which is accelerating business transformation for our customers whilst also delivering great margins for Embridge.”

Purpose remains key to her proposition: “I come from a working-class background, my son was disabled, and I’m a woman in a male-dominated industry,” she explains. “We have an equal split of men and women here at Embridge and pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer, creating opportunities for as many as we can from different backgrounds, as well as those with disabilities to thrive.”

What drives you?

Purpose is core to our business. We love helping the NHS and charities like Concern Worldwide, Versus Arthritis and Islamic Relief as well as supporting the local community. We have helped to raise donations of over £50,000 to charity so far and I want to reach £100,000 in the next few years. I’m also part of a new regeneration project, which will create a vibrant new workspace in North Kent. That’s a win/win – a new hub for us and an impactful way to help towards the regeneration agenda of our local town centre.

Tell me about the toughest time you’ve faced in recent years?

My son died unexpectedly last year. He had epilepsy and losing him unexpectedly and so suddenly has been the biggest challenge I have ever faced. I checked out for three months. I couldn’t even think about work. I had to trust my team unconditionally, and that has changed my perspective a lot. My team went above and beyond to support me personally and ensure the business was unaffected by my sudden absence. Now that I’m back, I’ve continued to give my leadership team greater responsibility, which allows me to take a more strategic role in growing the business and focussing on some of the wider opportunities I am involved in.

What does the future hold?

We are about to launch our new offering, business transformation as a service (BTaaS), which will help customers keep up with the pace of technological change. We believe there’s nothing else like it in the market. We’re focused on the UK right now, but that could change over the coming years. Before I entered The Top 50, I set limits on what we could achieve, but now we have a plan to get to £100m.  Everything is possible.