The LDC Top 50 Alumni
Where Are They Now: Diptesh Patel, founder and CEO of UBDS Group
15 May 2024
Since featuring in The LDC Top 50 in 2022, Diptesh Patel has been on a professional and personal growth journey. UBDS Group, the digital transformation agency he founded in 2019, has almost tripled its headcount in two years to 150 people, increased its client base by 60%, completed its first acquisition, and is on target to reach £35m in turnover by 2026.
Patel has taken the first steps towards turning his fast-growth business into an incubator for talented entrepreneurs and visionaries. “That aligns with my own personal ambition to give back,” he explains. UBDS Group is big on creating social value, both through its work on public sector projects and its initiatives to bring new skills into the industry, through its apprenticeship scheme and initiative for ex-military personnel. “Helping others keeps me motivated,” he explains.
How do you keep developing as a leader and entrepreneur?
I took on a coach, which has really helped me to level up and allowed me to access a peer group. It can be isolating when you build a business on your own, and I found it really powerful to build a network of mentors and fellow entrepreneurs.
Why create an incubator for other start-ups within UBDS?
I want to help other entrepreneurs build their own businesses. The first few years can be hard – I know that first hand. The plan for the next few years is to help individuals and small teams by leveraging the processes, resources, and experience within UBDS Group to help them scale.
Tell me about your values?
We are committed to carbon reduction and social value creation. We are on the journey to becoming a B Corp in 2024, and we will be Net Zero by 2027. We have also partnered with Microsoft on its Care to Succeed programme to help get young people into employment.
If I look back a year or two, I wouldn’t have thought we could get to where we are today. I want to keep being the best leader I can be, creating great opportunities for people who want to develop their career whilst giving back to our communities.
Being part of The LDC Top 50 brought huge recognition to me and the team here at UBDS Group. The award gave us the edge when speaking to prospective customers and helped alert partners and clients to our work in the social value space, prompting our recent partnership. I also met so many amazing leaders throughout the process and have built fantastic relationships from it. It has supported my own growth journey.”
