Roger Allen, ceo of Green Sheep Group, talks delivering the UK’s most-loved bedside crib, winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation and the power of a positive attitude.
How long have you been at Green Sheep Group?
I initially joined Green Sheep Group in 2013 when I was appointed to the board as chairman. There were fewer than five of us at the time, a true entrepreneurial start up with obvious growth potential. Some four years later, having delivered exponential growth and delivering a truly profitable business, I joined the business as ceo.
What is your greatest achievement at the company?
Winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2018. SnüzPod is now the UK’s bestselling bedside crib; we have come a long way since its launch in 2013.
SnüzPod4 has built on the success of its predecessor, while maintaining its iconic design and quality. We have enhanced the breathability of the crib, offering increased airflow around baby thanks to unique air-flow vents, an air-permeable mesh liner and improved base ventilation. All of these features help put parents’ minds at ease thanks to the even greater temperature regulation they provide, and ultimately a safer nights sleep for baby.
Favourite part of your job?
Nothing excites me more than working on investment strategy. We are still a small business, but have ambitious plans to continue building off of the success of our two brands, The Little Green Sheep and Snüz. There is so much potential given the seismic shift toward natural and sustainable living, with parents increasingly aware of babies’ sleep, and how to create the safest environment. Our two brands are ideally positioned to cater for these customer needs.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the team here at Green Sheep Group. A small, positive and intelligent group of unique individuals building a truly diverse culture. It is a fun, fast, and hard-working business.
Who is the unsung hero in your company?
I feel finance teams are often overlooked or forgotten, but the work they do is a key foundation of the business. Jacquie Habershon has been with us for six years after joining in 2015. We’ve been through the challenges you’d expect from a fast growth small business and Jacquie has been there to support us.
What is the biggest change within the preschool industry that you have seen since you have worked in it?
A much greater understanding from new parents about the safety and comfort of their impending arrivals, and the immediacy of access to this information through the seismic change in digital and use of smartphones.
From our study in March 2021, we learnt that during the pandemic, 44% of parents felt they did not have the support they needed or wanted with regards to their baby’s sleep. It’s an important role for Snüz to play as the destination for baby’s sleep across both products and information, working closely with The Sleep Charity, health professionals and trusts.
What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve ever been given?
Do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it. This has never let me down. It is the foundation of building trust, and trust is critical in all relationships, business or otherwise.
Biggest lesson you took away from 2020?
How much difference a positive attitude makes. My personal goal and ambition at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020 was to ensure that not a single member of the Green Sheep Group team was furloughed or made redundant. We remained positive and focused on that goal.
In 2020, Green Sheep Group achieved year on year growth rates of over 60% because of that positivity, tenacity and hard work, thus leading to the growth of our workforce by 36%.
This feature originally appeared in the June 2021 edition of Progressive Preschool. To read the full publication, click on this link.
