Digital Origin CEO talks automation, staff, and £30m by 2030
Stephen Richardson speaks to CRN about doubling down on automation and staff development in part two of this interview
Digital Origin has plotted ambitious growth plans to reach £30m in revenue by 2030, while emphasising that automation will be used to enhance staff development rather than replace jobs.
Speaking to CRN in the second part of his interview, CEO Stephen Richardson says the business has spent the last year laying the groundwork for long-term growth by ensuring the right people and processes are in place.
He explains internal automation will play a key role in scaling the company efficiently, allowing employees to move beyond entry-level service desk work and progress into more advanced roles.
“The automation of the business is there to upskill its people and allow them to go and do other parts of their career journey, not just be stuck at the lower levels, level one ticket-type stuff,” Richardson says.
“As you scale you either need more people or you need to smarten the process. The cost-efficient way is the latter.”
Laying the groundwork for growth
Richardson told CRN in part one that the £13m-revenue business (FY25) wants to crack £17m by the end of 2026.
However, Digital Origin has an even larger goal further down the line - £30m in revenue by the end of the decade.
But Richardson stresses the MSP’s first priority in getting to £30m was building a stable platform for expansion.
“The challenge we put forward was we were going to grow the business to £30m in revenue by the end of 2030,” he says.
“We then put in a strategy to achieve that.”
According to Richardson, the first phase of that strategy focused on ensuring the Giacom, Zest4, and N-able partner had the right foundations in place before accelerating growth.
“The first of those tactics was to make sure we're on solid ground to grow from,” he explains.
“We didn't want to be in a position where we're going to change the product stack or have to go and change wholesale people in the business before knowing we're ready for that.”
Throughout last year the business prioritised organisational readiness and talent alignment.
“In 2025 we set out to get to a point where you've got the right people in the right places to deliver the rest of the goal for 2026 and onwards,” Richardson says.
“I think we fully ticked box one of that coming into 2026 – we still achieved our numbers and were successful in the year. But the business is a totally different business if you look at it compared to what we started the year with.”
People-first focus for 2026
As the year unfolds, Richardson says the company’s immediate priority for 2026 centres on its workforce.
“My overall goal at the moment is the people,” he says.
“We put a lot into the staff last year in terms of financial reward.”
While the company plans to expand automation and streamline processes, Richardson acknowledges that employees often worry about the implications for their roles.
“As much as I talk about automation and the streamlining of processes, I'm very aware the first thing people think of then is job degradation.”
To counter those concerns, Digital Origin is working to clearly define career pathways for staff as automation becomes more prevalent.
“We’re making sure we've got a pathway that tells people in our business that we totally accept automation is going to pick up all of this,” Richardson says.
“To stay competitive in our marketplace, we've got to do certain things through automated processes. But here's your journey from here, and here are the new paths that you can take.”
He adds that job security remains a key focus for the company.
“We don't want you to get left behind,” Richardson says.
“Job security is important to us. We haven’t had any employee churn in the last 24 months, except for two retirements, and then the people who were involved in the sale of the business.”
With its foundations now in place, Richardson believes Digital Origin is positioned to pursue its growth ambitions while continuing to invest in its workforce.