‘We Provide a World-Class PPM Solution that not only Improves the Way Projects are Run Globally but also Improves the Lives of Each Individual who Uses Fluid’: Jared Whitaker, CEO of Fluid Business Solutions UK

“Fluid is an incredibly innovative solution.”

Fluid Business Solutions UK is a SaaS provider of the award-winning PPM solution — Fluid. It enables purpose-driven teams to collaborate more effectively, in meetings, projects, and across activities. Fluid’s smart technology turns data into real-time information that is easily accessible, visible, and meaningful. 

Fluid Business Solutions was founded in 2014 and is based in London, UK.

To highlight and further understand what Fluid Business Solutions UK stands for and seeks to explore in this segment, I sat down with Jared Whitaker, who serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

Below is an excerpt.

Q. From your perspective, how is the industry you serve currently evolving? And what are the trends in the different categories?

With Work from Home, businesses are looking for solutions that can allow collaboration for their teams at any time, any place. Cloud-based solutions are becoming more and more popular for this and Fluid is the perfect solution for project and program management. It is easily accessible by the entire team and provides one single source of project information. And with automation and innovation, Fluid reduces the amount of manual administrative work that project teams need to do, allowing the teams to deliver with fewer impediments.

Q. Where does Fluid Business Solutions UK stand at the moment relative to other participants in the industry?

Fluid is a challenger to the large players in the industry. In terms of the solution itself, Fluid is right up there as one of the top PPM solutions available. As the company is growing by leaps and bounds, we are in the scale-up mode now and have some catching up to do with market leaders.

Q. How does your all-in-one project and program management solution, Fluid, enable purpose-driven teams to collaborate more effectively?

Fluid provides one single ecosystem for your project work. It has a single interface for managing every aspect of a project such as reporting, financials, resourcing, planning, risk management, document management, timesheets, and more. It also brings the full offering of Kanban and Sprint boards into one system with your project workspace and has a full meeting management module that automates the manual admin around project meetings. It is a one-stop shop for full project delivery. Fluid also has a built-in Chat functionality, allowing users to collaborate in context on any given item. Our users find a reduction in emails, a reduction in meeting times, a reduction in manual reporting due to our automation, and just overall ease of use.

Q. What can you tell us about the Fluid products suite?

In building Fluid, we were very clear about the value we wanted to offer. We wanted to leverage tech to create a platform onto which an entire organization could log on, and never have to leave. We’d give them everything they would need in one place. Fluid provides users space to work on projects, collaborate and communicate with colleagues, and attend meetings. It equips project managers with a top-down view. No more manual PowerPoint reports for meetings. No more running around finding the agenda. No more writing minutes. Everything’s automated. Everything’s seamless. Everyone can focus on their work as opposed to their administrative tasks.

Q. Setbacks are a part of every growing business. Tell us about a few roadblocks and learning lessons that have helped the company grow over the years?

We are a smaller company, but being cloud-based and extremely client-focused has allowed us to grow well. We reached the point in 2020 where we needed to scale more and build the foundations for growth and we have done that now. For 2021 and onwards, we are here to grow and all set to take the world of project management solutions by storm.

Q. No doubt Fluid Business Solutions is charting new territories in this segment. Given how frequently circumstances change, what plans for transformation are you pursuing to remain relevant now and in the future?

As cited above, we are at the scale-up stage as a business now. Our team is growing rapidly, our client base is growing rapidly, and the prospects for the future are fantastic. Some of our key focuses in our scaling up journey are to partner with resellers, who want to sell Fluid to their clients, and to break into new geographies. We currently have clients in the UK, US, and Africa, but LATAM and APAC, and Europe are big potential markets for us.

Q. Is there anything else you want us to highlight that we might have missed?

Fluid is an incredibly innovative solution. We have won the 2021 Greater London Enterprise Award for Most Innovative Technology solution, and we promise that it was just the first of many. Our vision at Fluid is simple — to provide a world-class PPM solution that not only improves the way projects are run globally but also improves the lives of each individual who uses Fluid.

Jared Whitaker | CEO

Jared Whitaker, non-executive director, is the CEO of Fluid Business Solutions. He also serves on the board of an educational trust of academies for pupils with learning and mental disabilities.

Jared has nearly 20 years of experience in the project management arena as well as managing some of the largest projects available globally in the financial services sectors (Huge mergers, Brexit, etc.). Besides, he has management committee experience with Fiserv EMEA ($1,2BN revenue region) as General Business Manager for EMEA.

“Fluid has a single interface for managing every aspect of a project such as reporting, financials, resourcing, planning, risk management, document management, timesheets, and more.”