You are currently not logged in. Please log in here.

Alumnus of the month – October 2015

Glenn Elliott
BSc Computing Studies, 1995

Robert Humphreys

Despite admitting to a “disastrous” set of A-level results, Glenn Elliott graduated from LSBU with first-class honours. The tech entrepreneur is now CEO of Reward Gateway, the global leader in enterprise employee engagement software which provides over 1,100 organisations worldwide with the tools to power employee communications, employee recognition, and employee benefits through a single employer-branded hub called SmartHub®.

“I did pretty terribly at A-levels. The Physics exam might as well have been written in another language! But I did okay in Computer Science and was keen to pursue something practical. I also wanted to have a vibrant social life in the capital – LSBU was perfect.”

In 2006, Glenn founded Reward Gateway which uses cutting-edge technology that allows clients to attract, engage and retain the best talent. Today the company has offices in London, Birmingham, Sydney, Melbourne, New York, Plovdiv and Skopje: “At LSBU, I gained my entire grounding in programming, testing and usability, as well as a deep understanding of systems engineering. I also learnt a lot about teamwork – group projects were a big part of the course. Now I run a high-growth technology company and I'm very fortunate to work with such an incredible team.”

Students today will struggle to believe that in 1995, without the luxury of the internet, Glenn carried out his academic research using archived publications on CD-ROM readers that were booked for half hour slots in the library. As technology advanced almost unrecognisably since the mid-90s, Glenn recommends the next generation of students make the most of the opportunities afforded by the digital revolution: “Technology is pervading every single industry now. There are no jobs that are not deeply enabled and affected by tech.”

In addition to accelerating the international growth of Reward Gateway, Glenn is busy writing his first book on how organisations can create a bridge to connect with their employees and enhance their performance. Glenn Elliott also writes a daily blog on employee engagement and his book, "The Engagement Bridge: The proven plan to connect with your people and drive bottom line performance", is published in the fall of 2016. “I’ve got some great case studies in there and I’m really looking forward to finishing it. Writing a book is definitely something new for me!”