Peter Bailey

Why did you choose to study Management Sciences at Loughborough University?

Before university I had a debate with myself about whether to try and start a company or go to university. I went around a number of universities and felt Loughborough would be great for me to continue my passion for football as well as business. The course itself had a strong analytical base which attracted me as I had always enjoyed maths-based subjects at school and how it might impact on real-world decision making.

How have your studies assisted in building your skill set and guiding your career so far?

I am now working in health data. Everything I do links back to the fundamentals I learnt in my degree. The degree taught me everything from the basic principles of storing data through to how and what data to make decisions from. I think the most notable impact though, and the thing most commented on in my reviews, is the way in which the degree has made me think and ask questions.

How would you say your wide range of extracurricular activities impacted upon your Loughborough experience?

The wide range of activities I took part in really did shape me. It gave me an introduction to a number of fantastic people across sectors and degrees. I was also able to learn softer skills that are so valuable in the job market, like communication and networking, as well as more technical management skills, like managing priorities and people. Actually in all the interviews/tweets I have sent (I got two jobs straight from tweets) people have seen the degree as the first foot in the door but the extracurricular activities have allowed me to really demonstrate my abilities and what the degree theorised about.

You won a variety of awards during your time as a student both internally and externally – how did this make you feel, and is there one that you are most proud of?

The thing that makes Loughborough so unique is all the awesome people you get to meet and work with. From both a personal and professional level, the people I got to meet at Loughborough led to me achieving recognition for fantastic work in a number of these fantastic teams. I think the award I was most proud of was the representation award – I was fortunate to be elected to represent my course, the business school and the schools on senate, and it was a true honour to represent so many fantastic people – it meant a huge amount that people entrusted their representation in me.

Can you tell us more about Circle Health, the company that you are working for currently?

Circle was created around one central mission: to build a great company dedicated to our patients, to make healthcare better. This mission is founded on three core beliefs. Firstly, that we are above all else the agents of our patients. We should put our patients first in everything we do.

Secondly, we believe that everybody matters. Great things are done by people who are passionate about what they do, have control over their work, and are both responsible and accountable to do their best. That’s why we are a partnership. If we want everyone to care about their work passionately and take ownership of their responsibilities, then we should give them control of the organisation in which they work. That is why our partnership is open to all who contribute to our patients’ care.

And thirdly, we believe in being uncompromising in the pursuit of excellence. We give control to those who are closest to the needs of our patients, and in return, we demand that they never give up in exceeding their expectations. Extraordinary things happen when ordinary people believe in themselves and aim as high as they possibly can. We call it the pursuit of excellence, because excellence is not a one-off event. To achieve it, we believe our daily attitude should be that it doesn’t matter how well we do, we can always do better for our patients. ‘Good enough’ never is. Our track record to date has shown how powerful our model is, not only in improving healthcare, but also in making returns for our shareholders.

What has been your career journey so far?

I think my 'career' (bear in mind as I write this I have only been a graduate for two years) has been extremely mixed but really fulfilling. Before university I had done a few bits of work experience in small to medium sized businesses here and there in the Midlands. Alongside that I did a few little bits on the side, twice running Young Enterprise teams at school and then doing a couple of charity fundraisers.

Once I got to University, in my first year I decided I wanted to get some corporate experience, so I spent my first six months applying for internships in big companies. After getting rejected continually I finally got a break; despite getting rejected from an application for Sainsbury’s IT team at their head office in London, I decided to try the application again with my middle name included because I really felt I was the right fit for the role. Thankfully, second time round I got through and got an assessment centre, which I managed to get through.

After a fantastic summer with them, I felt the next time I wanted to work abroad. So for my placement year, I managed to get accepted onto a programme in Malaysia through the University. Sadly two months before I was due to fly out, my personal circumstances changed such that going abroad for a year was not feasible, so I tweeted out to a couple of contacts I knew through Enactus at University and was offered an assessment centre with Enterprise Rent-A-Car where I ended up starting my placement after a couple of months. I decided the role really wasn’t the right fit for me and a fantastic opportunity came up as the Enterprise Intern at the University, so I left Enterprise Rent-A-Car and started with Loughborough Students’ Union. We had a really awesome year; testing new ideas and building on old ideas of how student start-ups and those interested in starting up were supported. I ended up researching enterprise ecosystems all round the world, traveling abroad seven times over the next year and a half looking at different models and set ups which began to help shape some of the vision for what we wanted enterprise education in the Students’ Union to look like.

During that time I also found a business partner from which I went on to run the South Africa Challenge (a leadership development programme for young people) as a social enterprise for each summer over four years. After this, I came back to University for my final year whilst continuing the South Africa Challenge programme, founding Fail Forward (a brand to celebrate learning from failure), co-founding tech product event 'Catch' (a visualisation tool for social media feeds) and selling branded merchandise.

When I graduated I was fortunate to win the Think BIG! Award; the funding from which we used to test the expansion of the South Africa Challenge programme into Mumbai. After a challenging three weeks, sadly we didn’t manage to replicate the programme, but continued in the development of the programme in South Africa. During this time I began looking for other full-time opportunities in which again via social media I was contacted by Grant Thornton regarding a role on their Future Leaders programme, which I then completed over the following six months. It was another fantastic opportunity, but I decided that staying in the team wasn’t the correct move for my career, so I left and went back to South Africa.

When I got back, I was offered a different role to return to, which was sadly removed three days before I returned, so I spent the next six months contracting for London Legacy Company and University College London on the legacy of the Olympics and building local community initiatives. During this time I was contacted by a recruiter about a role in Circle Health as a Graduate Consultant that I felt would give me a fantastic opportunity to move into the healthcare sector and pursue my interest in developing technology for good – which is where I am today!

Would you say that you are in a career currently that you are keen on pursuing long-term?

Healthcare is fascinating. It is an extremely challenging macro and micro-environment with fantastic people and possibilities. Every day I have new challenges and environments that really push me out of my comfort zone. If I ever get to a point where I feel that is not the case, I think I would consider moving, but it has been a year and I can’t see it happening soon. I really want to continue looking into how we can implement technologies that can improve and encourage higher standards of patient care.

What is your favourite thing about your current job role?

I think it is the interaction between the processes, staff and patients. In my role I am able to see how small changes can really improve a patient’s experience and also improve staff efficiency, which in turn improves morale.

If you could pick one key thing from your time at Loughborough that is having a positive impact on where you are today – what would it be?

The people I met and other alumni from Loughborough. I have been fortunate to build an awesome group of friends, business associates, or just interesting people from both those I met while at University, but also from alumni who have left to do other things. That network I am sure will be the most valuable and positive thing I gained from my time at University.