The Birth of Concernable: Our Story
Introduction
The new year is here, and like many of us, I’ve been reflecting on what’s ahead. This year, I’m really excited to share something we’ve been working hard on: Concernable. At its core, it’s a platform designed to help individuals and organisations raise and manage concerns securely and effectively. But beyond that, it’s a solution that comes from a real need—one that I’ve seen firsthand in workplaces everywhere.
The Inspiration Behind Concernable
For nearly 30 years, we’ve been providing case management solutions, mainly for fraud investigation teams. One of our biggest goals has always been to create products that genuinely benefit society. Our work in tackling fraud has saved the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds, which we’re incredibly proud of.
Over the years, working closely with public sector organisations in the UK, I started noticing a common challenge—employees needed better ways to communicate with their organisations. Whether it was raising concerns, offering suggestions, or simply staying connected (especially post-COVID), people were feeling disconnected and unsure of how to speak up.
Around the same time, the NHS introduced the ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ initiative. I spoke to many FTSU guardians who told me they desperately needed a better way for their staff to raise concerns and have them properly addressed. A shocking stat from the NHS staff survey stood out to me—nearly two in three staff members didn’t feel confident to raise concerns about their work. That’s when I knew we had to do something.
The Journey to Build Concernable
Once we identified the need, we started speaking with our existing customers across both the public and private sectors. What became clear was that there was a real gap in the market. Legislation like PIDA, SOX, and the EU Whistleblowing Directive meant that thousands of organisations were legally required to provide an anonymous route for employees to raise concerns—but many didn’t have an effective solution.
I knew we could do better. With our deep experience in case management, I was confident that we could build something that not only allowed people to raise concerns anonymously but also ensured those concerns were properly addressed.
The two biggest barriers to raising a concern are fear and futility. People are scared to speak up, and even if they do, they often think nothing will change. Concernable tackles both of these issues—confidential reporting helps people overcome fear, and our case management system ensures their concerns are handled properly, with real outcomes and feedback.
Challenges and Milestones
Building Concernable hasn’t been without its challenges. One of the earliest hurdles was data storage—many of our EU-based customers needed their data to be stored within the EU, but at the time, we only had UK-based data centres. It took some work, but we overcame this, and now we can offer clients the choice of where their data is stored.
A big turning point for us was securing our first three customers—an NHS Freedom to Speak Up team, a local authority HR department, and a multinational company that provides a whistleblowing hotline service. Each of these clients had different needs, and working with them helped us refine the platform in ways we hadn’t originally considered.
For example, the multinational company needed translation functionality, which turned out to be incredibly useful for the NHS as well, given its diverse workforce. The NHS team wanted equality monitoring built in, which has also helped the local authority. And the local authority’s request to send emails directly from the platform ended up saving time for all our customers.
What Makes Concernable Different
What really sets Concernable apart? It’s not just the technology—it’s our approach. We pride ourselves on offering unlimited free training, configuration, and support to our customers. We’re not just selling software; we’re building relationships.
Another thing that makes us different is our licensing model. We don’t charge per user. Why? Because we found that many teams need to involve others in the resolution process—whether it’s managers, directors, or other departments. With unlimited user access and powerful access controls, organisations can assign tasks without worrying about additional costs.
We’ve made it easier than ever to follow up on actions, assign tasks, and keep things moving—without the manual effort of chasing people down or typing endless emails.
The Future of Concernable
Our goal is simple but ambitious: to help one million people resolve a concern. Imagine the positive change if one million people felt heard and had their workplace issues addressed.
We’re constantly evolving based on customer feedback. Some of the features we’re working on include a web form builder to allow organisations to create custom forms with ease, SMS integration for real-time updates, and enhanced access controls to give even more flexibility in how the platform is used.
In five years, I want Concernable to be the go-to solution for organisations worldwide, and I see us making a real impact across the UK, US, and EU markets.
Conclusion
Concernable isn’t just another case management system. It’s a solution built from experience, insight, and a real passion for helping people and organisations. I want you to know that we genuinely care about making workplaces better—safer, more transparent, and more accountable.
If you’d like to learn more or just have a chat, connect with me on LinkedIn by clicking HERE or reach out via our website. Let’s make a difference together.
