Mark Anderson
We connect skilled freelancers from the hospitality and healthcare industries with businesses for short-term missions.
Brigad’s mission is to make work attractive and accessible to all.
We’re currently operating in France and the UK.
Tell us about yourself?
I completed my studies with a Master’s degree in Computer Science. I worked in a few different startups before creating my first project in the music industry. I then co-founded Brigad, with Florent Malbranche, in 2016
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
When COVID hit and restaurants had to close, we lost 80% of our business overnight. We moved from super-fast growth mode to a crisis management mode.
We understood that the only way to get through was to be resourceful and see this crisis as an opportunity to challenge and develop ourselves. We opened into a new industry and we changed a lot of things in the company such as building new processes in the Ops, Product and Tech teams.
It offered us time to challenge things that we wouldn’t have had a chance to look at, and today, those changes were necessary to ensure our growth and future as a stable, but dynamic, company.
It definitely cemented the fact that we should, and do, always think, “”how could we do boldly better””. We don’t hesitate to take risks if there is a chance it’s for a better future. I believe this is how you win against the competition, not by just improving small things, but by always thinking how to do 10x better than you are now.
What problem does your business solve?
On the worker-side, we enable skilled professionals to become their own bosses, and reclaim control of their careers and flexibility in their lives.
On the business-side, we connect them to skilled freelancers to perform on-demand missions that are critical to running their business. This has been proven even more so recently, with businesses depending on Brigad to stay open for service through the current staff shortage in the hospitality industry.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
My partners invested in a restaurant and I have some of my family that have a background in the hospitality industry. It’s an industry we always valued and appreciated.
We felt that the businesses and workers had been left behind by today’s technology and needed new innovation to support them, have a positive impact and improve their lives.
What is your magic sauce?
Our speciality is that we provide a talent-agent experience to professionals by helping them grow and sustain their freelancing activity.
They have the freedom of working whenever and wherever they want, earn more than on a contract and have facilitated access to new jobs throughout their experiences.
We support them in their career growth, without limiting them with a rota, unsociable hours or undesirable working conditions. They choose when, where and what role they work.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
To change the lives of 100 000 self-employed professionals and to be the European leader in connecting freelancers to work in several industries.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Trying to build an engaged community of skilled workers, specifically in industries that suffer from a high turnover, during a pandemic that was shutting down the industry we operate in.
But now, due to our quick reactions and considered response, we have more than ‘bounced back’ and are growing at an exponentially fast rate.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
If you want to be part of the new future of work, you can reach us on our website www.brigad.co. We offer above-average industry earnings, on your terms.
Workers choose when, where and how they work. Businesses are connected to high-quality, fully trained professionals to support them in any vacant shifts they have on their rota. Flexibility and independence, without sacrificing a passionate career with progression.
