Almost a decade ago, South African entrepreneur Niall Carroll found himself at a career crossroads. Having enjoyed a rather successful career, first in investment banking and then as the founder CEO of the world’s largest community-owned investment holding company, Carroll was looking for his next move.
Opportunities presented themselves in the dog-eat-dog corporate world and the philanthropic realm. But Carroll wanted something different – something that aligned with his personal and professional goals and created sustainable and lasting impact.
So, in 2014, Niall Carroll and Andrew Jackson set out to create what is today CG Tech, an investment holding company with interests in a range of sectors and operations in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland and the Middle East.
Both men were keen to use the experience and expertise gained working together, first at Deutsche Bank and then at Royal Bafokeng Holdings. At Deutsche Bank, Carroll ran the corporate advisory division and at Royal Bafokeng Holdings, he and Jackson led the team that grew the portfolio to more than US$4 billion, doubling the rate of return of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway over the same eight-year period.
But it wasn’t success after success. “On the surface, it’s easy to say we had a great run. But that’s where the nuances are missed - the times we failed, learned from them and came back a bit wiser” says Carroll. At Deutsche Bank, the team needed to resist what was, at times, the toxic culture and values of global investment banking, while at the Bafokeng, there was a constant battle against opportunism.
These experiences shaped how CG Tech would operate and innovate during times of prosperity and respond in challenging times, like the past year. While many businesses struggled to come back, CG Tech emerged with a purpose-driven approach that has seen them not only hang on, but also expand into new geographies and new industries, during one of the world’s most challenging times.
With interests in oil and gas, events, virtual reality, drone technology, sound stages and more, CG Tech serves as an example of how companies can approach doing business at the precipice of a new normal.
Serve–Solve-Uplift
Whether travelling the world as a top South African investment banker for Deutsche Bank or starting a community-owned investment company for the Royal Bafokeng Nation, Niall Carroll has spent his career analysing perspectives and forming his own unique positions.
Together with Andrew Jackson, Carroll’s concept for CG Tech embodied everything he believed an organisation should stand for. “The purpose of CG Tech is bigger than us. Through the process, Andrew and I wanted to ensure we were not only financially successful, but were also able to uplift the ecosystem and the community around us,” explains Carroll.
Carroll adds, “Leading a business is often lonely and sometimes takes courage. If you are doing it just to make money for yourself, sometimes it is easier to avoid making the hard, unpopular decisions. But when you know that your actions or inactions will impact on the financial security of your colleagues or will be the difference between a community feeding itself or not, you will take courage from knowing that other, more vulnerable people are trusting you to make the right decision, even if it is personally hard.”
Much more than just an empty purpose statement, the CG Tech mantra - Serve, Solve and Uplift - is at the forefront of every strategy and decision. Most important to achieving this goal is the assembly of a team that fundamentally identifies with the corporate purpose. It’s a concept so vital to Niall Carroll that the team established the position of Chief Ecosystem Officer for Jason English, to ensure company culture and the CG Tech message remains cohesive across the entire portfolio.
Early Days of CG Tech
In the early days of CG Tech, Niall Carroll and Andrew Jackson took a more focused approach to investing, selecting a handful of opportunities and supporting them as they came into their own.
As an investment banker, Niall Carroll had been exposed to a wide variety of industries. His experience in recognising a good opportunity has been vital to the success of the CG Tech portfolio. But even more crucial has been his focus on trying to get the best out of those around him.
A cornerstone of the CG Tech philosophy is the unique way in which they select their investments. They pay particular attention to those leading the businesses and whether or not they identify with CG Tech’s greater purpose on sustainability and community.
“We are in the enviable position of being able to choose, more or less, the people we get to work with. We have found over the years that working with owner-managers is the most rewarding on all levels. They are generally people who are successful, passionate about what they do and how they do it, but they are also open to trying new methods and working with you to expand their business,” says Carroll.
For CG Tech, the owner-manager approach to business is key to their success and helps form the structure of their board of directors. It is a unique arrangement that has facilitated a fortified purpose and vision across the board. It has also led to Carroll and Jackson connecting with talents like Jason English, the former CEO of Prommac and David Cummins, executive director of The Virtulab.
As businesses are successfully integrated into the CG Tech portfolio, the team begins the process of looking at adjacent industries to see where they can have a positive impact and possibly add more value.
“For us, recognising synergies within the portfolio is paramount to success. We operate on an ecosystem approach to business, where information is shared. Value added to one company is a success for all of us. It really goes a long way to promoting an environment of openness, that’s reliant on trust and communication,” explains Carroll.
The CG Tech ecosystem is one that is proving its worth, giving way to opportunities to not only develop but also disrupt.
Doing Disruption Differently
CG Tech prides itself on exploring new ways to innovate and disrupt standard systems. Applying Clayton Christensen’s theories on disruptive innovation in a more practical sense, one that promotes the reskilling of people and growing into new markets throughout the innovation process.
While many traditional businesses use tech to reduce their cost base rather than to increase revenue, CG Tech doesn’t subscribe to what Carroll calls being “short-term greedy.”
“We are looking to double our efficiencies in Al Laith (a CG Tech subsidiary) through technology. If we are successful, we could theoretically then halve the workforce and increase profits for unchanged turnover. But we can also keep the same number of people and double turnover,” notes Carroll.
He adds, “I’m more interested in the second option. Profits are great, but long term growth is much better. This enables us to continue upgrading the skills of our existing employees and bringing in fresh skills through new entrants. The business then not only serves more people and solves more difficult problems, it becomes more profitable and helps uplift the wider community” This is admittedly hard and doesn’t always work out but Carroll says it is in line with their vision and beliefs.
Another approach that can be spotted in practice throughout the CG Tech portfolio is using the strengths of one business to the advantage of another. Whether it’s the Virtuworx virtual reality platform training Prommac engineers, or drone technology helping construction processes for companies like Al Laith and Serious International, the group’s long-term vision has a clear cut influence on every move they make.
Throughout his career, Niall Carroll has made a habit out of paying attention to what works, and perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t. And while Carroll and Jackson may have started CG Tech, the unique CG Tech brand of business building, one that puts people, purpose and sustainability before all else, is embodied by leaders and staff across the organization. It has led CG Tech to where it is today and keeps them on track to become a billion-dollar business by 2030.
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