For Streets Heaver CEO Benedict Heaver, growth is as much about scaling well as growing quickly.
What began as a small software company 40 years ago now supports some of the UK’s biggest healthcare providers, including private hospitals, ophthalmologists and NHS organisations.
With opportunities ahead that could accelerate expansion, Benedict is conscious that moving too fast can put pressure on the systems, people and culture that have helped the business succeed.
“There are opportunities we’re working through that could bring rapid growth, but you have to be careful about going too fast,” Benedict says.
“Things can start to fall off, so we’ve been putting the right things in place to support sustainable growth.”
As the second generation of his family to lead Streets Heaver, Benedict is thinking about what the company needs to look like in five or 10 years’ time – and putting the foundations in now to support that growth.
That evolution has brought broader legal needs too, from commercial SaaS contracts and framework agreements to the purchase of new premises.
From family business to healthcare technology specialist
Streets Heaver was founded in the 1980s after Benedict’s father, Paul Heaver, moved from accountancy into management consultancy and began working on accounting systems.
A project for a local private hospital changed the business’ direction. When the hospital couldn’t justify the cost of the only computer system available, Paul adapted an accounting system to meet its needs – laying the foundations for what would become Streets Heaver’s healthcare technology business.
Today, Streets Heaver’s Compucare software is used by around 40 of the UK’s top 60 private hospital providers, representing around 25% of the market, according to Benedict.
The business also works extensively across diagnostics and ophthalmology and supports NHS organisations.
Growth with a longer view
One of the things Benedict has brought to the business is a strong focus on culture and learning. The company has grown from around 30 employees before the pandemic to 107 today.
Employees are given 10% of their working time for personal development, while the company has invested heavily in its values and culture. Benedict says:
I’d actually call ourselves a learning organisation before a technology organisation. I think us getting hot on our values is what's enabled us to grow as we have.
That long-term perspective also shapes Benedict’s approach to responsible business.
Streets Heaver has been a certified B Corp for four years and has signed the Better Business Act, reflecting a view of responsible business as being about how a company is run, how it plans for the future and how it treats its people.
A bigger base for the next stage
The purchase of the Charlotte Scott Building in Lincoln is another part of that longer-term plan.
Twice the size of Streets Heaver’s existing premises – with plans to install solar over the parking area – the new building will give the growing team more space and support the company’s emphasis on learning and collaboration.
“There’s a real magic you have when you get people together,” says Benedict.
The property purchase also broadened Streets Heaver’s relationship with Harper James into another area of legal support.
Expertise that understands the business
Streets Heaver first worked with Harper James on its commercial contracts.
Senior solicitor David Sant, who has a software engineering background, helped the business consolidate and update existing agreements into the new SaaS contract it now uses with customers.
For Benedict, that technical understanding made a real difference.
It was really helpful having someone with legal expertise that also had the software engineering experience. Because when we're talking about the intricacies of how our platform works, David understood exactly what we meant.
Harper James has since supported Streets Heaver with NHS contracts and Crown Commercial Service frameworks, customer contract queries and a customer disagreement, as well as the property purchase.
Commercial partner Kevin Manship and the team have helped the company work through framework documents and respond clearly when issues arise.
The property transaction became more complicated than originally expected. Benedict particularly valued commercial property lawyer Sam Paxton’s efficiency and willingness to challenge provisions that weren’t right for the business:
Sam and her team were very efficient and helped us get things over the line, being quite robust in going back to the third party.
More certainty, without losing flexibility
As Streets Heaver’s requirements have grown, the business has also moved from Harper James’ Enable plan to Extend.
It gives the company a bank of legal hours at a discounted rate that it can draw on across different requirements, providing greater visibility over legal spend while retaining access to advice when something unexpected comes up.
For Benedict, that combination of transparent costs and flexibility is a key part of the value:
From a business planning perspective, we know we’re going to need external support. We don’t need to know on what. Just having that bank of hours gives us confidence. We know roughly how much it’s going to cost us, but equally it’s flexible enough to deal with any sort of situation we come across.
Being able to access different areas of expertise through one relationship also means Streets Heaver can get broader legal support without having to build a full in-house legal function before the business needs one.
It’s probably the best we could hope for from a third party without having an in-house counsel. I think we’d have to be a lot, lot bigger before we need anything like that.
What comes next
As the family business enters its fifth decade, Benedict jokes that he finds it amusing to be called a scale-up, but there’s no sign of slowing down.
The company is exploring further international opportunities alongside its established work in the UK, Ireland, Malta and South Africa. Its software is also increasingly incorporating AI to automate routine back-office processes and allow healthcare organisations to focus their people on more complex work.
With new markets, new technology and further growth ahead, Streets Heaver is continuing to build for the long term – with the right people, infrastructure and specialist support around it.
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