Blog Article

Welcome from Sir Rod Aldridge

There’s no more fundamental an institution than the family. And that’s exactly what Aldridge is: a family, with grandparents and parents, children and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Well if family is an institution, then we’re a family institution, working for growth. Let me tell you what I mean by that.

In spite of our different interests, pursuits, occupations and preoccupations – and, like most families, we’re a diverse bunch – we are united by a common set of values, commitments and beliefs.

Above all, we are constantly striving to do better, to reach our potential. For me, that has meant building a market leading business in Capita, the UK’s leading outsourcing company that I started from scratch 
in 1984 and led to become a FTSE 100 company – and which today has over 60,000 employees and is valued at £6 billion.

At Aldridge, we are all, in our own way, entrepreneurial and commercially minded. We believe that wealth can be a force for good – that it can transform lives and build communities. And we’re pretty good at creating it! So, we’re about growth through wealth.

But I believe that individuals should be given the opportunity to pursue whatever it is that makes them happy – and to be successful in doing it.

Growth, in my mind, is as much about personal fulfillment as it is about rising sales figures. Beneath all of our various commercial and philanthropic operations, there is always an underlying commitment to helping others achieve their goals. So, we’re about growth through opportunity.

And I also believe that everyone should have access to a good education – an education that provides skills and qualifications, that instills confidence and prepares for the challenges of life.

That’s why I formed my Charitable Trust in 2004, culminating in the establishment of the Aldridge Foundation in 2006, a charity which sponsors non-selective academies in areas of long-term deprivation, underinvestment or underachievement. Our academies have a focus on entrepreneurship, and are key 
to our commitment to support social change and community regeneration. So, we’re about growth through education.

Put simply, then, growth is at the heart of everything we do at Aldridge. Because if you’re not growing, you’re not moving forward. And we’re not in the business of backwards.

Thank you.