The Global Business Empire Built on Part-Time Talent
Partner Article
A business group founded almost two decades ago is challenging conventional thinking about what it takes to build and scale a global company - with around 85% of its team working part-time.
Founded in 2007 by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Brad Kellard and Lara Kellard-Simon, i24 Group has grown into a portfolio of more than 30 companies and brands spanning outsourcing, media and commerce.
Today, the group generates eight-figure annual revenues and is undergoing an ambitious period of global expansion that is expected to take its workforce beyond 100 colleagues.
But behind those numbers is an employment model that developed almost by accident.
Rather than building its businesses predominantly around conventional full-time roles, i24 has increasingly embraced people who want work to fit around their lives - and its founders believe that decision has become a competitive advantage.
"We never set out with a strategy that said we were going to build a predominantly part-time team," explains co-founder Brad Kellard. "It happened naturally. We had talented people applying for roles who wanted to work, but didn't necessarily want work to come at the expense of life outside it.
"We started by accommodating this wherever it was commercially viable for the business, and we quickly began to see significant benefits for both sides."
Those joining the group have included parents returning to their careers after starting families, students, semi-retired professionals and expatriates living overseas. Some roles are fully remote, while others are connected to the group's physical operations.
The group operates globally, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - the inspiration behind the "24" in its name. With no standard working pattern across the business, hours vary by role, allowing flexibility around both operational needs and individual circumstances.
It is an approach Kellard believes has opened the door to a pool of talent that can be overlooked by companies still designing jobs around a traditional working week.
"There are incredibly capable people who can't or don't want to commit to a conventional full-time role. Why should businesses overlook that talent simply because they don't fit neatly into a traditional working pattern?"
For i24, the benefits go beyond recruitment.
The group says its model has helped create a more flexible and agile workforce while reducing the risk of burnout and giving employees greater control over their lives.
"Part-time shouldn't be confused with less committed," Brad says. "What we've found is often the opposite. When people have balance in their lives and genuinely want to be at work during the hours they're working, you can have people who are incredibly engaged, motivated and focused.
"From the customer's perspective, there shouldn't be any compromise. The businesses are properly staffed and the service is there. It's simply a different way of building the team behind it."
The philosophy also reflects how Brad and Lara have chosen to structure their own lives.
Originally from the UK, the couple spent several years living in Spain before moving with their family to Southeast Asia two years ago. They continue to oversee i24 Group remotely, working across time zones and travelling extensively as the group expands internationally.
"We didn't want to build businesses that gave us freedom while taking it away from the people who worked for them," says Brad.
"Business should create opportunities and freedom for the people connected to it. That doesn't just mean Lara and me. It means our team, our partners, our suppliers and ultimately our customers as well.
"We've always believed that you should be able to build ambitious businesses that serve people's lives, rather than detract from them."
It is a philosophy that sits at the heart of i24 and is perhaps unusual for a group of its scale, particularly one undergoing aggressive international expansion.
Its businesses combine digital services and products with physical operations - a hybrid model its founders believe is increasingly valuable as artificial intelligence and automation reshape the commercial landscape.
Yet as businesses invest heavily in technologies designed to make them more efficient, Brad Kellard believes employers should also be reconsidering something more fundamental: the way jobs themselves are designed.
For i24, questioning that convention has produced an unexpected advantage.
"Businesses spend a lot of time talking about attracting the best people. Sometimes attracting the best people means being prepared to build a role around the life they have - and the life they want."
What began organically has since become part of the group's approach to growth, and its founders have no intention of abandoning it.
"Growth for us isn't just about building bigger businesses. It's about creating a positive impact and building something that works better for everyone connected to them.
"If you can build successful companies while giving people more freedom to live their lives, why wouldn't you?" Kellard concludes.
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