The event is part of Leeds Digital Festival 2021 and will include speakers from Morrisons and AWS. Read more in Events.
SPG Resourcing helps companies and organisations across the digital sector find the talent they need. It operates internationally from offices in Leeds and Newcastle.
The company also made a key hire in January to support expansion in 2024, with Harrison Foster joining the group as a business development manager. Read more here.
The work underpins government plans to invest £2 billion over the next ten years to develop a robust and diverse ecosystem of engineering biology. The programme will help capitalise on the numerous opportunities that arise from the underlying science and technology.
DSIT is using The Data City’s platform with its real-time industry classification (RTIC) methodology to produce their own RTICs to identify and gather companies working in the engineering biology field. Read more below. Pictured: Alex Craven, Founder and CEO, The Data City.
Answer Digital has promoted Richard Pugmire to the role of CEO. He will work with the management team to deliver ambitious growth plans as the company builds on its artificial intelligence (AI) expertise.
The Leeds-based technology consultancy is employee-owned and supports the NHS and a range of private-sector companies with services ranging from data and software engineering to artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Read more below.
The full-service digital marketing agency is supporting the council with marketing strategy, social media marketing, SEO, website design and copy on the programme. Scroll down to read more.
Hippo, a leading digital services provider, has a strategic partnership with Virgin Trains Ticketing, the rail ticketing app that has revolutionised train travel by offering customers a seamless way to book train travel and save money at the same time. Travellers who book any train ticket across Great Britain via Virgin Trains Ticketing earn three Virgin Points for every £1 spent, and points can be put towards all or part of the cost of your next journey.
Hippo’s collaboration with Virgin Trains Ticketing will further enhance its service delivery and customer experiences, whilst also accelerating ticket sales. The app was recognised at the recent UK eCommerce Awards 2023, winning App of the Year. Read more here.
The 107th season runs from October 2023 to April 2024, and the Knights will play each weekend for 82 weeks, with games held at Planet Ice in Leeds and other UK ice hockey stadiums as part of the Planet Ice NIHL National Division.
The Knights have started strong this season, leading their division and aiming to retain last season’s title after a streak of consecutive wins over the past few weeks.
Leeds Knights MD Warwick Andrews: “Manni and the team at Bobble are a pleasure to work with, and our team massively appreciates their support....." Read more here.
The leading UK automotive retail group JCT600 has appointed integrated agency CreativeRace.
CreativeRace, a leading integrated marketing agency based in Leeds, is delighted to announce its recent success in securing a new client account with JCT600, one of the largest and most respected automotive retail groups in the UK. The win will add JCT600 to a stable of big-name brands such as ASDA, Greggs and Majestic Wines.
JCT600 who are trusted by the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers, has a rich heritage dating back over seven decades, and their commitment to providing exceptional customer experiences aligns perfectly with CreativeRace's strategic vision. The agency's proven expertise in the retail sector, leads to CreativeRace to being able to knit together the digital and physical customer journey driving footfall across JCT600’s retail portfolio which includes Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley, Aston Martin, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz. Read more here.
The funding is part of the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) and will launch a West Yorkshire digital innovation project led by colleges.
The project will support colleges and partners to build capacity to meet local skills priorities that were identified in the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), launched by the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce in August. Read more here.
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Pioneering tech company Veracity Trust Network has been nominated for two top prizes at a prestigious regional industry award ceremony.
The Leeds-based firm, which is focused on bot detection and ad fraud protection, was shortlisted for the Prolific North Tech Awards in both the ‘Best Use of AI’ category for its partnership with data and analytics consultancy Cynozure, and the ‘Tech Leader of the Year’ category for its Chief Technology Officer and Data Lead, Stewart Boutcher.
£4.6M Funding Secured to Boost Digital Enterprise for West Yorkshire Businesses
Digital Enterprise has secured £4.6 million funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), to encourage ambitious businesses in West Yorkshire to take a technological leap to improve productivity, performance and competitiveness and achieve sustainable growth by investing in digital.
As the new round of funding is now live, the clock is already ticking for businesses to access the support they need for growth. This third Digital Enterprise (DE3) programme will end in March 2025, giving businesses just over 12 months to apply for funding. Read more here.
Placing the most sought-after IT specialist talent, whilst consulting, supporting and building technology solutions; the dual brands have evolved and work in partnership to deliver a complete technology consulting and talent service to large enterprises, SMEs and start-ups. Read more here.
The Web Surgery takes place every Thursday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Infoserves head office, next to Leeds Bradford Airport. The sessions are one to one, and designed specifically for loan businesses to learn how to achieve their online potential and boost enquiries. Read more here.
Leeds is one of the fastest-growing technology hubs in the UK. New data published in September shows that while the national cyber sector has declined by 0.6%, Leeds’ growth rate is 9.9%*. It also has a thriving legal sector with 1,560 firms that are engaged in legal activities and a workforce of over 14,400**. Pictured: Sam Hameed, co-founder and MD, SPG Resourcing. Read more here.
Founded in Leeds in 2016, Hippo has 400 digital services specialists working across 5 UK offices. It is a rapidly-growing, full-service digital services partner with a proven track record of delivering user-centred digital services for major public and private sector clients, including the NHS and Government Digital Service (GDS). Read more here.
Leading technology magazine WIRED set up the Trailblazer Programme, in collaboration with HSBC UK, to shine a light on the innovative, mid-sized businesses that are leading the way in delivering positive economic, societal and environmental outcomes.
Chameleon Technology plays a leading role in the national smart meter rollout programme, a key part of the government’s Net Zero strategy, by supplying In-Home Displays (IHDs) to nine of the top 10 energy providers. Its IHDs connect to smart meters to help consumers accurately track both their energy use and costs with ease. Read more here. Pictured: Mike Woodall, CEO, Chameleon
Along with the rebrand, the team at The Marketing Optimist has also been appointed to develop a new website for the historical hotel, which is located in the Cumbrian coastal town of Whitehaven, near the Lake District National Park. Read more below.
The funding will provide free laptops for residents and community groups to help them find work and training opportunities and connect with others. Commenting on the donation, Gareth Humphreys (pictured) Group CEO at SPG: “We partner with our clients to ‘Be the change’ needed to solve complex problems, delivering transformational technology solutions that empower people. So it was a natural fit to partner with Sovereign to support this initiative, which is aligned with our ethos of making real change in the community.” Read more here.
Ahead of International Day of Charity, Salford-based connectivity provider TalkTalk launched a new funding opportunity to support women-led charity initiatives making an impact.
Research reveals a 16% YOY decline in the number of women leading the UK’s 100 largest charities*, highlighting the need to support and empower more women in this space.
The initiative comes as the local connectivity provider continues to bring full fibre to homes and businesses across Leeds. Read more here.
Delegates can attend the Festival in person or virtually, with a range of events from the region's leading digital organisations. These include Accenture, Microsoft, KPMG, BJSS, TPP, Lloyds Bank, Leeds Building Society, Codurance, and Snowflake. The Festival runs from 18 to 29 September at a variety of venues around Leeds. Read more below.
Photograph: Stuart Clarke at Leeds Digital Festival 2022.
Bobble Digital, a media-focused digital marketing agency based in Leeds, has won Best Digital Marketing Agency in Leeds for the third consecutive year - awarded by SME News as part of their annual SME News Business Elite Awards. Read more here.
Leeds-based search marketing agency, Wolfenden, has bolstered its senior team with a trio of hires from fellow Yorkshire agencies including Rise at Seven and Boutique, in-line with the agency’s focus on a more strategic marketing offering.
Armarni Lane joins the agency as Digital PR Manager, bringing a wealth of experience from growing the Digital PR offering at Clicky Media and leading on key accounts at Rise at Seven including Nasty Gal and Chill Insurance. The agency has also welcomed Lucy Askew as Senior Digital PR Account Manager, who joins from in-house Digital PR and SEO roles at Aira and Hillary’s Blinds; and Sarah MacLeod as Senior Account Manager following paid and organic search account management roles at various agencies, most recently Boutique.
A Chameleon display is now present in one in every three UK homes, helping consumers to make low carbon and energy efficient choices through visible, transparent, real-time data. Read more here.
Luxury care experts Danforth Care has appointed search marketing agency Wolfenden to elevate the brand’s awareness across key locations nationwide after opening 6 new luxury care homes this year already and looking to open 9 more within the next two years.
Leeds-based Wolfenden’s multichannel strategy for the care provider spans paid search, SEO and digital PR, and will strive to increase visibility of Danforth Care amongst relevant audiences as each new home opens.
Operating seven luxury care homes across the UK, currently within Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Lancashire and East Anglia; Danforth Care makes the appointment within an exciting period of growth for the business which will see it expand across the country. Read more here.
Following a period of substantial growth, Leeds-based digital marketing agency The Marketing Optimist has announced the appointment of Hristina Tsolova as their new Social Media Account Manager.
Hristina joins the team during a period of fast growth for the agency, following a flurry of client wins over the last year. She brings an extensive range of social media experience to her new role, after working in various sectors and large organisations including Jet2, the University of Leeds and most recently the public sector procurement organisation YPO. Read more here.
Bobble Digital, a media-focused digital marketing agency, has moved its headquarters to Department at Leeds Dock.
Formerly based at the Tannery on Kirkstall Road, the agency’s new central Leeds location has its own podcast studios and event space – ideal for hosting the firm’s BobblePod podcast and marketing meetups. The four-floor office space opened earlier this year and has attracted many local businesses. Read more here.
Pioneering tech company Veracity Trust Network has been shortlisted for two prestigious industry awards in recognition of its outstanding website and online advertising protection solutions.
The Leeds-based tech firm was named among the finalists in both the ‘Cyber Security Company of the Year’ category at the UK Business Tech Awards 2023, and the ‘AI-enabled Data Solution of the Year [Vendor-side]’ category at the DataIQ Awards 2023.
Iconic British drinks brand Twinings has chosen Wolfenden to lead its affiliate marketing strategy, as part of a wider long-term plan to further elevate its awareness as a leading health and wellbeing drinks brand.
Twinings, a 300-year-old company founded in London by the Twining family, is on a mission to make wellbeing enjoyable and accessible to everyone. Read more.
Leeds-based software development specialists, NewRedo, has decided to take a turn in direction, after Co-Founder Royd Brayshay has become the sole shareholder and CEO of the company.
Royd and his previous Co-Director and fellow Co-Founder, Phill Luby have worked together over the last 13 years to establish the business, which offers expert consultancy services, bespoke IT systems and software via an Agile Delivery method – to help their clients gain business-focused, cloud-first technological solutions. Read more here.
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Mike Guy (pictured with GRM Digital Founder Nej Gakenji) joins the company with over a decade’s experience in digital transformation and strategy. Coming from MMT Digital, Mike specialised in delivering strategic client services for digital transformation initiatives in both the public and private sectors, but especially focused on the transport industry. Mike boasts a broad range of experience in facilitating programmes of work to define and deliver equitable digital experiences, conversion uplifts and enterprise level programmes of continuous improvement. Read more here.
Custom designed and built, with visual podcasting in mind, the studio offers cutting-edge equipment in a setting which is one of a kind in Yorkshire. Read more.
Clear Horizon Digital, a Leeds-based software agency, today announced in January it has officially become a BigCommerce Agency Partner. As a member of the BigCommerce Partner Program, Clear Horizon Digital will now be able to offer clients fully supported custom ecommerce platforms powered by BigCommerce, a leading open SaaS commerce platform for fast-growing and established brands.
Yorkshire-based Time for Phonics receives prestigious accreditation from the Department for Education and is now listed on the government website as a validated phonics programme
Yorkshire-based educational publishing entrepreneur Heather McAvan has led a team to receive a prestigious accreditation from the Department of Education to become an approved provider of a phonics scheme for schools. Read more here.
Yorkshire-based Ascentys is borne from Alzheimer's research UK funding. In partnership with Durham University and Hywel Dda University Health Board, it has successfully acquired rounds of funding from Innovate UK, including its highly coveted SMART award for world leading innovation anticipated to have the highest impact on the UK economy. It has also received multi-million-pound international investment interest.
Its share of the £25 million government funding has been set aside for the development and piloting of a state-of-the-art videogame with the potential to substantially enhance current NHS support for the disease, which represents one of global society's greatest healthcare challenges, with no cure. Read more here.
High-quality residential and dementia care organisation Ideal Carehomes has partnered with search marketing agency Wolfenden to implement a multichannel digital marketing strategy - spanning PPC, paid social and SEO – to further its already significant recent growth.
With 32 care homes across Yorkshire, the Northwest and Midlands & Leicestershire, Ideal Carehomes – headquartered in Leeds – has tasked the local agency to support the growth of new care home locations, as well as reflecting the exceptional and unique care the brand offers through its digital marketing messaging. Read more here.
The two recruits bring extensive experience in their specialist areas of SEO and pay-per-click and paid media advertising. Senior SEO Executive Priya Mistry joined the Bobble Digital team in August, moving from a previous Marketing Manager role at Peterborough-based fleet management firm, Fleet Serve. Guy Mains also joined the team this month as Senior Paid Media Manager after specialising in pay-per-click and paid media advertising for over ten years. Read more here.
Dell Technologies and the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) were the first primary members of Responsible Computing, alongside Slingshot Simulations. Read more
Local Cyber Security Consultancy Supports Leeds Digital Festival as Associate Sponsors for the Third Year Running
CSP (Cyber Security Partners) are proud to renew their sponsorship again for Leeds Digital Festival 2022 this year. This is a great occasion to celebrate technology and digital culture under many aspects, ranging from fintech, social media, general business advice to coding. Leeds Digital Festival (LDF) is a collaboration of organisations that host events within Leeds to showcase the City’s digital culture within the digital sector. Read more.
Building on its commitment towards making a difference and contributing to a fairer society, the international IT services business Netcompany has streamlined its traditional recruitment process, with an aim of recruiting as many as 30 new Leeds-based technology delivery staff at the Leeds Digital Careers Festival on 15 September. Read more here.
The partnership means that organisations can now benefit from combining The Data City and Dealroom.co data to have the most comprehensive information for firms researching the high-tech growth market. It has particular relevance for corporate finance professionals who are looking for acquisition targets in niche sectors with The Data City reducing the usually weeks-long search process to under a minute. Read more here.
The award-winning agency specialises in media-focused digital marketing, and works with clients in a range of sectors to generate digital word of mouth through digital marketing strategy, paid social media, PPC, SEO and video advertising.
Stewart Boutcher will deliver a breakout session at this year’s Hero Conf, which is due to take place in London on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th July 2022.
Titled ‘Ad Fraud: Your Hidden Enemy & How to Beat It’, Stewart’s presentation will educate participants about what ad fraud really is, and how it affects not only digital ads, but also has an impact across all related digital marketing activities Read below for more information.....
New research by Leeds-based data consultancy The Data City with CBI Economics has mapped the impact and activity of 16 key sectors which play a role within the whole UK net-zero economy. By developing new RTICs (Real-Time Industrial Classifications), a snapshot of 16,000 companies was identified within these 16 sectors, alongside unique scorecards which evaluate the transition of 374 local authority areas in eight metrics around energy, economy and emissions. The Data City and CBI Economics believe this analysis can better inform UK climate action goals by offering an improved level of insight not given by the current Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, which has not been updated since 2007. Read more in Features.
European children’s retailer Vertbaudet, has chosen digital marketing agency, Wolfenden, to manage its UK-focused PPC account, supporting the French-founded brand to strengthen its position in the UK market.
Following a competitive pitch process, Wolfenden was appointed on the strength of its PPC offering, the team’s strong experience within the children and baby retail space as well as the proposed proactive and data-led strategy that looks to maximise wider marketing activity through PPC, too. Read more below....
Well-known handbag and accessories brand Fiorelli has appointed digital marketing agency Wolfenden to implement a fresh paid media strategy to coincide with the recent launch of its new Shopify website, supporting the brand towards its financial targets.
Leeds-based Wolfenden will build Fiorelli’s brand presence and consumer base across PPC, paid social advertising and affiliate marketing, all informed by Wolfenden’s data & analytics insights. Read more in Features.
Over the past year, the boutique team has grown from five to 10, and the agency has launched a dedicated mobile app development team. Having previously specialised in working with professional services, FMCG and arts, the agency has also expanded its client base into the fast-growing Fintech sector, with clients including new-to-the-market fidomoney, plus other established financial organisations. Read more in Features.
Whilst well-known US firms like SpaceX and Blue Origin have taken the headlines recently, the UK space industry has also seen growth in its space technology sector, from new launch sites, to improved satellites, to developing manufacturing facilities in space.
This growth has seen increased funding into the sector as it gains attention. From venture capital to government grants, finance coming into the sector has created many new startups and allowed existing firms to develop new products and markets. However, in common with many industry sectors, it can be difficult to map how many firms there are in the space sector and where they are located.
The latest round of investments will enable the business to further scale-up its operations with these strategic collaborations. It is the third investment for Vet-AI from Correlation. Vet-AI has now attracted a combined total investment of £12.6m from several strategic partners since launching in 2019. See more below.....
The Leeds Digital Festival "mini-fest" takes place on 25 to 27 April, bringing three days of sustainable tech content, the first instalment of #LeedsDigi22 - with the second to follow on 19 - 30 September.
The mini-fest kicks off with '5 Hard Truths about the Road to Net Zero' at 12 noon until 2 p.m. on 25 April, h
Organisers of the new Leeds Digital Charity Ball have hailed the sale of tickets and sponsorship as a great success and have put out a call for auction prizes.
The new event, to be held at the Queen’s Hotel on April 28th, is aimed at bringing the City’s tech community together and raising valuable funds for the Leeds Community Foundation. Read more below...
Photograph shows Kate Hainsworth, Leeds Community Foundation.
In a nutshell, the core content covers the knowledge, understanding and application of contexts,
concepts, theories and principles relating to the following areas: 1. Problem solving 2. Introduction to programming 3. Emerging issues and impact of digital 4. Legislation and regulatory requirements 5. Business context 6. Data 7. Digital environments 8. Security
The students are in need of companies to allow them to complete their industry placement for 9 weeks, which involves including them in projects and allowing them to learn on the job.
If you would like to help someone to enter the world of tech, please contact g.ferguson@notredamecoll.ac.uk
A graduate of Newcastle University, Sadie arrives at Burendo with more than two decades of experience in corporate finance, restructuring and as a Finance Director. She is the latest high profile recruit to an almost 150-strong team at Burendo, which specialises in empowering large organisations and SMEs to improve their agile adoption and delivery processes. Read more on our Features page.
Matt Elcock joins the company with more than a decade of experience in building high growth, innovative technology companies. Matt founded Push Doctor in 2013 and was instrumental in the firm’s recent buyout by Square Health. Push Doctor serves almost six million patients with digital consultations across hundreds of GP practices and had industry-leading integrations into NHS services. Prior to this, Matt held senior roles at MusicMagpie and Gap.
Click and Protect (C&P) offer various Cyber Security Services, to protect and secure businesses against potential cyber-attacks and much more. The team at C&P understand how important it is for their customers to have a quick and efficient process, when determining what they need for their business and employees. For example; businesses who are either looking to protect their data and customer’s data appropriately, can use C&P or if your business needs to be certified i.e. Cyber Essentials or ISO27001, we can do that too.
Click and Protect is provided by the experts at Cyber Security Partners Ltd, as their bespoke package for small to medium size businesses. CSP have years of experience in helping both large and small organisations address their cyber security concerns with practical, pragmatic, and tailored advice. Read more here.
Amidst a tech talent shortage, Fruition IT recruitment consultancy awards coding bursaries to future software developers
Fruition IT, the Leeds-based technology recruitment consultancy, has announced the winners of its bursary to support the living costs for two aspiring technology professionals while they undertake a software coding course. Eloise Chilvers and Max Parker have each received a £1,500 bursary to kickstart their tech careers as they learn the skills needed to become junior software developers.
In partnership with Northcoders, one of the UK’s leading independent providers of training programmes, the bursaries can be used in conjunction with the fully funded Northcoders Excellence Scholarship Scheme which is a skills bootcamp in coding and is part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Plan for Jobs. Read more below.
A Leeds-based multi-national web development and digital marketing agency has secured a new client in a six-figure deal with American-based golf buggy manufacturer, Club Car.
GRM Digital, founded in 2009 by Nej Gakenyi has been appointed to support the 63-year-old manufacturing giant as its dedicated digital marketing agency and IT infrastructure partner. The company will manage Club Car’s website, online presence, and user experience to achieve digital growth and generate quality online traffic. It will also help Club Car to expand its presence in China.
Global beauty brand NYK1, has appointed search marketing agency Wolfenden to handle its digital growth across channels - including paid search, organic social media strategy, digital PR and affiliates activity, increasing brand awareness and generating a consistent uplift in site revenue.
NYK1, renowned in the industry for its breakthrough products such as Nailbond Strong Glue and Lash Force Growth Serum, is the number one worldwide seller on Amazon across a range of beauty products. Wolfenden’s appointment will further strengthen online revenue by increasing ROI directly through the NYK1 website. Read more here.
Click fraud protection specialists, Beacon, have won a top industry prize at this year’s Prolific North Tech Awards.
The firm, which has offices on Dock Street in Leeds, scooped the ‘Best Martech Innovation Award’ for its optimisation and analytics platform, which is designed to provide marketers with better quality and more accurate data from their online advertising campaigns. Read more here.
https://leeds.tech/beacon-crowned-best-martech-innovation-at-prolific-north-tech-awards/
Umii acts as a preventative measure to loneliness by providing a safe place for students to develop meaningful friendships. The app connects students with people across campus, who they may have never met before, based on things like their interests, course types and society preferences. Georgia Wheadon and her team aim to reduce the number of people who feel lonely at university by being there from the beginning. By making it as easy as possible for a student to meet people like them, Umii is there before a student even starts feeling lonely. Scroll to read more.
Burendo provides clients in the UK and overseas with experts skilled in tackling software development challenges in short sprints before rapidly reviewing the results to determine the next step in the project. Last month, the consultancy triumphed in the International category at the Leeds Digital Festival Awards 2021 following its work to design and deliver an agile operating model to US pharmaceutical giant McKesson. Read more here.
Co-Founder and CEO of Leeds-based Panintelligence, Zandra Moore has had an impressive career in the technology sector spanning over 20 years. Her infectious passion for helping businesses drive performance with data and analytics has seen her become well known in the UK and European technology and business industries in recent years.
Zandra is now making her mark in the national and global tech field after recently receiving several recognitions in tech industry awards. Most recently, she was shortlisted for ‘Role Model of The Year: Tech & Services SME’ and ‘IT Leader of the Year’ categories in the UK’s Women in Tech Excellence Awards in which she was up against thousands of entrants. Read more here.
Northern digital agency Fablr has won a new brief with recruitment agency Ernest Hunter Green to create a brand refresh and a new website design and build.
Fablr, which has offices in Leeds and Manchester, has already completed initial branding and messaging workshops with the senior team at Ernest Hunter Green and will be delivering a new, modern and dynamic website. Read more here.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., 7th September, 2021 – Global data centre solutions provider, Service Express, announced its acquisition of The ICC Group, a data centre services company based in the U.K. The two companies will combine decades of technical expertise to deliver comprehensive multivendor services in the U.K. Since 1993, Service Express has continued broadening its portfolio of services and achieving double-digit annual revenue growth. The partnership with The ICC Group brings an expansive hardware distribution network, multivendor experience, and an organisation of talented people. Read more here.
Leading click fraud protection specialist, Beacon, has been confirmed as the exclusive sponsor of a conference dedicated to paid social media advertising taking place in Brighton this month.
Beacon will provide sponsorship for the Paid Social Show, a fringe event hosted by brightonSEO, which will be held at Brighton Centre on Wednesday 8th September. Read more here.
Trio Media has launched a new website for print and display design solutions business, Leach.
Leach is a market-leading print house that counts All Saints, Marks & Spencer, and Peloton as its customers. The Huddersfield-headquartered business develops bespoke, large-format display products for global customers, including graphics, lightboxes, and acoustic solutions for multiple sectors – including retail and events. Read more below.
Leeds digital marketing technology firm, Beacon, has been named as a finalist in the ‘Tech Company of the Year – Small’ category at this year’s UK Business Tech Awards.
The UK Business Tech Awards celebrate the UK’s finest tech businesses and reward innovative and exceptional applications of technology to transform and grow businesses.
The young company has created a wellbeing team of five RapidSpike employees to put healthy high performance, resilience, and wellbeing at the heart of RapidSpike in a bid to enable each team member to excel and the business to thrive. The business has also created a dedicated mental health guide to empower employees and give them resources needed to stay mentally strong and healthy while helping develop RapidSpike’s journey. Read more here.
A pledge to become carbon neutral by 2050 and half emissions by 2030 has seen Leeds-headquartered Bailie Group invited to 10 Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, as part of a select group of small and micro companies from across the UK.
CEO Fergus Bailie and COO Philip Walter made the trip to the capital to coincide with the launch of the Government’s Together for our Planet ‘Business Climate Leaders’ campaign – which urges small businesses to cut their emissions to net zero, no later than 2050. Read more here.
With technology speeding ahead, The ICC Group are growing and expanding to keep up, adding new solutions to complement their existing Managed Services offerings, that will add value to their clients. With home working more prevalent, and new ransomware strain attacks increasing by the day, effective and managed security at the end point, is needed now more than ever, to reduce the risk, time to respond and mitigate breaches.
The ICC Group are proud to partner with leading Managed EDR firm Custodian360 to provide new and existing customers with robust and effective endpoint detection and response to lower the risk of attacks propagating on infected end points. Custodian360 are also pleased to partner with The ICC Group, to enable this extended Managed Services offering to customers. Together they plan to accelerate the ability to detect and respond to the increasing volume of endpoint threats, which is critical for any organisation. Read more here.
‘Employer Guide to Digital Placements' on Thursday 3rd June 10am – 11am on Teams.
If you are considering taking a Barnsley College digital student work placement within your company but need more advice and guidance to help you decide if it is right for you, join us to find out more and hear from some local employers.
Collette Evans from Picture Perfect and James Shaw from Barnsley Hospital will share their experience and the benefit of taking on placement learners.
We’ll cover a number of things, from what a good student placement looks like, to what health and safety checks are needed, to facilities and resources needed.
For more information and details of how to join the conversation, please email me on g.mccarthy@barnsley.ac.uk
Photograph provided by Barnsley College.
Video interviewing software solutions provider, Shortlister, has appointed Paul Dickens as Chief Operating Officer as part of its bold plans for fast-tracked growth.
Encompassing all aspects of the business, Paul’s role will see him set the framework for strategic expansion at the York-headquartered firm as it steps up operations, including developing the commercial team and ensuring customer success through product direction. Read more here.
The Festival, which has been running since 2016, saw over 400 events attended by 45,000 people during two Covid-interrupted festivals in 2020. This year, they are holding a smaller, curated festival of just 12 events starting on the 27th of April until 29th April, then returning in September with the usual two-week open-platform format, where everyone is invited to put on an event. Over 300 events are expected in September.
Hosts include Crisp discussing The Rise of Safety Tech, Leeds2023 looking at the collaboration between artists and the tech world, Leeds City Region LEP on the Future of Work, BJSS discussing their international growth and Credera looking at a post-cookie future. Other events are being presented by organisations such as Asda, Leeds City College and Morrisons. Read more here.
Headquartered in Manchester, Purplephish currently provides training and insights to over 100,000 end-users in over 50 mid-market and enterprise clients. The acquisition signals Boxphish’s ambition for growth by bringing increased revenue, staff numbers and customers into the enlarged company. Read more here.
Elland-headquartered cloud technology disruptor Vapour has launched a solution using SD-WAN technologies to protect UK businesses from the overlooked security risks associated with hybrid working.
Deployed as a software licence – with three levels of support available on a ‘price per user per month’ basis – the solution facilitates endpoint visibility and management, secure remote access for employees irrespective of location, and automated threat intelligence and response. Read more here.
Vapour CEO Tim Mercer pictured.
The event is part of Leeds Digital Festival 2021 and will include speakers from Morrisons and AWS. Read more in Events.
At Leeds Digital Festival, Leeds City Region, in association with Oracle, is bringing together a panel of experts to discuss the impact of the pandemic, the effect on the property industry and what the future workplace will look like. How will this new environment change companies future location decisions and what will be the impact for the region? Read more here.
Cyber Security Partners (CSP) have a new service to assist organisations in being secure, compliant and protected against cyber threats that can have detrimental affects on a business. So, what is a Cyber MOT?
Cyber Security Partner’s ‘Cyber MOT’ service, is a high-level overview of an organisation’s security posture and IT Systems. This includes analysing the areas that can affect the IT and Cyber Security of an organisation, such as; personnel and physical elements.
Areas covered in a Cyber MOT review include; Employee Awareness, IT Environment, Security of Data, Device Security/BYOD, Software Vetting, Policies, Passwords, Physical Security, Employee Security and Ongoing Security. All these areas play a key part in an organisation’s security posture. Read more here.
Yorkshire-headquartered tech firm Every has recorded its highest performing year to date – investing a seven-figure sum across the business, doubling its workforce to 65 and seeing 10% of its existing 3,800-client base invest in its education-focused HR solution.
Specialising in providing compliance and HR management software solutions to the education sector, Every is aiming to further increase its employee headcount by 77% over the next two years – boosting its staff numbers to 115. The company also invested £1m across the business – enhancing and growing its IT development and sales teams, providing more staff training, recruiting additional personnel, and creating specialist customer engagement teams to support product roll-out. Read more here.
In a first for borrower wellbeing, ilumoni the brand new, fully FCA authorised app, helps its users to understand and manage their borrowing better and is now available for free through its private beta.
ilumoni provides users with rich insights into how they borrow and repay, including how much they owe, how long it will take to repay their borrowing and how much their borrowing will cost in interest, all based on their current borrowing behaviour. Read more here.
Disruptive cloud technology specialist Vapour recently made a number of team changes to support the company’s progress towards £7m turnover.
Long-standing operations lead Carol McGrotty (pictured) – who has been with the business almost since its inception – has moved into the new role of Head of Transformation. The promotion – in what marks her 20th year in the telecoms sector – will see her assume responsibility for all aspects of Vapour’s service delivery. Managing the technical, field and administrative teams, she will define the operating model and capabilities required to run successful TechOps and business support functions, in an ever-changing technical climate. Read more here.
Calls9 is a digital transformation agency changing the way that professional services businesses operate. Working with both startups and established firms, they develop digital platforms that enable new business models, better ways of working and improved customer experiences. The company is delighted to announce the arrival of two new members to its Board of Directors. Paul Smith and David Pearce are well-known figures in the region’s business sector and will be adding their extensive industry experience and leadership to the digital transformation of professional services businesses. Read more here.
The Yorkshire-headquartered firm has been appointed as a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (Microsoft CSP), having signed a new deal with global distributor Tech Data. Read more here.
The partnership will spotlight quizzing as a force for good, bringing people together virtually to boost morale, mental health and social engagement at a critical time.
The Chase star Paul Sinha and leading quiz tech company SpeedQuizzing have joined forces to encourage more people to take up quizzing, in order to deliver a timely boost to mental health and social engagement. Paul, is currently hosting his own primetime quiz show for ITV called Paul Sinha’s TV Showdown featuring a host of well-known celebrities. Read more here.
eviFile’s agile digital data workflow solution is currently used by major contractors and service providers across the UK and has provided ground-breaking solutions for Network Rail, SPL, United Utilities, and Drax.
Founded in 2018, Cambridge-headquartered AI company Nodes and Links is backed by world-leading investors alongside prominent universities. Read more here.
Leeds-headquartered software and security specialist IDS Group has been accredited with the Government-backed Cyber Essentials Plus scheme certification.
Part of the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy — developed alongside the Information Assurance for Small and Medium Enterprises (IASME) — the endorsement demonstrates IDS Group’s commitment to protecting its products, services and clients against online security threats.
The Cyber Essentials Plus certificate is further supported by leading industry bodies including the Federation of Small Businesses and the CBI and is a government requirement for many contracts within the NHS, MOD and public sector. Read more.....
An award-winning social media agency has increased its client retention rate whilst also saving ‘heaps of time’, thanks to Beacon.
Founded in 2014, Shoo Social Media creates results-driven Facebook and Instagram advertising strategies to help its clients increase brand awareness and generate a strong Return on Investment [ROI]. With a vast amount of time consumed by reporting and analysis of advertising spend, the West Yorkshire-based firm wanted to provide in-depth analysis of client campaigns and enable the team to make well-informed decisions on ad spend.
Using Beacon, Shoo is now saving hours of valuable time on monthly reporting, enabling the team to add more value to each client with enhanced campaign planning and measurement, increasing retention as a result. Read more here.
Noel Kennedy has been recruited to the newly-created role at the Horsforth-based company, which designs, manufactures and installs digital, LED and retail displays for a range of clients across the UK and Europe.
UXG Managing Director Alistair Wright: “We’re delighted to have brought Noel on board as we set ourselves up for what is set to be a big year for UXG. His experience, knowledge and network of contacts are second-to-none, and I’m looking forward to working closely with him to build our presence within existing sectors and explore opportunities to expand into new markets.”
Read more: https://leeds.tech/digital-solutions-provider-uk-global-uxg-appoints-head-of-sales-and-marketing/
An innovative technology business based in Leeds has been chosen to advise the Government on a new code of practice to regulate competition in the industry.
Beacon, which has offices on Dock Street, has become part of the Digital Markets Taskforce [DMT], put together by the Competitions and Market Authority [CMA] to advise the government on regulating the behaviour of platforms that currently dominate digital markets, such as Google and Facebook.
This comes following growing concerns in the government and across the digital marketing industry about the unfair advantage of tech giants and will see the dedicated Digital Markets Unit work closely with regulators including Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office to introduce and enforce a new code.
Read more: https://leeds.tech/beacon-chosen-to-advise-government-on-industry-regulation/
The digital divide has been exacerbated by coronavirus, with many school children lacking the means to join online lessons. With Leeds now under Tier 3 restrictions and thousands of pupils likely to be self-isolating in the months ahead, there is an urgent need for those from more challenging social backgrounds to be properly equipped to learn remotely.
More information about Leeds Tech Angels, including how to donate tech kit, can be found at tech-angels.net
Wolfenden strengthens board and makes two senior hires
Digital marketing agency Wolfenden has appointed Meghan Burton as Operations Director and Emma Barnes as Senior Data & Insights Strategist, in two senior appointments which have seen the agency widen and strengthen its offering.
Meghan Burton joins from Epiphany (now Jaywing) where she was most recently Production Director, having also been the agency’s Director of SEO for over four years.
Emma Barnes also joins the now 31-strong agency from her previous role as Senior Analytics Strategist at Edit.
Photograph is Ben and Daisy Wolfenden.
BUILD is a new entrepreneurship programme from Leeds City Region's MIT REAP (Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program), and we've just opened applications for early stage founders within Leeds City Region with business ideas that mix profit and purpose.
We're on the lookout for people who have brilliant business ideas to solve the big problems that matter to our community and to our world. Successful BUILD applicants will benefit from the shared knowledge of, and connections to, world class experts and over 30 of Leeds City Region’s most successful entrepreneurs. Read more on our News page here.
Starts 18 January 2021.
Duke Studios are offering students who are desk-based creatives 50% off co-working space, which means the cost is only £57.50 per month.
Working alongside like-minded folk in a safe yet inspiring space is crucial to creative learning, and some students will have missed that so far this year.
The contract on offer is a rolling monthly one and includes free meeting space as well as discounts at Sheaf St Bar & Cafe.
Any student who is a 'clean-use, desk-based creative' is warmly welcomed to contact hello@duke-studios.com to find out more and/or book a tour of the premises.
The re-branding and change of name of this Leeds agency pays tribute to its Founder Ben Wolfenden. When Ben started the company in 2011, he had already built and sold an agency to WPP in South East Asia. Wife Daisy joined him in the business in 2015, since when the company has doubled in size and now has a team of 26.
Wolfenden's main specialism is search marketing, which has produced strong financial growth this year and surpassed £1m in turnover, with revenue in recent months having increased by 45%. Quite and achievement in a year which is exceptional by other standards, too! Clients include Seasalt Cornwall, Kiddies Kingdom, Terrys Fabrics and Lakelovers.
Founded by Joshua Atkins in 2008 at the age of 15 after working on Messenger Plus Live! plugins and skins, Jublo has since grown into a digital technology company and expanded into global language translations in 2016. As a certified UK translation and digital technology company, we work with over 160 people across 39 countries and several time zones.Joshua previously worked as Head of Technology at Force24, before joining Sky Betting and Gaming as a Senior Engineer & Solutions Architect and moved into the full time role of Managing Director from April 2019. The company recently welcomed Laura Kenny on board to head up the marketing team at Jublo, as well as moving into Bruntwood’s SciTech Platform. Exciting times.Jublo is looking forward to getting more involved in the Leeds Tech community.
Previous visitors will notice we've been busy making a few improvements. We would love to know what you think and as we continue to develop the platform we welcome any suggestions you may have. Start the conversation with hello@leeds.tech
Kane Fulton of Tech Nation reveals how the Leeds Digital Festival team is a leading example of the resourcefulness, resilience and dynamism of the tech community in the Leeds City Region. You can read the details over at Tech Nation.
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Nic Redfern, Finance Director of Know Your Money, has identified Leeds' rising status as a Fintech hub, recognising the City as a viable alternative to London for those companies established in the sector or starting up.
With the uncertainties which remain post-Brexit, Nic recognises that, in the right location, tenacious tech companies can survive the initial years and thrive in the longer term.
