Former professional footballer and current television pundit Rio Ferdinand has announced his investment in the Manchester-based tech platform, DeliveryApp, a move that signifies a huge milestone for the team and the business as a whole. An already passionate investor in the technology market, Rio aims to support DeliveryApp’s brand scale and awareness, drive revenue growth through targeted campaigns, and leverage his extensive business network for strategic introductions. What is DeliveryApp? DeliveryApp’s founder and Chair, Lance Jones, developed the tech platform to address persistent issues within the logistics sector. By merging technology with a commitment to fair driver treatment and increased customer transparency,…

According to Dave Adamson, CTO at Espria, the modern contact centre is the driving force behind customer experience, not PR and Marketing. There is an irony that in 2023, we confidently and enthusiastically talk about metaverse brand experiences and community engagement. However, we still need help to make it easy for the customer to pick up the phone to speak with us. A term that’s less familiar than Web3 today is CCaaS: contact centre as a service. Yet despite its anonymity, it quietly underpins the reputation of any customer-facing organisation. Whilst telecoms communications touch points were levelled down during the pandemic,…

One of the UK’s leading independent fostering agency, Banya, is holding a drop in session in Eastbourne on Wednesday July 12.  Independent foster agency Banya is inviting anyone interested in finding out more about becoming a foster carer to visit their drop-in session at Giorgios Coffee House, 2-4 Cornfield Road, Eastbourne between 7pm and 9pm on Wednesday July 12. The drop-in will be run by supervising social worker Madeleine Andrews. She said: “We want to raise awareness of a career in fostering and to help highlight the positive impact it has on both children’s lives and society at large. There…

Northwest based ethical property developer Integritas Property Group (IPG) has secured a £10 million development loan from Maslow Capital to fund the next stage of IPG’s residential development at The Lyceum, Greater Manchester. Following the completion of groundworks and foundations, the loan from leading provider of real estate development finance Maslow Capital will provide working capital for the next phase of the high-end development situated in Eccles. All 82 units have been purchased leasehold after they were released for investment in February 2023, with the first expected completion date set to be within Q1 of 2024. IPG took over The Lyceum, Greater Manchester development in 2020 after the previous…

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you’ve probably identified an area of your business where technology or software could add value, offer customers a better experience, or simply provide better efficiency. Now, the next step is to buy commercial ‘off-the-shelf’ software or build a custom solution. In this article, Jose San Miguel, Managing Director at white label ticketing platform Nuweb Group offers businesses expert advice on how to decide between buying ready-made software solutions or starting from scratch. As with most things in life, there are positives and negatives to both depending on your exact needs and budget. However, going down the…

Author: Sue Tumelty, Founder and Executive Director of HR Dept The daily barrage of comments in the news about TV presenter Phillip Schofield admitting to having an extramarital affair shows no sign of abating. MPs even summoned the bosses of ITV to appear before a committee to give answers. While ITV declared it had investigated rumours of the relationship between Schofield and a much younger colleague, it emerged afterwards that this was false. Personal situations like this are always difficult, and it is why we advise following the rule of “assume nothing, believe no one and check everything” during any investigation.…

The UK faces a construction apprenticeship “crisis” after new figures revealed just one in five of the sector’s small business owners plan to take one on this year. The statistics, taken from a survey of tradesperson directory Checkatrade’s member base* shows the appetite among SMEs for hiring apprentices is currently low, with just 20 percent planning on doing so over the coming year. The figure for firms employing between 10-19 employees was as low as nine percent, while for sole traders it was 17 percent. The stats make for concerning reading when viewed alongside Government figures that show apprenticeship starts…

Many businesses are currently concerned with the slower rate of economic growth, traditionally slow levels of growth come with recession rumours and sometimes a starker reality. Despite lower levels of growth in some industries, across the UK the tech industry is outpacing other sectors when it comes to growth. In fact, it’s expanding over two and a half times faster than the rest of the UK’s economy, with newly registered tech companies appearing at an average rate of 22%.  By inspecting this highly competitive industry, it’s clear to see that certain regions seem to be attracting higher levels of tech…

Launched in 2020, SpareMyTime is the UK’s fastest-growing Virtual Assistant agency. that provides a wide range of practical, virtual assistance solutions to help alleviate the stresses of modern life. Since its first year, it has quickly grown into a team of 20 talented Virtual Assistant professionals who are predominantly based across the UK with members of staff able to enjoy the flexibility of working from other countries when it suits them. The company offers support with virtual admin, virtual bookkeeping, and virtual digital and social media marketing. SpareMyTime has seen 2x year-on-year revenue growth to date, and it has increased…

International Women in Engineering Day is upon us again and reminds us to celebrate the fantastic women excelling in their fields. Over the last decade, engineering and broader STEM has been a much more attractive proposition for young women embarking on their careers than ever before. But we must do more to create balance and encourage more women into the sector. What better way to do this than to meet the amazing women doing incredible jobs in the sector to hear about their experiences? Meet: Holly Palmer, Contracts Manager at Alpheus Environmental What is your current role, and how did…

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is recommending organisations to start using privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) to share people’s personal information safely, securely and anonymously. These types of technologies open unprecedented opportunities for organisations to harness the power of personal data through innovative and trustworthy applications, by allowing them to share, link and analyse people’s personal information without having access to it. PETs can be used to share anonymised personal information to detect and prevent financial crimes and related harms such as fraud, money laundering, and cybercrimes. The ICO has launched new PETs guidance, which is aimed at data protection officers…

Good design is a concept defined by industrial designer Dieter Rams’s principles, ensuring that a product is useful, understandable and innovative amongst other things, while at the same time, involving as little design as possible. Ultimately, designers strive for good design, and as Dieter Rams has said, “You cannot understand good design if you do not understand people.” Rams’s ten principles highlight that good design: Is innovative Makes a product useful Is aesthetic Makes a product understandable Is unobtrusive Is honest Is long-lasting Is thorough down to the last detail Is environmentally friendly Involves as little design as possible Mads…

Analysis of English and devolved government data on the NHS crisis from leading independent consultancy Broadstone shows that UK waiting listings have grown by 3.6 million since the start of the pandemic – an increase of 65%. As at March 2023 – the latest up-to-date figures available across all four nations – 9.2 million are now waiting for treatment. It is a number that has risen from 5.6 million just before the pandemic, and by 1.1 million over the past year as the public health system struggles to cope with demand. England accounts for the lions’ share of the list,…

London-based manufacturing specialist, Get It Made, has launched a new 2023 grant to support the potential of women in innovation and to boost the growth of female employment within UK industry. To mark International Women in Engineering Day on 23rd June, the initiative is tailored exclusively to female-led, engineering, design, tech and manufacturing enterprises, including start-ups, with the grant recipient set to receive £5,000. In addition to financial support, Get It Made will also be offering its expertise to help guide young female-led businesses through the challenges facing any young company in a challenging economic environment. First launched last year,…

All businesses need customers – fact! Attracting new customers takes considerable time, effort and money. So, once you’ve gained a customer, you should do everything in your power to keep them coming back for more! In this article CRM solutions expert Avrion offers useful tips for strategies for customer retention in CRM. What are the three pillars of customer retention? Before we delve into the strategies for Customer Retention in CRM, it is worth spending a moment looking at the fundamentals. According to The UK Ecommerce Association, the three pillars of customer retention and ongoing loyalty are: providing simplicity building trust ensuring…

Great British Expos is excited to remind business professionals and entrepreneurs that the highly anticipated Twickenham Expo is only 2 days away. Taking place at the iconic Twickenham Rugby Stadium on 22 June 2023, this event offers a prime opportunity to connect, network, and conduct business. With more than 60 exhibitors and hundreds of delegates expected to attend, now is the time to secure your place and join this extraordinary gathering. This year, for the first time, Great British Expos has chosen the illustrious Twickenham Rugby Stadium as a venue, adding a touch of prestige to the occasion. Against the…