Zipporah Among The Best In International Business

Zipporah has been announced as a finalist for Cardiff’s inaugural Business Awards, a new and exciting event on the Cardiff business calendar which aims to recognise and celebrate the best companies in the city.

The awards, which are backed by organisations including Natwest, City of Cardiff Council and the Cardiff Business Club, will focus on the successes of businesses and entrepreneurs from a variety of backgrounds. Among them, Zipporah, who have been shortlisted for the awards Best International Business category following a successful year of overseas trade.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, founder of the Wales Fast Growth 50 awards, Ken Poole, Head of Economic Development at City of Cardiff Council and Barry Evans of NatWest Bank selected Zipporah as a finalist – and now Zipporah will go head to head against 3 other international category finalists, with the winner to be announced at a glittering ceremony in Cardiff City Hall on 18th September.

Scott Burton, Zipporah Director, praised the new awards night commenting

“It’s great to see Cardiff developing in business. Over the last decade it’s really accelerated in commercial activity, it’s become a real centre of economic prosperity in the UK. It’s important to recognise and celebrate the contribution from it’s business  community, so we’re delighted the Cardiff Business Awards is taking on that responsibility. We’re sure they are going to do a great job in putting on a memorable night”.

The event itself is being organised by local company Grapevine Event Management. Its founder, Liz Brookes discussed her thoughts.

“We are delighted to announce our shortlist, which includes a host of talented businesses and individuals who have achieved significant commercial success and made Cardiff the thriving economic city it is today.

“We received many strong entries and it was very difficult to whittle the nominees down. However, we are delighted that our finalists demonstrate the talented business people and businesses that make Cardiff such a great place to work.”

Barry Evans, Regional Director at Natwest – the main sponsors of the awards – added:

“NatWest is delighted to be among the principal supporters of the Cardiff Business Awards. Cardiff is a vibrant city with a strong enterprise culture which we work hard to support. Our various initiatives designed to benefit the business community of the capital include the launch next year of an accelerator hub in association with social enterprise Entrepreneurial Spark.”

In addition to the award sponsors, a number of Cardiff’s entrepreneurial communications businesses such as Brighter Comms, Cleartech Live and Bluegg are also providing support for the event.

Those interested can read more about the Cardiff Business Awards here: http://cardiffbusinessawards.com/

The shortlisted companies and individuals are as follows:

• Creative and digital business of the year (sponsored by the University of South Wales): Atticus Digital; Effective Communication; Liberty Marketing; Yard Digital
• Entrepreneur of the year (sponsored by Cardiff Metropolitan University): Andrew Cooksley (ACT); Richard Theo (Activequote); Andrea Callanan (Sing and Inspire); Steve Dimmick
• Financial and professional services business of the year (sponsored by Welsh Government): Activequote; Deloitte; Eversheds; Quantum Advisory
• Green business of the year (sponsored by Wales Enviromental): ECO2; Fareshare; SMS plc; Wardell Armstrong
• International business of the year (sponsored by Brighter Comms): Colin Jones Clarke and Hartland; Genesis Biosciences; IQE PLC; Zipporah
• Retail business of the year (sponsored by Blake Morgan): Nata&Co; PA Black; Specsavers; Tiger Stores
• SME of the year (sponsored by Cardiff and Vale College): CPS Group; Liberty Marketing; Orchard Media; TB Davies
• Start-Up business of the year (sponsored by Cardiff Council): Action Petz, Compare my move, Crafty Devil, Tiger Stores, Trakcel
• Technology and innovation business of the year (sponsored by Cardiff University): Genesis Biosciences, IQE Plc, TrakCel, Yard Digital
• Tourism and leisure business of the year (sponsored by First Great Western): St David’s Hotel; Park Plaza; Cardiff Devils; Wales Millennium Centre
• Young businessperson of the year (sponsored by Eversheds): Nicholas de Figueiredo (Capital Law); Nick Saunders (Depot); Lloyd Morgan (Rockadove)

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Fraser Coast e-bookings go live!

Residents of Fraser Coast can now hire Council facilities and open spaces online thanks to Zipporah's new e-Booking system which was launched two weeks ago.

The project, which spanned 18 months saw Zipporah and Fraser Coast Council staff come together to design and implement a new resource, with a chief aim to streamline the Council's existing venue booking process.

Darren Everard, Councillor for Sport, Recreation, Open Spaces and Events shared his thoughts on aspects of the system he was looking forward to seeing in action.

“Bookings can be made for recreational activities, club meetings, weddings and other outdoor events. The system also has the facility to accept day or recurring bookings from registered users, and now customers will be able to check available dates, book the venue, make a payment and receive confirmation of the transaction.

Confident these elements would deliver a much improved service, the Councillor added his thoughts on taking processes online with Zipporah.

"It's a much more convenient option for customers who will now be able to save themselves a trip to our offices.” 

Zipporah Director, Scott Burton, who oversaw delivery of the system to Fraser Coast shared his delight at seeing another Australian council recognise Zipporah's systems for their cost saving and efficiency building worth.

"It's always a pleasure working with clients in Australia. They always have a clear idea of what they are looking to achieve. When we demonstrated our systems, Fraser Coast immediately knew they had found the platform they were looking for to help them achieve their goals. From there it was a very easy process to navigate. Now we're looking forward to seeing Fraser Coast enjoy big gains with our systems in place".

Zipporah's system for Fraser coast can be found at the council website - http://www.frasercoast.qld.gov.au

For more information on Zipporah's booking systems, call 02920 647048 or email sales@zipporah.co.uk

Make or Break: The UK's Digital Future

Question...What do Government Lords say should be seen as important a utility as water and electricity, and as prevalent in education as literacy and numeracy?

The answer, according to a report published late February by the UK Government... digital access and understanding.

The findings, concluded in the UK’s Digital Skills Committee report, came as the Chair of the Committee, Baroness Morgan, signalled the UK was now approaching a fork in the road in its digital decisions - with rapid technological change quickly approaching.

A situation, which Lords of the Committee were keen to point out, would leave the UK government with two choices.

On the one hand, a chance to "Seize the opportunity” and introduce a more accelerated approach to digital adoption.

On the other, presented with the option of “taking the foot off the pedal". Maintaining the status quo and the current takeup of digital practices.

Called "Make or Break: The UK's Digital Future", the report and its backers were clear in their view of which route to take – outlining the UK’s fragile position and present failure in addressing its significant digital skill shortage. Any incoming Government, the report claimed, urgently needs to resolve this.

While concerned, Baroness Morgan emphasised the decision posed an exciting opportunity for the UK, its economy, workforce and people at large.

Commenting on the impact of a widespread Government led digital agenda, the Committee Chair suggested the UK would see extensive benefits across society.

In its workforce, the UK would see the emergence of more jobs focused on digital skill and greater evolution of current roles. Preparation for these roles would start in primary education to equip children with relevant skills for later working life.

                                                          

The report found that teachers required further training, particularly up-skilling of longer serving teachers. A coding curriculum would be widely received, to ensure digital was taught alongside literacy and numeracy based subjects to meet the proportion of learners that would require digital skill in future jobs.

Lords commented that a digital agenda would see improved gender equality in work. Male dominated stem subjects and careers like science, mathematics and engineering, are often so because more girls opt out at GCSE, and from there are excluded. Baroness Morgan suggested this one track access needed to be changed to allow fairer access to women – and could be realised through digital. A process which could have a “transformative effect” on the UK’s economy.

The Committee’s findings on digital inclusion included a mention of how important a resource digital will be for everyone in the future. Likened to water and electricity, Morgan and fellow backers didn’t hold back, stressing this belief had to be a starting point going forward.

Obstacles would however need to be overcome. Including better digital training and access to groups across society, from the elderly to the impoverished and certain geographic regions across the UK.

Studies also found more needed to be invested into the UK’s 18-24 age group, who’s digital skill was not up to the Committee’s expectations.

The Committee's chair concluded her hopes for the report commenting

"This report is a wake-up call to whoever forms the next Government in May. Digital is everywhere, with digital skills now seen as vital life skills. It's obvious, however, that we’re not learning the right skills to meet our future needs. It's not a critique of the past. What we're saying is their needs to be a comprehensive digital agenda, led from the top, from the heart of government, with a renewed focus of activity".

It’s clear then that Digital as an agenda holds the key to countless advancements in society. Will the next government embrace it? We certainly hope so!