<p>NORTHERN TECH 100 T H E N O R T H ’ S F A S T E S T G R O W I N G T E C H C O M P A N I E S That was back in 2014. Within weeks of starting out in the store cupboard, developing a test and trial proposition with the company’s now tech director James Branton, and switching on their pay-per-click advertising, the leads started rolling in. He quickly realised that convenience was going to be their USP and set about capitalising on it. “We looked at how convenient the selling process was for sellers at that time and decided we could take that to a new level. Rather than getting customers to drive their car hundreds of miles, we could collect it from their doorstep. Rather than make them wait three days for payment, we’d pay them immediately with an online transfer.” Of course, an easy sale might sacrifice some of the money you could make but that's just part of the business, Marley says. “That’s the market we operate in. It’s not about getting the highest sale price possible for your car, but it’s more convenient through us, and everybody knows that – we all know where we stand in the market.” The thing that powers all this for the end user is the tech the Car Buying Group has developed. Getting that right was their number one priority before going live with the online platform. “Our biggest asset, our IP if you like, is the valuations engine we’ve developed. It’s a living, breathing organism, constantly interrogating data, pricing and what we’re buying.” Continued on page 3... The Car Buying Group might be one of the youngest companies on the Northern Tech 100 league table, but it’s also the fastest growing. VICKI SHIEL A store cupboard in Bradford surrounded by toilet rolls might not seem like a fitting environment for a promising young startup. But that’s where The Car Buying Group began operating in 2014. “It really was a startup story,” says managing director Tom Marley. “I remortgaged my house, my parents remortgaged theirs — the lot.” The idea came from spotting an opportunity in the online space for car sales. Tom and a few friends discussed a large deal that had recently taken place between We Buy Any Car and British Car Auctions and realised there seemed to be plenty of room in the market. “We looked at that deal, knew that online car purchasing was still in its infancy, that there was only one big monopoly player, and that they were only taking up between 5% and 10% of the marketplace, so it was ripe for someone to come in and give them a run for their money. We realised we could probably make a nuisance of ourselves,” he explains. 2. TVSQUARED In 2012 Calum Smeaton, the former CEO of data analytics firm Sumerian, founded TVSquared to bring state-of-the-art analytical capabilities to TV advertising. Now more than 360 brands, agencies and networks across 48 countries use TVSquared to measure and optimise TV. The company has helped organisations improve TV efficiency between 20% and 80% by determining the effectiveness of a single spot, improving the performance of on-air campaigns and optimising media spend. Headquartered in Edinburgh, TVSquared has opened offices in London, New York and Los Angeles. 3. THELADBIBLE GROUP Founded in 2012 by Solly Solomou and Arian Kalantari, TheLADbible Group is redefining entertainment and news for a social generation. Based in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, their flagship brand TheLADbible Group is followed by half of all UK men aged 18-24, and a fifth of women in the same age group. Their brands include TheLADbible Group, SPORTbible, Pretty 52, branded content agency Joyride and licensing arm CONTENTbible. In the past five years, their team has grown to just over 140 people, with a second office in Shoreditch. T E C H N O R T H • • # N O R T H E R N T E C H 1 0 0 • • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • Produced by: In association with: THE CAR BUYING GROUP 1. T E C H N O R T H • • • 2 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 THE CAR BUYING GROUP TVSQUARED THELADBIBLE GROUP DOUBLE ELEVEN TRAK GLOBAL GROUP PURPLE WIFI PROFILE FINANCIAL ACCESSPAY ZEROLIGHT CONTROL F1 HEDGEHOG LAB BIGCHANGE APPS HYPERDRIVE INNOVATION PIMORONI TYRES ON THE DRIVE RESDIARY.COM 3SQUARED REDU GROUP RRADAR CLOUD TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS INVENTRY CURRENTBODY.COM TRIBEPAD GIACOM WORLD NETWORKS PERFORMANCE HORIZON DEGREE 53 EVOLUTION FUNDING LPW TECHNOLOGY AZZURE IT SHIELD SAFETY GROUP GODEL TECHNOLOGIES EUROPE THE FLOOW BEDE GAMING PANINTELLIGENCE INTECHNICA TELCOM NETWORKS ENGAGE INTERACTIVE REASON DIGITAL INTERACT HIRING HUB THE HUT GROUP ZUTO SKY BETTING AND GAMING MPD GROUP TEAM17 RESULTING CONNEXIN EVOKE CREATIVE PARALLAX UTILIGROUP IMPULSEPAY MOBYSOFT AIRANGEL METRONET (UK) ANGEL SOLUTIONS LTD MANDO CHESS MTECH IT SOLUTIONS CONTRACTHIREANDLEASING.COM ADVANCERY SUMO DIGITAL AMPERSAND COMMERCE OPENCAST SOFTWARE EUROPE ASPIRE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FAT MEDIA SAFEGUARD ELEMENTARY TECHNOLOGY PINK BOUTIQUE MOBICA TPP APADMI EBECS SYKES COTTAGES BETTER2KNOW PROVU COMMUNICATIONS THE ESP GROUP WMG C365CLOUD VAIONI EVERYTHING DIFFERENT VENN DIGITAL OPENCRM FRESH GENERATION UK PURE TECHNOLOGY GROUP VISUALSOFT RESPONSETAP UKFAST PARCEL2GO.COM UNIFORM WAX DIGITAL NITESITE SIMPLEUSABILITY SONOCENT BLUE LOGIC DELETE AGENCY AXON CONTEXT PUBLIC RELATIONS 4040 MEDIA YOOMEE INVOSYS Ecommerce Enterprise Software Digital Media Betting & Gaming Telecoms Services Enterprise Software Fintech Fintech Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Hardware Ecommerce Ecommerce Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Enterprise Software IT Services Enterprise Software Ecommerce Enterprise Software IT Services Enterprise Software Digital Media Fintech Hardware IT Services Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Hardware Betting & Gaming IT Services IT Services Telecoms Services Digital Media Digital Media Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Ecommerce Fintech Betting & Gaming Enterprise Software Betting & Gaming IT Services Telecoms Services Digital Media Digital Media Enterprise Software Fintech Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Telecoms Services Digital Media Digital Media Telecoms Services IT Services Ecommerce IT Services Betting & Gaming Digital Media IT Services IT Services Digital Media Enterprise Software Enterprise Software Ecommerce IT Services Enterprise Software Enterprise Software IT Services Ecommerce Ecommerce Telecoms Services Enterprise Software Digital Media Enterprise Software Telecoms Services Digital Media Digital Media Enterprise Software Digital Media IT Services Digital Media Enterprise Software IT Services Enterprise Software Digital Media Fintech Hardware IT Services Enterprise Software IT Services Digital Media IT Services Digital Media Digital Media Digital Media Telecoms Services Wakefield Edinburgh Manchester Middlesbrough Crewe Oldham Preston Manchester Newcastle Huddersfield Newcastle Leeds Sunderland Sheffield Holmes Chapel Glasgow Sheffield Seaham Hessle Manchester Leeds Cheadle Sheffield Hull Newcastle Manchester Chesterfield Runcorn Sheffield Manchester Manchester Sheffield Newcastle Leeds Manchester Manchester Leeds Manchester Altrincham Manchester Northwich Macclesfield Leeds Manchester Wakefield Warrington Hull Bromborough Leeds Chorley Jesmond Manchester Warrington Manchester Liverpool Liverpool Alderley Edge Leeds Hazel Grove Bingley Sheffield Manchester Newcastle Gateshead Lancaster Sandbach Leeds Newcastle Wilmslow Leeds Manchester Chesterfield Chester Lancaster Huddersfield Hull Harrogate Wakefield Manchester Newcastle Wilmslow Richmond Manchester Leeds Stockton-on-Tees Manchester Manchester Bolton Liverpool Manchester York Leeds Leeds Leeds Leeds Macclesfield Macclesfield Southport Sheffield Worsley UK-wide car buying service with regional offices across the UK More than 360 brands, agencies and networks across 48 countries use TVSquared Their flagship brand is followed by half of all UK men aged 18-24 Worked on games for Sony, Microsoft and Warner Brothers Founded by Nick Corrie; an economics graduate, former RAF officer and experienced businessman Allows businesses to monitor their physical spaces and promote their brand Improved retirement prospects for over 12,000 customers so far In 2016, they were awarded £1m funding from Barclays Clients include Audi AG, Pagani Automobili, VW and Toyota Motor Europe Clients include Globavista, Johnson & Johnson, the NHS and Risk Technology Offices in London, Boston, Austin, Copenhagen and Hyderabad They have 15,000 paid subscribers serving over 600 SMEs and enterprise customers Designed the battery technology used in the world's quickest street legal electric car Pimoroni's first product, Pibow, has now sold over 175,000 units Founded in 2011 by Dominic Clark, a former senior manager at Michelin. Their system processes 2.5M bookings each month. Won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation Delivers high volume incremental sales for brands and retailers Trains and advises its clients to help them avoid risks Deliver tailored digital transformations to organisations in 47 countries The market leader for site access and visitor management products, trusted by over 3,000 schools Partners with leading brands in the market, including L'Oreal and Unilever Their software is currently used in over 120 countries Provides over 4,000 IT professionals and resellers with access to cloud services Based in Newcastle, with offices in the U.S.A., Japan and Australia Based at The Sharp Project in Manchester; a creative digital business hub Provides market-leading motor finance products to consumers Uses its leading 3D printing software to develop and supply metal powders Sells and deploys Microsoft business software products to support SME's The No. 1 provider of Food, Fire and Health & Safety services and software Employs over 300 people; more than half of their management team are female Operates globally from Sheffield, helping make vehicles safer and cheaper for all Process over 200 million transactions per month The only Sage certified BI solution for Sage 200 and Sage CRM Its co-founders implemented and optimised the system that sold tickets for Glastonbury 2005 Clients include Cirque du Soleil, the NHS, LADbible, Allied London and Uber Works with Northern household names including Yorkshire Tea, Jet2 and Leeds Building Society Works with the UK's biggest charities, social enterprises and corporate responsibility departments Headquartered near Manchester, Interact has offices in New York, San Francisco and Sydney. Hiring Hub's clients include Morrisons, Capita, Nisa, Iceland and Ascribe. The Hut Group serve over 400 million website visitors annually. Zuto currently employ over 300 people, affectionately known as 'Zutonites'. Sky Betting & Gaming has offices in Leeds, Sheffield, London and Rome. Manchester-based MPD Group has secured £6.5 million in funding since 2013. In 2016 they secured a £16.5million investment from LDC Strategic suppliers to a number of large consulting firms Founded and is currently led by Furqan Alamgir, an Imperial College graduate Staff numbers have almost doubled over the past 18 months Clients include British Airways, Nespresso, Hisense, American Express, Kerry Foods and easyGym Market leading provider of SaaS software to the utilities and energy industry Clients include SpareRoom, Cross Country Trains, 192.com and Virgin Trains Help over 70 housing organisations maximise income, create efficiencies and mitigate welfare reform Airangel's products cover nearly 100,000 rooms or units in twenty-seven countries. The business operates from Manchester, UK and Bucharest, Romania. In 2012 their Liverpool-based office underwent a circus-themed refurbishment. Customers include Transport for London, TalkTalk, Thomas Cook Group and Warburtons In 2016 awarded 2nd place in 'The Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work for'. Their customers include the Leeds Rhinos, Summer Boarding Courses and Springfield Care Homes. Employees enjoy free Nespresso coffee machines, regular fruit deliveries and a car allowance scheme. Clients include Safestyle UK and leading milk logistics company, SJ Bargh. Studios in Leeds, Nottingham and Pune, India. Their clients include Harvey Nichols, Poundland and Bensons for Beds. Their clients include HM Revenue & Customs, Betfair, Barclays, Catapult, Sage and the NHS. Since 2013, the company has grown their workforce from 40 to over 100 employees. Founded in Lancaster, the company has opened two more offices in Bristol and London Caters to companies of all sizes in mature and emerging international markets. An audio visual and interactive technology reseller working in education and enterprise marketplaces. Pink Boutique ship between 2000 - 4000 items of glam clothing worldwide each day. Based in Wilmslow, Mobica has eleven R&D locations around the world. Their software has supported NHS services for nearly twenty years. Develops applications for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry devices. Works with sectors including finance, insurance, manufacturing, distribution, retail and not-for-profit Provide a cottage booking and management service to over 8,000 cottages in the UK and Ireland Helped thousands of people around the world get health-tested discreetly and quickly The principal distributors for many leading brands of IP phones Assists major transport operators, local and metropolitan transport authorities and national schemes Employs over 120 people across the group, with offices in London, Harrogate and Wetherby Their customers include Bupa, Co-op, Sainsbury's, Heineken, RSLs and NHS Trusts Manchester-based Vaioni is a market leading provider of connectivity Their clients include Sky, L'Oreal, Sage, Nexus and the NHS Global platform allows users to edit content on their website from anywhere The company has worked with with customers in 14 countries with over 6000 users Fresh Generation UK launched 452 websites and generated over £515m in revenue for their clients A leading provider of ICT services and solutions to SME, corporate and public sectors. Their client list includes TJ Hughes, Carpet Runners UK, Charles Clinkard, Gabor and Beauty Base Supports more than 2000 clients worldwide, including British Gas, Aviva, Mercedes Benz and Virgin The firm has offices in Manchester, London and Glasgow The company runs websites and customer services for couriers such as TNT, Hermes, DPD and UPS Uniform now employs 54 people, mostly in Liverpool but with a small outpost in London Their web3 software is deployed via the cloud to 260,000 users in over 100 countries Nitesite’s products are exported to thirty-one countries, with a presence on every continent Their clients include EE, Playtech, Asda, Jet2.com, the NHS, McDonald's and Hermes Develops software that visualises speech from audio recordings Worked with industry leading vendors like Microsoft, Sonicwall, Sage, Netapp and Veaam Operates out of London, Leeds and Munich. Began as a single-source IT company and in 2011 shifted its focus to cloud computing Services include media relations, content marketing and social media management Created over 1,750 videos for over 1,000 clients around the world Designs and develops new digital services for social good Recently expanded globally with the launch of its market-leading platform, Number Manager 191% 163% 133% 119% 108% 105% 101% 93% 90% 87% 87% 85% 84% 80% 80% 76% 73% 72% 69% 65% 63% 62% 62% 62% 59% 58% 58% 56% 53% 53% 53% 53% 52% 52% 52% 51% 51% 46% 46% 44% 43% 43% 43% 43% 42% 42% 41% 38% 37% 37% 37% 36% 36% 36% 36% 36% 35% 35% 34% 33% 32% 31% 31% 29% 29% 28% 27% 27% 26% 26% 26% 26% 25% 25% 24% 24% 22% 22% 21% 20% 20% 20% 20% 20% 19% 19% 17% 17% 16% 15% 15% 15% 15% 14% 14% 14% 13% 13% 13% 13% Company Sector HQ Location Growth rate Information THE NORTHERN TECH 100 In association with the NORTHERN TECH AWARDS # N O R T H E R N T E C H 1 0 0 • • • 3 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • 4. DOUBLE ELEVEN Double Eleven is a niche publisher and developer of interactive entertainment; publishing and developing video games on Xbox, PlayStation and PC. The Middlesbrough-based company was founded in 2009 by Lee Hutchinson and Matt Shepcar, former developers at Rockstar Games. Double Eleven have worked on games for Sony, Microsoft and Warner Brothers. Their titles include LittleBigPlanet, Nom Nom Galaxy, Goat Simulator, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7. In 2016 Shahid Ahmad, previously head of PlayStation UK’s strategic content division, joined Double Eleven as an advisor. 5. TRAK GLOBAL GROUP Operating in five countries, Trak Global Group is one of the world's largest telematics companies, gathering and interpreting data from connected devices to help organisations manage driver and vehicle risk. The Crewe-based company was founded by Nick Corrie, an economics graduate, former RAF officer and experienced businessman. To date, the company has gathered and interpreted over 500 million safer journeys; in 2015 it received the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for its work in reducing young driver accident frequency. 6. PURPLE WIFI In May 2012 Gavin Wheeldon founded Purple, a WiFi and location SaaS solution offering analytics and marketing tools to businesses. Their software allows businesses to monitor their physical spaces and promote their brand, while providing insights into customer behaviour within venues. The Oldham-based company is observing growth in multiple sectors, including hospitality, retail, healthcare and cities. Since 2014, Purple has received two major investments: to £3.3m in January and £5.4m in September 2016. 7. PROFILE FINANCIAL Preston-based Profile Financial was co- founded by Ian Floyed and Steven Naylor. A leading pension adviser in the UK, the company has switched almost £500m of pension assets and improved retirement prospects for over 12,000 customers so far. The company takes a hybrid approach to customer service, balancing technology and scalability with human interactions. 8. ACCESSPAY AccessPay is a Manchester-based tech firm founded by Ali Moiyed in 2012. The firm works with businesses and banks to adopt next-generation payment services and tear up the bricks and mortar concept associated with finance as well as the traditional nature of bank-customer- business relationships. AccessPay’s team of developers have created a cloud-based connectivity layer, enabling business finance systems, bank accounts and major payments networks to talk to one another. The service is delivered in one portal, negating manual intervention across multiple platforms and interfaces, providing resource and cost savings as well as supporting management information and security. In 2016, AccessPay were awarded £1m funding from Barclays. 9. ZEROLIGHT Darren Jobling founded Newcastle-based ZeroLight in 2014. The company are pioneers in the field of commercial 3D visualisation for the automotive industry using virtual reality; their omnichannel platform empowers OEMs and partners to create and deliver compelling customer experiences that drive engagement across all touch points, leading to higher specification sales in-store and online. Deployed in multiple markets worldwide by clients including Audi AG, Pagani Automobili, VW and Toyota Motor Europe, ZeroLight’s technology is revolutionising the automotive retail landscape. 10. CONTROL F1 In 2010, Andy Dumbell and Carl Howarth founded Control F1, a digital software company that specialises in telematics and the Internet of Things. The Huddersfield- based team are currently working on software projects including i-Motors, a commercially viable platform for connected vehicles, and My ICU Voice, a tablet-based system that allows hospital patients to communicate clearly with hospital staff. Control F1’s clients include the RAC, Globavista, Johnson & Johnson, the NHS and Risk Technology. Contrary to what many say about a lack of technical talent in the sector, Tom says he had no trouble there. “We’re firmly rooted in the Yorkshire area which puts us in a unique place. Our location near the M1 (the company now operates from Wakefield) means we have access to people living in Sheffield, Wakefield, Leeds and Bradford. We’ve got some really good people who don’t want to have to move to a London startup or commute to Manchester and we’re able to capture that wealth of talent.” commercial partnerships based on the online valuation tool they’ve developed. This means they now have two sets of customers – consumers and corporates. Tom is confident about the year ahead. With a number of big projects in the pipeline he expects the company to at least double its growth rate this year. Quite the trajectory from its humble store cupboard beginnings. ...Continued from page 1 He then cautiously elaborates, trying not to give too much away. In essence the tool they’ve developed gathers data from various industry sources and applies a complex set of algorithms that factor in the minutiae of the car before offering a guide value. The tech team is so good that they even build their own products for internal use, such as a scheduling tool for the company’s call centre. He adds: “It’s easier to say it’s not out there. I think you just need to think about it differently and allow people to work differently, remotely if necessary. Our tech director lives in Plymouth.” In fact, he says hiring the right sales staff quickly is actually his biggest business challenge. Having a good tech and market intelligence team is what’s enabling the company to run as efficiently as possible, diversify and grow fast. 18 months ago The Car Buying Group decided to accelerate its growth by selling white-label solutions to other websites, as well as forging Produced by: Tech North technorthhq.com Editor: Vicki Shiel @vickishiel Copy: Vicki Shiel, Martin Bryant, Richard Gregory, Hugh Campbell, Nadina Osmani, Jennifer Lee O'Brien League Table: GP Bullhound, Northern Tech Awards Data and Insight: Paul Braidford Design and Production: Hebe Works CREDITS • 4 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • 11. HEDGEHOG LAB In 2007, co-workers Sarat Pediredla & Mark Forster left their positions as senior developers to co-found hedgehog lab, a global enterprise app developer & post- PC technology consultancy. Specialising in digital applications for smartphones, tablets, desktops and wearables, the Newcastle-based company now have offices in London, Boston, Austin, Copenhagen and Hyderabad. Their clients include Channel 4, Mitsubishi, Hult International Business School and the Financial Times. 12. BIGCHANGE APPS LIMITED Martin Port launched BigChange Apps on New Year’s Day, 2013. Based in Leeds, BigChange is a cloud based Mobile Workforce Management software serving the service, transport, construction, hire and waste industries. Their all-in-one JobWatch platform is the paperless way to plan, manage, schedule and track a mobile workforce; it combines a cloud based back-office, an Android mobile app and real-time tracking. Notable customers are Hargreaves Services, Serco, Baxi, Silentnight, Komatsu and John Deere. It is also used by 2015 Apprentice Winner Joseph Valente and Lord Sugar in their Impra-Gas home services business. By the end of 2017, BigChange will have 15,000 paid subscribers serving over 600 SMEs and enterprise customers. 13. HYPERDRIVE INNOVATION LTD Established in 2012 in Sunderland, Hyperdrive develops innovative technologies to power electric vehicles, homes and businesses. Hyperdrive has developed a range of high specification Battery Management Systems (BMS) and supports customers in defining and integrating systems. Recent projects have included collaborations with the British Antarctic Survey and OXIS Energy to design and develop battery technology that operates at -80 degrees Celsius. Hyperdrive also designed the battery technology used in the world’s quickest street legal electric car, the Flux Capacitor, in partnership with Jonny Smith. 14. PIMORONI LTD Founded in 2012 by Jon Williamson and Paul Beech, Pimoroni aims to make electronics accessible by making kits for the Raspberry Pi. Its first product, Pibow, has sold over 175,000 units. The Sheffield-based business has grown from one laser company and its co- founders, to more than thirty employees, with five laser cutters and several circuit- building robots. They’ve also successfully completed two fundraisers on Kickstarter. 15. TYRES ON THE DRIVE Tyres On The Drive is a mobile tyre- fitting company that allows customers to book online or over the phone and have new tyres fitted, or punctures repaired, at any suitable location. The company was founded in 2011 in Holmes Chapel by Dominic Clark, a former senior manager at Michelin. In January 2017, Tyres On The Drive secured an investment of up to £8m from Halfords, the UK’s leading retailer of motoring, cycling and leisure products as well as Halfords Autocentres, a leading independent operator in vehicle servicing, maintenance and repairs. 16. RESDIARY.COM LIMITED Founded in 2006 by Mike Conyers, ResDiary.com provide software to restaurant operators to help maximise their yield through reservation and table management. With 6,500 restaurants in 60 countries using ResDiary, their system is used to process 2.5 million bookings each month. Headquartered in Glasgow, ResDiary have sales and support staff in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, with resellers in South Africa, Norway, Switzerland, Portugal, Malta, Indonesia, Canada and Uruguay. 17. 3SQUARED 3Squared, a technology consultancy based in Sheffield, has over 15 years experience offering a range of software products, services and consultancy. Co-founders Tim Jones and James Fox met during a course in computer software engineering at Sheffield Hallam University; they formed the company in 2002, shortly after graduating. In 2016, 3Squared won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation for their licensed RailSmart software suite, now used by the majority of the UK’s rail freight sector. They currently employ 45 full-time members of staff in Sheffield, and have plans to become the leading software supplier to the UK rail sector. 18. REDU GROUP Redu is an award-winning provider of social, mobile and data-driven affiliate marketing. The Seaham-based company was founded by Darren Williams, Sam Morton and Gary Hunter; it delivers high volume incremental sales for brands and retailers through its Ashleigh Money Saver and Ashleigh Plus Size Brands. The company also has its own proprietary software IP in its affiliate manager system, NLite. Ashleigh Money Saver is an established and profitable affiliate model operated by Facebook, websites and emailing, promoting offers from leading retailers including Very, John Lewis, Asda and Boots. 19. RRADAR rradar is a new kind of law firm, training and advising its clients to help them avoid risks ranging from health and safety to fraud prevention. rradar was founded by Gary Gallen in 2014, who resigned from his job at a traditional law firm to set up the company. The Hessle-based firm has recently launched a legal Virtual Assistant called Grace, the first of its kind, using bespoke coding and content designed in-house in partnership with IBM Watson. 20. CLOUD TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS Cloud Technology Solutions is a Manchester-based tech company that provides G Suite and Google Cloud platform solutions. They are one of the world’s leading Google Cloud Premier Partners, delivering tailored digital transformations to organisations in 47 countries. Their CloudMigrator and CloudPages software has close to 10 million users. The driving force behind CTS’ growth is CEO James Doggart; prior to CTS, James ran a software solutions and services business where he doubled the turnover and profitability of the organisation. Their clients include organisations such as AG Barr, Yahoo!, Majestic Wine and Manchester City Council. 21. INVENTRY LTD InVentry was established in 2010 in Leeds, with a goal to streamline and perfect the school sign in process. InVentry are now the market leader for site access and visitor management products, trusted by over 3,000 schools. With a fully integrated system allowing its users to accurately monitor who is on-site at any one time, InVentry speeds up the signing in process, keeps identity information secure and leaves senior leaders in schools feeling confident that their students are safe. 22. CURRENTBODY.COM LTD CurrentBody was the first ecommerce company to recognise the fastest growing niche in the beauty industry over the last two years; the rapid introduction of professional devices miniaturised into handheld units for consumer use. CurrentBody partners with leading brands in the market including L’Oreal’s highly acclaimed facial cleanser Clarisonic and Unilever's hair removal systems. Co-founders Laurence Newman and Andrew Showman, alongside a senior management team lead by Chairman Mike McGrath, have grown the company to 20 staff in a hybrid office and warehouse, purpose built in Cheadle. 23. TRIBEPAD Dean Sadler, a former CIO and CTO at Plusnet, founded TribePad in 2008. The Sheffield-based company���s award- winning recruitment software allows candidates to apply for jobs from any device, at any location. TribePad’s software is currently used in over 120 countries in seventeen languages and has processed over 35 million job applications. Their customers include the BBC, KFC, Tesco, Sweaty Betty, Skipton Building Society and Bupa. 24. GIACOM WORLD NETWORKS Founded in 1991 by CEO Nick Marshall, Giacom is a service provider based in Hull. The company was initially built as an ISP serving tens of thousands of consumers and businesses. Giacom now operates MessageStream Cloud Marketplace which provides over 4,000 IT professionals and resellers with access to cloud services. It is Europe’s largest cloud marketplace exclusively for IT support professionals. 25. PERFORMANCE HORIZON Performance Horizon was founded in 2010 by a team of Affiliate Marketing veterans, including Malcolm Cowley and Paul Fellows. In 2011, they launched their core product: Performance Horizon Enterprise. They are now the leading provider of SaaS software for partner marketing, and the team has grown to 100 employees. Based in Newcastle, with offices in the USA, Japan and Australia, Performance Horizon is backed by top-tier investors, including Mithril, Greycroft Partners and DN Capital. T E C H N O R T H • • • 5 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • # N O R T H E R N T E C H 1 0 0 • • You may not follow them on Facebook or visit their website, but chances are you’ve seen (and laughed) at something published by TheLADbible Group. VICKI SHIEL Started by school friends Solly Solomou and Arian Kalantari in 2012 when they were still at university (Solomou was at Leeds and Kalantari at Liverpool), TheLADbible Group has filled the void left following the demise of lads’ mags such as Loaded in the nineties and is now followed by half of all British males aged 18 to 24. “We were just producing funny content for the younger audience,” says co- founder Kalantari of the early days. But the duo have always seen it as a business. Following early success on Facebook they built a website and heavily promoted it through advertising networks. “We found that what we were doing really resonated with our audience,’ he adds. It seems so. To date they’ve accumulated 23 million followers on Facebook and ladbible.com is now the 10th most-visited website in the UK according to Alexa. Since growing that community TheLADbible Group has gone on to build a portfolio of other brands including SPORTbible, Pretty 52, branded content agency Joyride, and licensing arm CONTENTbible, used by TV networks, brand and publishers. That’s their core business, Kalantari tells me. They also run a number of ‘incubator channels’ — new brands they treat as startups, constantly testing and learning what works for that particular audience. These include LENSbible (Instagram-only photography content), GAMINGbible and FOODbible, all typically aimed at a youth audience. How do they manage all this? They’ve grown the team over the past five years to just under 140 people and have offices in both Manchester and Shoreditch. Not bad considering they’re both 25 years old. Just don’t use the term millennial to describe their target audience. “I’m 25 and I behave quite differently to most 16-year-olds,” he explains. Of the 140 employees they have a tech team of just under 30 and they’ve custom built everything from the website and submissions platform to their editorial management system. “From the off we’ve seen the importance of tech. We position our companies as a combination of tech and media,” says Kalantari. The secret of their success seems to be a combination of good timing, listening to their audience, and an ability to carve out a niche in this new and evolving publishing space. “There’s no traditional way of doing this, we’re kind of writing the book.” “The thing we do that traditional publishing doesn’t is look at tech and data closely with creative. We provide writers with data on topics and encourage them to get creative within that framework. Authenticity is very important to us. We listen to comments, look at the data, and feed it back to creative — it’s full circle.” Already popular in the US, Australia and Ireland, the team’s plan this year is to further expand globally. So expect to see even more from TheLADbible Group. “WE WERE JUST PRODUCING FUNNY CONTENT FOR THE YOUNGER AUDIENCE” THE- LADBIBLE GROUP INTERVIEW T E C H N O R T H • • • 6 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • One of the first things that jumped out at me from the table was the diversity of the sectors. In the largest six companies alone, there’s everything from ecommerce, transport, telecoms and gaming. Something that’s really exciting is the age of some of these companies. Twenty-six of them have been created in the last five years. TheLADbible Group, for example, is a really fast-growing, young business with impressive revenues, who have used social media in exciting new ways; so that’s an interesting trend to watch. Of course, you can’t help but get drawn into some of the things that are still holding companies back. One of the challenges we find in the North is that there’s relatively less access to funding at early stages. It is disproportionately hard in the North of England to get funding. There’s a real job to increase awareness of tech opportunities in the region with angel investors. Sixty-eight percent of the businesses on this table have had no VC backing; they’re still growing at a phenomenal rate — which of course, is a wonderful thing. Imagine how great that list could be if we had more access to funding? We’re seeing more connectivity between Liverpool and Manchester in the Northwest and Sheffield, Leeds and Hull in Yorkshire; but we’ve still got a challenge to get people thinking cross-region. There are still very few pan-Northern organisations on the list; something I find odd. A lot of the companies are very big in one location. One of the big challenges in the tech space is procuring more talent. I think Sky Betting & Gaming is a good example of how pan- northern growth can help resolve this issue. They launched in Leeds and grew to the point where they had over 1,000 employees, which is wonderful. When they realised there’s only so much in the talent pool, they opened a second office in Sheffield where they employ another 150 to 200 people. I wouldn’t be surprised if they opened another office in the North at some point. With a pan-Northern mindset, they’ll continue to grow. It’s extremely important to acknowledge the lack of gender diversity in this table. The owners, founders or majority shareholders of companies on the table are predominantly men. That’s got to change; we’ve got a lot more work to do in this space. Gender diversity is one of the areas the whole industry has to focus on, so that this table is much more representative in years to come. Historically, the league table has been a top 50, so the fact that we’ve extended it to 100 this year — that there’s so many opportunities to talk about — is really reassuring. We’re talking about a growth market that feels really sustainable. "WITH A PAN-NORTHERN MINDSET, COMPANIES WILL CONTINUE TO GROW" RICHARD GREGORY DIRECTOR OF TECH NORTH OPINION • 7 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • The tech scene in the North is more robust than ever. Over the past twelve months we have seen high profile transactions as well as growth from key regional players. Behind these private sector successes, there is a visible recognition from the public sector regarding the importance of technology to the Northern economy. Furthermore, there has been a flow of people and funding from corporates to the North as they seek to develop their technology platforms and offerings. The momentum is with the North when it comes to technology. The story we have all long believed is starting to become reality. Technology is coming home to the North. Skyscanner stole the headlines with its sale to the Chinese travel firm Ctrip for £1.4bn – a fantastic and pioneering journey for the Northern tech scene which saw a business go from back bedroom to global unicorn. Skyscanner is no flash-in-the- pan experience, as demonstrated by the likes of BooHoo.com, MoneySupermarket. com and AO.com which have all achieved Unicorn status. Critically, these business are all underpinned by strong revenues and have been able to show sustained growth over a number of years. Beneath the Unicorns, there is a plethora of smaller, but no less ambitious companies, the Northern Foals, with the aspiration, the ambitions, the capability and the products to become the next Unicorns. It should be the aim of everyone involved in the tech scene in the North to help these businesses achieve their obvious potential. This includes companies like On the Beach, GB Group and Zuto which have used a digital platform to transform more traditional industries. Although based in the North, their scope is very much UK-wide and they are looking to roll out their models overseas too. Others like Performance Horizon and LADbible Group have already established a significant international footprint. Like SkyScanner before them, they too have caught the eye of international corporates and investors for the real innovation and value they can bring to their customers. The success of these private sector companies has spurred on the policy makers in the region. This infrastructure is vital to support, maintain and grow the tech ecosystem. It is also recognition of how important technology is and will continue to be for the region. This support is focused on three key areas: funding, promotion and education. There has been consistent feedback about funding gaps within the North, however this is slowly being addressed. Amongst other organisations, there has been the launch of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund and Accelerated Digital Ventures which receive both private investment alongside funding from the British Business Bank. Across the North, there are now a number of organisations, particularly at a local government level, looking to shout about the achievements both locally and regionally. Tech North, Sunderland Software City, Dot Forge, Dynamo and Digital Union are all examples of organisations which are focused on developing and promoting the tech ecosystem in their specific regions. Crucially, as these ecosystems develop, it also encourages the skills developed in the region to remain. Ultimately, tech in the North is about the people and equipping those people with the skills to create globally successful companies. We are lucky to have some of the best universities in the world which are producing highly skilled graduates. Nevertheless, there is still an identified shortage of key technology skills. A number of apprenticeship schemes are being promoted across the region to ensure the talent pool is available to ensure continued tech investment in the region. Finally, we should not forget the North has a lot more to offer the tech community: an excellent transport infrastructure, good international airports, a relatively inexpensive standard of living, the opportunity to live and work in a city, yet have some of the most stunning countryside on your doorstep. The reasons for the continued success of tech in the North are compelling. OPINION "THE MOMENTUM IS WITH THE NORTH WHEN IT COMES TO TECHNOLOGY." HUGH CAMPBELL CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER AT GP BULLHOUND # N O R T H E R N T E C H 1 0 0 • • • 8 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • 26. DEGREE 53 Degree 53 is an award-winning digital agency specialising in mobile app and website development, UX, design and consultancy services. Founded in 2013 by Andrew Daniels, the company offers development, design, research and consultancy to a number of industries, including online gambling, sports, finance, retail and education. Degree 53 holds the Remote Gambling Software licence accredited by the UK Gambling Commission, allowing them to provide comprehensive and secure digital services to its clients in the gambling industry. Degree 53 is based at The Sharp Project in Manchester, a creative digital business hub. 27. EVOLUTION FUNDING Established in 2002 in Chesterfield, Evolution Funding is an automotive funding and retailing group. Led by company Director Jeremy Levine, Evolution Funding employs over 270 people UK-wide with multiple arms to the operation, including a motor finance brokerage, vehicle rentals, vehicle loans, two car dealerships and a body shop and accident repair centre. The company provides market-leading motor finance products to consumers via more than 4,000 approved dealer partnerships and groups, with a fleet of 2,000 flexi-rental vehicles. 28. LPW TECHNOLOGY LTD In 2007, Phil Carroll PHD founded LPW Technology. LPW uses its leading 3D printing software to develop and supply metal powders for additive manufacturing and safety critical industries including aerospace, automotive and medical sectors. Known worldwide for its research and development, LPW’s respected team of software, mechanical and applications engineers has developed a unique AM powder lifecycle management system called PowderLife. LPW is headquartered in Runcorn, with operations in the USA, Europe and Asia. 29. AZZURE IT Founded by Craig Such in 2011, Azzure IT is a Microsoft Dynamics provider, with a headquarters in Sheffield and offices in Reading and Newcastle. The company sells and deploys Microsoft business software products to support SMEs in the growth and development of their businesses. It works with companies across a range of sectors including manufacturing, professional services, logistics and not for profit. Azzure IT is the UK’s leading Microsoft Gold Partner, a two-time Deloitte Fast UK fastest growing tech company and Microsoft President’s Club member 2016. 30. SHIELD SAFETY Shield Safety believes in making safety simple for every business in the UK. Founded by Mark Flanagan, Shield Safety is the No. 1 provider of Food, Fire and Health & Safety services and software for multi- location businesses within the hospitality industry, with increasing growth across retail, manufacturing and SMEs. In 2017, Shield Safety was shortlisted for Company of the Year and Flanagan was shortlisted for Business Person of the Year by the Greater Manchester Business Awards. The company is based in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. 31. GODEL TECHNOLOGIES EUROPE Godel Technologies is a nearshore software development partner, engaging with some of the UK’s leading household names and technology companies to extend their development capacity. The company provides high performance teams for clients, with expertise in agile consulting, continuous delivery, business analysis, software development, quality assurance and digital and business intelligence. The company is led by CEO Neil Turvin, who has over 15 years of experience in IT and software development. With offices in Manchester and London, Godel employs over 300 people; more than half of their management team are female. 32. THE FLOOW The idea for The Floow came from Aldo Monteforte, an Italian entrepreneur and investor who saw a gap in the telematics market and co-founded the company with Dr. Sam Chapman, a researcher at The University of Sheffield. The Floow designs and operates insightful and user-friendly telematics systems, providing some of the world’s largest motor insurers and auto organisations with actionable analytics to increase customer loyalty and ROI. The Floow operates globally from Sheffield, helping make vehicles safer and cheaper for all. 33. BEDE GAMING Over the past five years Bede Gaming has built a world class platform for the online gambling industry. Headquartered in Newcastle Upon Tyne, with offices in London and Sofia, Bulgaria, Bede processes over 200 million transactions and handle more than £550m of wagers per month, powering some of the largest online gambling operators and lotteries worldwide. The company was founded in 2011 by Joseph Saumarez Smith, Dan Smyth and Michael Brady, who had previously worked with games suppliers including OpenBet, Playtech and Dragonfish. 34. PANINTELLIGENCE Panintelligence is an independent Business Intelligence software vendor providing data visualisation software to other software vendors and resellers in sectors such as education, document management and fintech. Led by Managing Director Mike Cripps and based in Leeds, Panintelligence are the only Sage certified BI solution for Sage 200 and Sage CRM; in 2014 they won Sage’s Development Partner Innovation Award. Their software partners include Capita, Tribal, RM, Communisis and Advanced. 35. INTECHNICA Intechnica enables businesses to improve their website and application performance, reduce hosting costs and technical debt and maximise sales revenues. The Manchester-based company was launched after co-founders Gidlow and Andy Still implemented and optimised the system that successfully sold the tickets for Glastonbury 2005. The company works across a diverse range of sectors including retail, B2B commerce, gambling, online Gaming, ticketing, media and insurance. In 2015 the company developed TrafficDefender, a product designed to help businesses manage high and variable traffic demands on online systems, and to remove unwanted traffic from bots, crawlers and spiders. 36. TELCOM NETWORKS LTD After travelling the UK collecting startup stories for their site Tech Britain, Doug Ward and Shaun Gibson co-founded Telcom, a Manchester-based ISP providing internet connectivity to businesses across Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and London. Using the latest technology to make installation quicker and more efficient, Telcom provide reliable internet up to 1GB per second to support commerce and innovation. Their clients include Cirque du Soleil, the NHS, LADbible Group, Allied London and Uber. 37. ENGAGE INTERACTIVE LTD Engage is a full service digital agency in Leeds, providing digital strategy, website design and development, campaign planning and execution, social media management, SEO and PPC. The company was launched in 2007 by Creative Director Alex Willcocks and Technical Director Dave Wrightson, who met working at an agency in Harrogate. With over twenty-five clients in the UK, the company has worked with northern household names including Yorkshire Tea, Jet2 and Leeds Building Society. 38. REASON DIGITAL In 2007, Matt Haworth and Ed Cox founded Reason Digital, a digital innovation agency working with the UK's biggest charities, social enterprises and corporate responsibility departments to improve social impact. Reason Digital apply a human-centred design approach to co-produce digital products including websites, online platforms, mobile apps and digital communities to change more people's lives, make efficiencies and deliver critical services at scale. They’ve developed apps to make it easy to donate unwanted goods to charity shops, built early warning systems to help keep sex workers safer and created platforms connecting volunteers to older people to combat isolation and decline in mental health. 39. INTERACT Nigel Danson PHD founded Interact with the aim of connecting people to people, and people to content. They are now a global enterprise software company, providing their product to over 750 customers worldwide, with over one million users. Interact specialise in solving internal communication and collaboration challenges by combining their sophisticated intranet software with outstanding professional services. Headquartered near Manchester, Interact has offices in New York, San Francisco and Sydney.. 40. HIRING HUB Co-founded by Simon Swan and Sara Jones in 2010, Hiring Hub is an online platform helping companies find and work with trusted, independent recruitment agencies. Its mission: to make recruiting talent hassle-free while placing trust and integrity at the heart of the recruitment agency. The first employer to sign up with Hiring Hub was high street retailer Schuch; their clients now include Morrisons, Capita, Nisa, Iceland and Ascribe. In 2015, Swan was named Software Entrepreneur of the Year at the Digital Entrepreneur Awards, and included in Real Business’ Young Guns. The company’s story has been featured by The Guardian, The Sunday Times, BBC News and the London Evening Standard. T E C H N O R T H • • • 9 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • Rradar is transforming how businesses work with the legal profession. MARTIN BRYANT Next time someone tells you that robots are coming for everyone’s jobs, point them in the direction of Rradar. Founder Gary Gallen is shaking up the legal profession by automating as much work as possible. But still, he’s hiring lawyers at a fair clip. The East Yorkshire-based firm already employs nearly 100 people, and that headcount is set to double this year. It’s impressive growth for a firm that lawyer Gallen started alone in his conservatory just four years ago. Today, law works much the same as it always has. The Legal Services Act of 2007 aimed to relax the way the sector worked, but it hasn’t led to much in the way of real disruption. Now Rradar is changing that by completely rethinking how businesses work with lawyers and insurers. Rradar is as much an education company as it is a law firm. Rather than just working with businesses when something goes wrong, it trains them to help stop things going wrong in the first place. Online training, seminars, one-to-one calls, podcasts and more are provided to help businesses understand and tackle the risks they’re likely to face. These risks range from health and safety to fraud prevention. If insurers can cover something, Rradar can offer a training package that helps reduce the risk that a claim will ever have to be made. Now Rradar has launched a ‘Siri for legal advice’ app called Grace. If an executive needs to check, say, employment law, they can ask this virtual assistant for answers rather than being charged a hefty hourly fee for the same information from a human. Gallen says the rest of the legal sector hasn’t been too keen on the idea of taking work away from human lawyers. After all, this basic advice is the bread and butter of many law firms. But it seems to be making life more interesting for Rradar’s lawyers. Now that it’s so easy for customers to get answers to basic questions, they come to the company with more advanced, interesting problems that are more fulfilling to work on. “Lawyers want challenging work. When we commoditise basic info, we get more calls about the more clever second- and third- tier work." The tech side of Rradar’s business is growing — it’s explored virtual reality as one way of educating clients, for example. But despite that, its Leeds and Glasgow satellite offices are growing fast as they staff up with legal professionals. “Our customers want local representatives. They want drop-in centres they can come to for a chat and advice,” says Gallen. Gallen argues that if the legal profession doesn’t commoditise its most basic knowledge, the likes of Google will come in and do it instead. “Tech doesn’t put humans out of work," he says. "It just reframes where humans provide the true value, using technology to create bridges of trust.” "TECH DOESN’T PUT HUMANS OUT OF WORK. IT JUST REFRAMES WHERE THEY PROVIDE VALUE" # N O R T H E R N T E C H 1 0 0 • • RRADAR INTERVIEW 41. THE HUT GROUP In 2004 John Gallemore and Matthew Moulding, former co-workers at The Caudwell Group, founded The Hut Group. The company operates over 100 high- profit websites that sell premium, non- perishable FMCG direct to consumer and the fast growing, global health and beauty markets via its in-house technology and operating platform. During 2015, The Hut group shipped over 9 million items to 192 countries, and they serve 400 million website visitors annually. They employ over 1,000 people, and are headquartered in Cheshire. 42. ZUTO In 2006, James Wilkinson and Ryan Dignan founded Zuto, an online car finance and loan company, in Macclesfield. The company supports UK car buyers in the search and funding of their vehicle. They have helped more than half a million people find car finance, with one-to-one support for customers through the car buying process. In 2015, the company expanded into central Manchester; they currently employ over 300 people, affectionately known as ‘Zutonites’. 43. SKY BETTING & GAMING Led by Chief Executive Richard Flint, Sky Betting & Gaming was formed in 2001 in Leeds. The company has grown to become one of the UK’s leading online bookmakers, with a team of over 1,000 employees. As one of the first bookmakers to recognise the potential of online and then mobile platforms for betting and gaming, Sky Betting & Gaming operates five major online products — Bet, Vegas, Casino, Poker, and Bingo — as well as leading sports affiliate, Oddschecker. Sky Betting & Gaming also has offices in Sheffield, London and Rome. 44. MPD GROUP MPD Group are a software company that create technology that enables fulfilment and deliveries for businesses and consumers. Founded in 2010 by CEO David Grimes, their brands include Electio, a delivery management platform that enables retailers to rapidly increase the delivery options they offer to their customers, and My Parcel Delivery, a multi- award winning parcel delivery comparison website. The Manchester-based company has secured £6.5m in funding since 2013. 45. TEAM17 Team17 is a games developer and publisher based in Wakefield, best known for the popular Worms franchise. Founded by Debbie Bestwick, the company has a 27-year heritage in games development, retail and publishing. Team17 creates and sells a range of successful titles worldwide, through major digital distributors such as Sony, Microsoft, Apple and Google. In 2016, Team17 secured a £16.5m investment from LDC to fuel its expansion, and acquired games developer Mouldy Toof Studios. 46. RESULTING Resulting was founded in 2004 by Stuart Browne. Based in Warrington, Resulting designs, builds and runs high-performing IT delivery organisations for businesses. The company are strategic suppliers to a number of large consulting firms and work client-side for large enterprises, globally. Their customers include EY, Nationwide and HMRC. 47. CONNEXIN Connexin is a UK telecoms operator delivering broadband and voice services to SMEs and residential customers. The company is currently delivering broadband services in Hull and offering a national voice service. Connexin was founded and is currently led by Furqan Alamgir, an Imperial College graduate. Alamgir has assembled a solid operational management team and engaged industry heavyweights to come alongside as Non Executive Directors, including Ed Candy (formerly CTO at Hutchinson Three Group UK), who acts as technical advisor. 48. EVOKE CREATIVE Founded in 2003 by Dean Ward, Neil Clark, Graham Boyd and Iain Quayle, Evoke Creative designs interactive digital products for major blue-chip clients including JD Sports, Debenhams, Google and McDonald’s. Based in the Wirral, their solutions include self-service kiosks, video walls, digital signage, information points, payment terminals and interactive experiences. The company has rapidly established themselves as a market leader in the UK, with products exported to more than a dozen countries. Staff numbers have almost doubled over the past 18 months and the business now employs 56 people. 49. PARALLAX Parallax began as two companies between four friends: Dario Grandich, Lawrence Dudley, Andy Fitch and James Hall. The website and web application companies operated between several bedrooms in York. In 2009, they took the decision to merge and move to Leeds. The digital agency now works with a diverse range of clients including British Airways, Nespresso, Hisense, American Express, Kerry Foods, easyGym and the Yorkshire Cricket Club. 50. UTILIGROUP Utiligroup is a market leading provider of SaaS software to the utilities and energy industry. Led by CEO Matthew Hirst and based in Chorley, the company makes a complex industry easier to understand, removing competitive barriers and enabling their clients to provide excellent service for their customers. Utiligroup works with established and new entrant energy suppliers, as well as power traders, asset providers, metering agents and distribution companies. 51. IMPULSEPAY LIMITED Chris Newell started his first business, TextYou, while studying Computing for Business at the University of Northumbria. He later rebranded the company as Interlinked Media, sold it and used the proceeds to launch ImpulsePay; a UK Mobile Payments facilitator in Newcastle. Most of ImpulsePay’s customers are online retailers looking to integrate a mobile payment method; their clients include SpareRoom, Cross Country Trains, 192. com and Virgin Trains. The company are an accredited payment intermediary of EE, Vodafone, O2, and Three. 52. MOBYSOFT Founded in 2003 by Derek Steele, Manchester- based Mobysoft provides a cloud based predictive analytic software called Rentsense to social landlords in the UK. Their software helps over 70 housing organisations maximise income, create efficiencies and mitigate welfare reform. On average, their customers achieve a 15.8% arrears reduction in the first year as well as an average efficiency saving of 25%. In 2016 Mobysoft won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation and the Housing Excellence Best IT system for its RentSense software. 53. AIRANGEL Warrington-based company Airangel provides public and guest WiFi products to the enterprise hospitality market, serviced apartment buildings and large public venues. Led by CEO Dean Wilkinson, Airangel’s products cover nearly 100,000 rooms or units in 27 countries. Their customers include Mercedes-Benz, Malmaison Hotel du Vin and the NHS. Airangel has expanded internationally and opened a second office in Dubai, covering the Middle East and Africa regions. 54. METRONET (UK) Led by CEO Lee Perkins, Metronet is one of the UK’s fastest growing connectivity providers, operating connectivity products including wireless, fibre, VoIP, network security and datacentre and cloud services. In October 2016 Metronet acquired internet infrastructure company M247. Following this acquisition, the Metronet Group now offer a combined portfolio of connectivity and content services across the UK and Europe. The business operates from Manchester and Bucharest, Romania. 55. ANGEL SOLUTIONS Angel Solutions has been building software for the education industry since 1999. Founded by Andy Kent, Angel Solution’s web-based software is used by every local authority in England, as well as thousands of schools, children’s centres and nurseries. In 2012, their Liverpool- based office underwent a circus-themed refurbishment with a colourful ball pool, popcorn machine, unicycle and a big top, circus tent meeting space. In 2016, the company were named Business of the Year (up to 50 employees) by the Liverpool Echo. T E C H N O R T H • • • 10 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • • 11 • 3 0 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 • • The future of car insurance flows straight out of Sheffield. MARTIN BRYANT The future of cars is data, and Sheffield- based The Floow is well placed to be a key player in this new world. Vehicle insurance premiums used to be based on informed guesses about how likely you were to be a safe driver. Now the industry is taking a more precise approach, and The Floow is leading the way. If you’ve installed a data collection device in your car, or engaged with an app to lower your premiums over the past few years, there’s a strong possibility The Floow has something to do with the ‘scores’ you receive. It’s all about better informed insurers and better informed, safer drivers. As well as sending information to your insurer about how you’re driving, the company offers advice that helps you make better choices in the future – economically, environmentally, and from a safety perspective. The Floow works with major insurers around the world, including Direct Line Group and AIG. It also deals directly with car companies like Renault and Nissan. Now the company is ready for major international expansion. A recent £13 million investment led by China’s Fosun will see the company double its headcount to support growth in the American and Chinese markets. But co-founder Sam Chapman is keen to stress that The Floow will stay firmly rooted in Sheffield. Being based in Sheffield was no accident. The insurance industry is centred around London, Singapore and New York, but serial entrepreneur Aldo Monteforte was convinced the South Yorkshire city was an ideal home for The Floow. Cost of living, quality of life and a pipeline of local graduates with the right skills were strong deciding factors. The choice of location has paid off. The Floow has no problem attracting staff to relocate from around the world. Sam Chapman says that one team member moved from working on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland because the problems that The Floow was solving were more interesting. The Floow is transforming a staid market with a fresh approach, but autonomous driving presents the company with exc</p>