100 Club: Guy Redwood, founder of SimpleUsability
Guy Redwood of the founder and managing director of SimpleUsability. He is a member of the Leeds Community Foundation’s 100 Club, a patronage scheme for individuals who are motivated to make a difference in Leeds.
Here, Guy discusses what he loves about the city, and why he’s involved in the foundation.
What is your favourite thing about Leeds?
It’s really difficult to choose just one thing. There’s a great spirit in Leeds, a feeling that anything is possible, and the recent Leeds Digital Festival was a symbol of that. The fact there were more tech events happening in Leeds than in San Francisco, Silicon Valley’s neighbour, was a real testament to the growth of the digital sector.
Add to that the beautiful countryside on our doorstep … I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
What would you change about the city?
The rail links east to west. We’re proud to work with a number of great companies in the Leeds City Region, including Asda, Morrisons and Jet2.com but we also have clients the other side of the Pennines and the rail service is still stuck in the 20th century.
Why did you decide to join the Leeds Community Foundation’s 100 Club?
We put a lot back into the thriving digital community of Leeds and when we saw the great work LCF were doing with the wider community of Leeds, we saw an opportunity to be a part of that whilst using our skill set to help both the foundation and the local community. We’re delighted to be working with LCF on research to understand their audiences’ needs and how the website can deliver against those needs. The SimpleUsability team have personal CSR days to help out a charity or cause of their choosing. Two of the team have chosen to work with LCF on this website research and we’re excited by how an improved user experience can benefit the Foundation and the individuals and projects it supports.
What community issues are important to you and/or your organisation?
We’re based in the Holbeck Urban Village which has been a great example of regeneration, but as a business we want to see balanced regeneration that benefits all of society.
