Tech Talk in association with virtualDCS: Doyle in as NED at Arena; Discount App launched; Red Ledge conquers Europe; and more
Tech Talk in association with virtualDCS
IN the first of a new fortnightly series, TheBusinessDesk.com, in association with virtualDCS , reports on the latest news from the Yorkshire technology sector.
LEADING Yorkshire technology entrepreneur Richard Doyle has been appointed non-executive director of the Arena Group.
Mr Doyle built up and then sold Esteem Systems and is currently chairman of Liquid Accounts and Connect Yorkshire, as well as being a director of Nynet and Endeavors Technologies.
Mr Doyle said: “I took extensive customer references before accepting this directorship; Arena delivers good old-fashioned customer service and the feedback from customers was excellent.
“I’m going to help Arena with their ambitious five year growth plan, building on their great strengths in print management and helping develop the electronic document management and IT side, where I have particular expertise.”
Arena, which is a supplier of photocopiers, printers, and IT systems, has five offices employing 126 people. Turnover is currently £12.5m and the business plans to double in size over the next five years.
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AN iPhone app which has been launched to offer discounts and money saving offers in shops, bars and restaurants in Leeds, has generated more than 2,000 downloads.
The Pink Gorilla App was the brainchild of Jordan Odu, of Pink Gorilla Marketing, with the aim of offering the best savings, deals and discounts across the city.
More than 20 fashion stores, restaurants, bars, and clubs have signed up to the scheme, with many offering exclusive offers.
Once downloaded, users show the app at stores that have signed up to get instant discounts without the need for printed vouchers.
Partners include Office, Aqua Couture, Paper Scissor Stone, Oracle Bar, Riverplate and Revolution.
To download the app go to http://bit.ly/9bItlO or visit www.pinkgorilla.co.uk
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PLANS to improve public websites, upgrade IT equipment and provide better online content to suit the needs of disabled people have been unveiled by Communications Minister Ed Vaizey.
Launching the eAccessibility Plan, the Minister announced a package of measures that will contribute to a more inclusive digital economy for people with specific needs.
The key objectives of the plan include improving technology and digital equipment to suit the needs of those with disabilities and tackling issues of affordability and availability of equipment and software; implementing a new regulatory framework to enable OFCOM to specify measures to ensure disabled people have equivalent choice and access to digital communications services as non-disabled consumers; and improving the design of public sector websites to make them more accessible to disabled users.
The plan will be implemented by the eAccessibility Forum, a group of more than 60 experts from Government, industry and the voluntary sector.
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HUDDERSFIELD-based company Red Ledge is helping to tackle the increasing problem of sales of counterfeit medication after supplying more than 220 innovative scanning systems in Turkey.
Using Red Ledge’s technology, together with its European partners, individual pharmaceutical packages are tagged with a unique two dimensional bar code.
This can then be scanned at any point in the supply chain by wholesalers, retailers or by enforcement agencies, compared against a central database and immediately identified as genuine.
Red Ledge said it is already the market leaders in Europe for the technology.
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SEARCH and social media specialist, hômejames, has been appointed by chocolatier Thorntons, to enhance the company’s Pay Per Click (PPC) strategy.
The agency will be responsible for driving increased revenues through PPC with a particular focus on improving performance in the lead up to the peak Christmas period.
Michael Ward, managing director of hômejames, said: “Thorntons is an iconic UK brand and one that we are extremely excited to be working with. Our challenge is to deliver a cost-effective PPC campaign that will exceed Thorntons’ sales targets for winter 2010 and continue into 2011.”
