BusinessCloud’s inaugural UK Business Tech Awards are set for November and will recognise the individuals and businesses who are making the most impact in the world of technology.
Each day for a fortnight we are highlighting a different category ahead of a glitzy ceremony at London’s Montcalm Marble Arch on November 20.
There will be 18 gongs up for grabs including eCommerce Company of the Year, with four finalists shortlisted by our stellar line-up of judges: Autorama Group, Celtic FC, Housekeep and Master of Malt.
We profile them below. Tickets are available at the Business Tech Awards website while sponsors confirmed so far include Jumpstart and Touchscreen Rentals.
Anyone interested in sponsorship opportunities should contact [email protected].
The judging panel included David Hardman, MBE, managing director of Innovation Birmingham; Louize Clarke, co-founder, ConnectTVT; Elizabeth Clark, CEO, Dream Agility; former director of Tech North Richard Gregory; Tom Cheesewright, founder of Applied Futurism Practice; former Vodafone exec Rob Mukherjee, director of Greater Sport; Chris Dymond, director, Sheffield Digital; and Scott Henderson, managing director of Jumpstart.
ECOMMERCE COMPANY OF THE YEAR SHORTLIST
The Autorama Group ensures people get the best and cheapest deals on vehicles. Under its umbrella are the brands Motorama (car leasing) and Vanarama (commercial van leasing).
Its objective is to become the Amazon of the vehicle leasing industry – making the purchase process of vehicles as easy as doing your online shopping.
Employing 250 people at its main office in Hemel Hempstead, it has expanded fast with its Vanarama LCV business. In the year to December 2016 Autorama saw turnover grow 56.4 per cent to £39.1m with pre-tax profits up 77 per cent to £4.4m.
Autorama is applying Growth Hacking mentality to the site which means the tech team reacts fast with the current version of the site being its 350th revision. Among its eCommerce solutions is AI chatbot Carli, which allows cars to be leased to customers via Facebook Messenger and Motorama’s website.
One of the world’s most famous football clubs, Celtic decided to move the operation of its website from a third party to in-house operation.
Brand new in-house teams were acquired to deal with the eCommerce site, customer enquiries, merchandise printing and order fulfilment. By taking over the management of their online shop, the club has full control and can be much more reactive to the outcome of their matches and the successes of the club. Its retail operation employs 150 staff, 13 of which are specifically eCommerce.
Celtic turned to agency Digital Six to design and develop a new cloud-based eCommerce site on Magento which would enable the club to scale up to cope with increases in traffic during peak times.
The new Shop by Player feature enables visitors to select any of Celtic’s players from the main navigation which takes them to the player’s page with all of the products associated with the player, whether this is a shirt or a signed mug.
Housekeep is disrupting the fragmented £4 billion home cleaning market with an online marketplace that connects consumers with cleaners. It makes it easier for consumers to find a great cleaner in their area and enables cleaners to be more productive and increase their earnings.
Starting with a handful of customers and one cleaner, it has since scaled to more than 40,000 customers and over 1,000 cleaners (or Housekeepers) on the platform. It is now the UK’s leading home cleaning service, with over 90,000 5* customer reviews and an average rating of 4.8.
Its ‘mobile-first’ approach helps Housekeepers do everything they need within their apps to manage their schedules and jobs.
Now employing more than 30 people, the firm’s projected turnover for 2018 is £13-14m. It now plans to expand geographically beyond its core London market.
The premium spirits retailer has more than 1.2 million monthly unique visitors and an average basket value per order of £104. Outside the US, it has seen site traffic soar by 35 per cent year-on-year.
The firm balances more than 10,000 in-stock lines, including more than 2,600 whiskies and more than 1,500 gins among other spirits, cocktail bitters, wines and liqueurs.
Its focus on customer experience includes advanced search, social media logins enabling order tracking and account management and acceptance of multiple currencies.
It also allows users to blend their own whiskies and customise their own spirit advent calendar.