TEES TECH AWARDS 2023
BEST DIGITAL PROJECT / CAMPAIGN
FINALIST
CORE SYSTEMS SOFTWARE
Vianet ’ s Thom Menzies received the category trophy from former Tees Tech Ambassador Dominic Lusardi .
WINNER
VIANET
The versatility of Stockton-based Vianet ’ s SmartVend system - the industry ’ s only cloud-based vending system - means vending operators can view their estate remotely , anytime and anywhere .
And as Vianet head of technology Thom Menzies explained , it ’ s tech that can be adapted to other markets .
He said : “ We focus a lot on the hospitality and vending sector but from a technology perspective , we deal with large volumes of data . That ’ s the same across a variety of industries and the way we ’ ve built our technology out means we can reuse it in different areas for wholly different purposes .”
Thom explained it was a case of second time lucky this year , the company having been a finalist in 2022 , only to lose out to Tascomp .
He said : “ We ’ ve been the bridesmaid before so it ’ s fantastic to turn that around .
“ It illustrates all the hard work that ’ s gone into this , from being part of this community and being able to take tech in this region that little bit further – hiring local people and really pushing forward for the community .
“ It ’ s down to the hard work of everybody . We ’ re really trying to take the work we ’ ve done to date and move it forward , looking at what our customers need , the needs of our business and bringing that together – evolving it and making it an offer that ’ s really great for the industries that we support .”
Thom said Vianet employs 150 people , with an emphasis on helping local people “ further their own careers and help Vianet as a business .”
Having reached the final of three categories in this year ’ s Tees Tech Awards , CORE is clearly making people sit up and take notice .
Developed by Rockliffe Construction Services ( NE ), CORE provides ease of use and design to help construction companies work as efficiently as they possibly can – and potentially save millions of pounds along the way . CORE captures all data produced on and offsite , securely recording a single point of truth that ’ s instantly accessible anytime , anywhere and on any device .
It delivers fast , accurate and intuitive data via business intelligence reporting to inform decision-making – making it a platform that ’ s a cornerstone of information management in an industry where information on scrap paper and Post-it notes used to be the norm .
FINALIST
STACKUP DIGITAL
In 2021 , Middlesbrough digital design agency StackUp Digital was contracted by Watson Fuels to take over managing a website for its sub-brand , Direct Oil . Customers use the Direct Oil website to buy domestic heating oil and have it delivered to their homes based on a website or phone quote – but the journey had become clunky and slow .
Step forward StackUp which , despite quickly having to learn how to use the WooCommerce API and overcome technical challenges , produced a website that ’ s transformed the user experience .
An average quote now takes between one and three seconds instead of 90 seconds . And compared to winter 2021 and the old website , there ’ s been a 553 per cent increase in order value and a 403 per cent increase in orders .
The voice of business in the Tees region | 65