The Business Exchange Bath & Somerset Issue 14: Winter 2019 | Page 11

BUSINESS REVIEW OF THE YEAR Technology Nathan Baranowski, Co-Founder & Managing Director, OJO Solutions Highlights from 2019 It was a planned year of growth, during which we have continued to develop our amazing team and bring on board new talent. This can be hard to find, especially when you are small and compete in a crowded market. I am particularly proud we have managed to bring in a number of female staff to balance what can be quite a male dominated industry. I was very honoured to have won Entrepreneur of Year at the Creative Bath Awards as a recognition of the work we do to drive innovation and deliver change through technology. What are you most proud of? As a business who work across the charity, start up and SME sectors delivering websites, apps and digital strategies that change behaviours and shape lives we are very proud of the work we do. This year we’re particularly proud of our work with Wiltshire Air Ambulance, developing Helifun – a mobile game to engage supporters in the charity. I’m personally proud of running Race to the Stones this year, a 100K race raising £4,500 for charity. For more info: www.ojosolutions.com Cyber What are you looking forward to in 2020? We have been working in the background in redefining OJO, its purpose and the work we want to do. This will continue to be technology based but with a strong focus on delivering positive impact through tech. As part of this work we are also looking at how we work as an organisation and exploring alternatives to the norm. This includes how we can create the best environment for our team, work four days a week (which is harder than you think) and bring OJO to Bath, Bristol and possibly to Cardiff too. [email protected] 01225 220155 Andy Cuff, Chief Executive Officer, Computer Network Defence (CND) Highlights from 2019 The shift in cyber preparedness from large businesses down to small businesses has been really exciting this year. We’ve been approached by micro businesses, start-ups and even some larger organisations who feel they have been left behind to help them down the cyber security path. We have developed some cutting edge services, such as constant vulnerability assessments, which embrace the ever-changing technical landscape and allow us to secure cloud based offerings and remote workers who rarely visit corporate sites. What are you looking forward to the most in 2020? Growing the team further to keep up with demand and provide the existing team extra time for research and development Also food! Usually instigated by the Director General of the BBC, (the CND Bacon Butty Club) which meets every Friday morning, coupled with takeaway food Public Relations Highlights from 2019 A fantastic year with a ten per cent growth in turnover and the launch of my first online PR Toolbox course based on video modules. The latter is aimed at start-ups, charities and small business owners who want to know what good media relations should be (with a few sales tips included). It’s been thrilling to work with a fantastic group of clients, to make more contacts in the national press and to run several workshops including a full day media training with professional photography. Video work has gained ground this year with more businesses investing in managed video production. meetings every 2nd and last Friday each month. We also feel it prudent to stockpile wine in case of a hard Brexit! For more info: www.cndltd.com [email protected] 01225 811806 Fiona Scott, Fiona Scott Media Consultancy What I’m looking forward to in 2020 Launching at least one other course online, I’m writing a book about my first ten years in business which I hope will be ready for publication in Q3 and I’m also raising money for Ainslie’s Pavilion Project culminating on a Purple Soiree in April. I will continue to work with my journalist hat on and write interesting, visual stories for various media outlets. I will be offering more documentary-style video services, from budgets of £300 upwards. For more info: www.fionascottmediaconsultancy.co.uk Recruitment What’s likely to impact the PR sector in 2020? The growing power of the Millennial Generation and their impact on sales and marketing messages. This generation want ethics, experience and they are fully digital. I believe some brands will continue to grasp this and thrive, others will fail. There will be an even greater focus on digital, particularly around video, however this leaves an opportunity for more traditional marketing methods. Most businesses need to consider a mix. As the world is so digitally aware, I believe there will be growing focus on local business communities, shopping local and collaboration become more and more important for the SME sector. [email protected] 07789 270030 Dan Barfoot, Operations Manager, CMD Recruitment Highlights from 2019 For me, seeing two of my team reach their ten-year point and two of the newest members of our team gained recognised recruitment qualifications. We were also able to give some of the team the opportunity to fulfil an ambition of skydiving. We hosted an amazing charity golf day where we raised over £10k for a local charity, this was a wonderful achievement for us all and we’d like to thank those who supported us. [email protected] 01225 805080 What’s coming up for the business in 2020? We are using more and more new recruitment technologies which will make us more effective and more efficient. We plan to Improve our position in the market place as a recruitment expert, this will be backed with an extensive marketing campaign. We also hope to recruit ourselves by bringing in new team members, who we can be moulded to work the CMD way! What will be important for business in 2020? I think in 2020 businesses need to think about their recruitment strategy, as they need to be working with a recruiter who cares about their brand as much as their own. Reputation is key in business and in getting the correct talent. With the UK settlement scheme coming into effect then we could see an even bigger shortage of temporary labour making resource planning more and more critical. For more info: www.cmdrecruitment.com THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2019 11