The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 43: June/July 2019 | Page 18

THE TECHIES AWARDS 2019
Cover Story
The Techies 2019:
Showcasing Swindon & Wiltshire’s Tech Community
Inspiring tech entrepreneurs and their teams made their way to Hartham Park in May to take part
in the second annual Wiltshire Techie Awards. To a packed audience the best, most innovative,
tech-based companies across the region were showcased during an evening of celebration.
The evening began with organiser Anita
Jaynes thanking attendees for making the
second event even better than the first.
She said, “It was hugely rewarding to see
so many people coming out to celebrate our
thriving and growing tech sector. We had
many more entries for the awards this year
and our judges had a very difficult job to
select finalists and then winners. The truth
is everyone was a winner this year for doing
their bit to put our tech sector on the map.”
The panel of judges can also attest to
the fact that their job was made more
difficult this year. Here are just a few of their
comments:
•“It has been a huge privilege to be part
of the judging process and to have had the
opportunity to hear and learn about the
fabulous work that is going on across the
region. There is an abundance of talent and
expertise here, something reflected in the
large number of high-quality applications.
Tech businesses in Swindon and Wiltshire
have so much to be proud of and I would like
to congratulate everyone involved with this
year’s Techies for their hard work, support
and commitment to making the event such
a huge success.” - Kate Westbrook, Head of
Commercial, Thrings Solicitors.
•“Once again the Wiltshire Techies have
demonstrated the existence of a highly
innovative, vibrant and active community of
hi-tech, high-growth tech entrepreneurs in
the county, busy creating jobs and wealth
at local, national and international levels. It
was not an easy task to select the finalists
because they were all excellent and I wish
them all continued success.” – Dr Ali
Hadavizadeh, Business Support Specialist,
Acorn Biz Solutions.
•“It was a great privilege to be involved
in judging the Techies again this year with
a highly experienced and diverse team
of judges. The quality of applicants was
outstanding. The variety of tech products
and services made it an interesting
challenge to compare. It is fascinating to
see how technology is creating efficiency
and increasing productivity in order to
free up human resource to innovate and
enable growth. I encourage businesses
in Swindon and Wiltshire to get involved
in next year’s awards and shine a light on
their achievements.” - Mirabelle Mack,
Swindon and Wiltshire SME Growth Project
Manager.
The Techies will be back in 2020 and the
competition will open for entries in early
January.
The Techies Headline Sponsor
The Swindon & Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP) supported
The Techies as headline sponsor for the second year running.
SWLEP got behind the awards as the technology sector has been identified as
a key area for local economic growth.
The Venue Sponsor
Hartham Park has long been known as the ‘Tech Mansion’ and when we
started planning the first Techies in 2017, it seemed the most fitting venue.
We were delighted Hartham Park
decided to get behind the Techies again
in 2019 as it’s the perfect backdrop for
the awards ceremony.
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The venue is steeped in over 200
years of innovation and enterprise
and is a unique place for businesses,
organisations and individuals to get
together and ignite ideas.
THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2019
Hartham Park’s caterers, Sweetpea
Catering, designed a modern menu for
the evening and over 400 bowls of food
were served in less than 35 minutes.