A CELEBRATION OF SWINDON & WILTSHIRE TECH
HEADLINE SPONSOR
THE WINNERS ARE REVEALED !
Inspirational techie entrepreneurs and their teams came together to celebrate the best tech-based companies in the Swindon and Wiltshire area at the fourth Swindon & Wiltshire annual IT and Technology Awards – the Techies , on Thursday 4th November .
The Techies , which is an initiative of The Business Exchange were broadcast from the internationally renowned , state-of-the-art Sandstorm Films studios in Swindon and live-streamed . The audience included local businesses , business people , colleagues , friends and family that entered the awards , sponsors , supporters and judges . The night was hosted by Tom Ward , Founder of Sandstorm Films and compèred by Chris Dawes , local sports commentator and media trainer . Judges and sponsors graced both the real and virtual stage to announce the worthy winners .
Organised by Anita Jaynes , Founder of The Business Exchange , the annual event shines the spotlight on some amazing tech talent that would otherwise have gone unnoticed . It shows that innovation , enterprise and future tech is emerging continuously from SMEs working in the community .
Anita Jaynes , said , “ It is important once again to recognise the area ’ s assets and celebrate the most exciting and innovative tech firms right on our doorstep . When analysing this year ’ s Techies entries , I worked out the businesses entering the 2021 awards employ nearly 700 people across Swindon and Wiltshire and deliver over £ 65 million in turnover for the local economy .
“ Despite the challenges the pandemic has thrown at us , the future is looking bright for our local tech sector . Of the repeat entries , those who entered both last year and this year , turnovers are up , and 58 new job roles have been created in the last year . We ’ ve seen teams double in size and Techies finalists turn from one-man-bands into teams . The Techies is here to recognise and celebrate those successes . “ The Techies Awards wouldn ’ t be possible without the support of our headline sponsor , the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and category sponsors ,
All Boxed , Computer Network Defence , Elm Workspace , SETSquared , Ntegra , Thrings , MHA Monahans and Sandstorm Films .
“ I would like to thank everyone involved with the Techies 2021 , including our judging panel . The judges give hours of their time reviewing the entries and deliberating before making their final decisions .
“ I would like to personally thank , Kate Westbrook , Paddy Bradley , Kathryn Wellum-Kent , James Eades , Ali Hadavizadeh and Mirabelle Stobbs . They work as a cracking team and had a particularly difficult task this year making their decisions , the competition was fierce with lots of debate before the final cut could be announced .
“ A huge congratulations to all our finalists and winners . We hope to see you entering the Techies again in 2022 and look forward to hearing your continued growth and success stories .”
BEST USER EXPERIENCE
Winner : Digital Wonderlab Location : Bradford on Avon Number of employees : 18 Project submitted : Samten , the mindfulness and meditation app
Digital Wonderlab helps clients develop technology strategies , guiding them through a range of solutions and delivering immersive technology that enables them to transform their organisation . The firm ' s award-winning Techies entry focused on its work for client Samten , the mindfulness and meditation app . Samten helps individuals find inner peace in a frantic world by teaching meditation and mindfulness skills for everyday life .
With over 70 million working days lost each year due to mental health problems in the UK alone , costing employers more than £ 2.4 billion per year , the app aims to provide self-help enabling people to develop their own mental
26 www . tbeswindonandwilts . co . uk health and wellbeing plans to cope with the world around them .
Samten needed to find the right digital partner to relaunch the app , delivering an enhanced version , building on key learnings from a disappointing first iteration to provide a better user experience .
Success criteria built in from the outset included enhancing the user experience on both iOS and Android operating systems , so it was bug free , elegantly designed and intuitive for people to engage with . Importantly , existing users needed to seamlessly transition into the new app with ease .
Throughout the discovery , wireframe and solution design process , Digital Wonderlab ’ s focus was on the meditation journey that users would embark upon , making it as seamless and supportive as possible , with beautifully crafted technology that flows naturally for practitioners . Digital Wonderlab took time to explore and understand user needs and their meditation motivations to deliver a digital solution that supports individual journeys towards deep mindfulness practice .
Jamie Watkins , CEO , Samten , said , “ It makes all the difference in the world to work with a partner company who really understands your needs , and that of the audience . Nathan and the Digital Wonderlab team have done a terrific job of grabbing hold of this project and bringing a creative vision to life . What we have now is ‘ night and day ’ compared to the first iteration of the Samten app . It ’ s completely revitalised our core meditation content and made it accessible and engaging to a far wider audience .”
Nathan Baranowski , Chief Wondermaker , Digital Wonderlab , said , “ Winning the Best User Experience award is an incredible accolade for us and our partner Samten , as we both firmly place people at the centre of everything we do .” To find out more about Samten visit : www . mysamten . com and try the app for yourself in the app store .
For more info : www . digitalwonderlab . com