Andrew Cuthbert

Loving Jamie's article on the North East being a great place for business. Then, I would.... I travelled 325 miles to base Myfolks there. Of course, I wanted to help create wealth in and for the north east (as many know, our great Tyne Bridge is represented in the Myfolks' logo). But, I've been building commercial wraps around tech products for 25 years before I founded Myfolks and I wouldn't have made that emotional choice if it didn't make sound economic and commercial sense. The North East tech scene is navigatable - one of the first places I was pointed to is Sunderland Software City, from there to Paul Lancaster's events (check put Pl_tform) and on to the Innovation Supernetwork and onwards. The Universities, including my beloved Northumbria, Newcastle, Sunderland and Teeside are doing great work in the tech space, both in the north east and beyond and they work together - with industry, with founders and, crucially, with each other. Why wouldn't you want to benefit from the National Innovation Centre for Data in today's data driven world? Where would Myfolks be without the support of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing, their neighbours, located on the Helix in Newcastle and Health Innovation (North east and north Cumbria)? I hurtle about cramming in meetings in a way I couldn't in the south, often on foot, or the metro. You can do more in a day. The business community and the founders' community are so strong, helpful and collaborative. Plus, there's at least 7 Greggs in Newcastle and, did you note the tech Sela introduced recently to enable deaf kids to experience the noise and passion of the match? Makes you proud... Give Jamie's article in our fabulous QT a read.... See you in the North East soon...

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Some exciting news for you all and thrilled to announce that Unitech Synergies is now LIVE on Crowdcube! This is your exclusive opportunity to invest in what we believe will be the next unicorn in the world of green tech for the cooling industry. Crowdcube Unitech Synergies #InvestmentOpportunity #GreenTech #ClimateSolutions #SustainableFuture #StartupFunding

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Caught in the slow lane with your tech? It's a universal truth we're ready to challenge: Slow tech means slow business. But it doesn't have to be that way.     At 7-6 Tech Ltd, we're all about giving your business the boost it needs, minus the waffle.    If you're an accounting firm, payroll provider, or umbrella company looking for no-nonsense IT services in Hampshire, that's what we do, so we should talk.    #itsupport #hampshireitsupport #HampshireIT #managedservices #cybersecurity    

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Caught in the slow lane with your tech? It's a universal truth we're ready to challenge: Slow tech means slow business. But it doesn't have to be that way.     At 7-6 Tech Ltd, we're all about giving your business the boost it needs, minus the waffle.    If you're an accounting firm, payroll provider, or umbrella company looking for no-nonsense IT services in Hampshire, that's what we do, so we should talk.    #itsupport #hampshireitsupport #HampshireIT #managedservices #cybersecurity  

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Caught in the slow lane with your tech? It's a universal truth we're ready to challenge: Slow tech means slow business. But it doesn't have to be that way.  At 7-6 Tech Ltd, we're all about giving your business the boost it needs, minus the waffle. If you're an accounting firm, payroll provider, or umbrella company looking for no-nonsense IT services in Hampshire, that's what we do, so we should talk.    #itsupport #hampshireitsupport #HampshireIT #managedservices #cybersecurity  

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Expect some authentic insights based on practical experience.

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I just landed on this article today... It is an article published by WhaTech just yesterday that has described the growing market of refurbished tech products and the fundamentals behind the same. As it says, a market grows only when the consumer is getting the benefits which ultimately leads to more companies in the sector. A certain market grows only when it spreads because of the referrals and a product or service receives referrals only when the end consumer is satisfied. But this article also says that major players going to play important roles as trust and post-sale service drive this sector which is usually not provided by the unorganised market. Go through the complete article: https://lnkd.in/gN9EnRp7

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I've managed to get an early onboarding to ZeroTouch.ai and had a good look at what it does. Read all about it in my latest post https://lnkd.in/eyZSWHiB

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Anyone looking for a grant to help start their business? See Below

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Brilliant article from Jasper Jolly at The Guardian exploring how EVs will really impact the future of energy in the UK. If you've been bombarded by the sceptics and you've maybe started to believe the 'EVs will kill the Grid' argument/nonsense, take a read: rather than being the Grid's nemesis, if we're smart about how we manage EV charging, they may well be one of the most important parts of making a renewables-rich generation mix work, in addition to being one of the single biggest steps we can take to reduce carbon emissions and reduce our daily transport costs. And the tech in this story is only scratching the surface of what can be achieved in the medium term! https://lnkd.in/eMEZk6eF

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Why Documenting Procedures is Essential for SME Growth ... And How AI Can Help For many SMEs, documenting processes can feel like an unnecessary luxury. If you’ve got one person who just knows how to get something done, why spend time writing it down? Well if you’re serious about scaling your business, documenting your processes needs to be on your to-do list. It builds resilience by reducing reliance on key individuals, and it lets you step back and check if your current methods are truly the best approach. But ... You can take the pain out of this task with AI. Simply talk through your process, sketch a few diagrams or flowcharts, and let AI do the boring stuff. It simplifies the development process, making it quick and painless. It’s time to level up your business. Start by capturing what you actually do.

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“There’s not enough financial support for businesses in NI!” - Well, here’s some right here for Startups/New Businesses AND Innovation/Modernization Initiatives: Startups/New Businesses Startup Loan Scheme: Low-interest loans + mentoring for early-stage businesses. Ongoing. NI Small Business Loan Fund: Loans between £10k-£100k for small or micro-enterprises. Go Succeed Start: Local councils offer grants and advice to turn ideas into reality. Ongoing. SWEF Enterprise Fund: Small grants to help with startup costs. Innovation/Modernization Initiatives Ambition to Grow: Opens January 6, 2025. Up to £45k to help businesses create jobs and scale sales outside NI. Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF): Helps businesses modernize with digital solutions. Rolling.  Innovation Vouchers: Funding to work with knowledge providers on specific challenges. Ongoing. Business Innovation Grant: Grants for developing innovative products or services. Tech Start PoC Grant Fund: For proof-of-concept development in tech. Deadlines vary. Still think there’s no support? Or don’t know how to secure funding? DMs open, or share even more programs below if I’ve missed any. Someone else might need them. All links in the comments.

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How We’ll Maximise Our £250k SEIS Investment in LØUCO 💡 Securing investment is just the beginning—it’s how we put it to work that drives impact. 💸 Here’s exactly how we plan to allocate the £250k we’re raising: 🚀 Product Development: Conduct further third-party testing, customer observational studies, and refine our formulas to perfection. 👩🏽‍🔬 This will also fund the research and development of two additional products targeting life-stage-specific needs, and initiate the production of branded accessories. 🚀 Go-To-Market Strategy: Invest in high-impact, cost-efficient marketing campaigns, focusing on building a strong, authentic community. Leveraging our organic network of leading women’s health professionals and brand partnerships, we’ll amplify our reach. 🚀 Team Growth: Bring in top-tier freelance talent to accelerate our growth–experts in digital marketing, social media, and operations will ensure that we scale efficiently and effectively. We’re committed to ensuring every pound drives results as we prepare for our November launch. If you’re an investor looking to make a meaningful impact, there’s still time to join our SEIS/EIS-approved round—just 6 weeks left! 🚀 Let’s connect. Send me a DM or email at [email protected] and we can share our investor deck. #fundraising #startupfunding #angelinvestors #entrepreneurship #startuplife #SEISapproved #womenshealth #plantbasedprotein

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With the advent of AI never before have a small group of specialists been able to deliver so much value to the companies we work with. I see this trend continuing not just in my company ClearSky Logic but across sectors in general. Supercharging your core team to be 100%s more productive and valuable.

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“Staplehurst Monarchs is delighted to announce a new initiative working with iTrust and partnered by Icarus Solar Energy. The iTrust app is a platform which enables players, parents, spectators and anyone involved with our football club, to quickly and easily provide feedback confidentially to help us improve match days and training and ensure everyone has the best possible experience at our club. The platform can be used to report racism or homophobia, vandalism, anti-social behaviour or it can be used to praise someone within our club who is doing a great job. We will have posters around the ground, on our website and social media platforms and anyone can scan the QR code and give positive feedback, or raise concerns, in confidence and anonymously. Junior Club Chairman John Stonebridge said “We pride ourselves on being an inclusive community club and want everyone to have a positive experience when they come to matches or training sessions. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to receive feedback directly and in near real time so we welcome additional feedback to help us learn and grow for the betterment of experiences of young players, parents and spectators at our matches. It’s also great to receive positive comments about our managers and coaches who do a great job as volunteers working with so many young players in our club. We are extremely grateful to Icarus Energy for giving us the opportunity to use this feedback solution and for supporting Staplehurst Monarchs as a Community Club with values and commitments to providing a similar positive environment as ours.” Senior club Chairperson Nic Stonebridge added “We have worked hard in recent seasons to build links between our committee, players and supporters and hope to provide a positive match day experience for everyone. Being able to receive feedback which will help us to further improve our match days will be vital for our future as we develop and strengthen our community ethos.” #MoreThanTech

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Octopus Energy has grown from zero in 9 years. We're not only the UK's largest electricity supplier, but also a software platform powering energy companies around the world (Kraken), a huge investor in renewable generation (Octopus Energy Generation), a provider of electric cars to tens of thousands of customers (Octopus Electric Vehicles) and so much more. When you build from zero you know that everything - everything - is built by the team. Your people are not seen as a pesky headcount overhead, but an invaluable asset to deliver outstanding service, deliver projects and innovate relentlessly. So we've always focused on people (https://lnkd.in/e_nK67XY is a great resource on our way of doing it - especially episodes zero and one). We're not perfect - just like we sometimes get it wrong for customers we sometimes get it wrong for our team - but overall, we get it right a lot more. SO it really fills me with pride to see us identified as the UK's best employer, based on real employee experience in this analysis by Zensai https://lnkd.in/eRV8q72n Very happy to discuss thoughts, questions, observations and criticisms! Improving work is a key to improving lives, enhancing economies and driving productivity, growth and happiness and I think all companies benefit from discussing it, comparing notes and learning from each other.

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