News: Expert Web expands management team

Rotherham-based digital agency, Expert Web has welcomed Mark Hannigan as head of sales and marketing.

Mark has joined the Bramley enterprise to support the business with its on-going sales and marketing strategy, tasked with pushing brand awareness throughout the region Mark will continue to be seen at many events.

The new position has been created as a dual role where he splits his time as marketing manager at Doncaster-based Expert Print. Expert Print is one of the region's leading commercial printers offering a range of services for a complete print solution.

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Mark has a wealth of both print and marketing experience. During his career Mark ran a Rotherham based printing firm before moving on to join Garnett Dickinson and The Rotherham Advertiser. Following he ran his own digital marketing agency before working as operations manager for Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber over the last four years.

Chris Harpin, managing director at Expert Web, said: "We are delighted to recruit Mark to our team where he will add valuable experience in providing a full marketing strategy and allowing both arms of the business to expand and grow. I was sorry to hear that he was leaving the chamber as I had been fortunate to work with him on many of his town commitments.

"Adding Mark to our management team is an important step forward as we continue to strive to be the agency of choice throughout the City region and beyond."

Expert Web website

Images: Expert Web

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News: City Deal of The Day relaunches following finance boost

Rotherham-based City Deal of the Day Ltd, is expanding and rebranding following a £100,000 investment from four local businessmen.

Established by enterprising Rotherham couple Jamie Clarke and wife Sharon, the business has created a niche online marketing tool which brings slashed price deals from local businesses via email and online.

Sites like www.rotherhamdealoftheday.co.uk and www.sheffielddealoftheday.co.uk feature deals ranging from family days out at the Tropical Butterfly House in North Anston, to FLABéLOS vibration plate exercise sessions at the Holiday Inn in Rotherham.

This week, the company will launch almost 90 local daily deal sites across the UK, including a brand new Rotherham and Leeds site to complete their national network.

Rotherham entrepreneur and managing director of Lifeskills, Spencer Fearn, is one of the businessmen involved in the investment.

Spencer said: "We've also negotiated an exclusive agreement with MobiTexi, the leading provider of location-based SMS advertising that sends three million text messages per month via a national network of taxi firms.

"These messages can be pinpointed to a taxi customer's location or destination, all without the advertising company ever paying a penny out."

City Deal of the Day will also launch specialist Golf and Business-to-Business Daily Deal websites to target sport enthusiasts with golf-related discounts and businesses the opportunity to promote deals to other businesses nationwide.

Jamie Clarke, managing director at City Deal of the Day, said: "This is an amazing opportunity for us to put South Yorkshire on the map. Our websites allow local businesses to target local customers without the associated expensive advertising costs.

"The MobiTexi platform also provides an ideal platform to pinpoint customers based on their location - no other national daily deal website can offer this."

Rotherham Deal of the Day website

Images: rotherhamdealoftheday.co.uk

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News: International client for design101

Rotherham web-design enterprise, design101, has secured their first international client.

Based at RiDO's Century Business Centre in Manvers, design101 is a brand new company with a wealth of experience and a host of established skills in all aspects of digital design, web site development and search engine optimisation (seo).

Silver State Supply based in Las Vegas, Nevada has hired the company to create a brand identity and a shiny new website.

Silver State are a leading supplier of all kinds of pipes, valves and fittings for a multitude of industries including the food, beverage, dairy, cosmetics, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

Closer to home, Rotherham company Xpress Ordering and the work experience organisation Business & Education South Yorkshire have both benefited from the services. design101's most high profile website is perhaps the new online Arena ticket shop for the Sheffield Arena and various venues in the surrounding area.

design101 website

Images: design101

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News: Rotherham Enterprise Board launch website

A new website is being launched to help Rotherham entrepreneurs get support and advice from organisations and others – including businesses with experience to share.

The new site – http://www.rotherham-enterprise.org/ – is the brainchild of the borough’s Enterprise Board, part of the Local Strategic Partnership, a broad-based grouping of public and private-sector organisations.

The easy-to-use site contains detailed information of free and subsidised business support across the borough.

The Knowledge Exchange facility provides a forum for discussion, where you can ask recognised entrepreneurs and business support agencies (such as Business Link Yorkshire, amongst others) those all-important questions, whose answers could help you make sure your business idea or venture is a success.

The website will also have details of all the local enterprise events that are taking place in Rotherham, including the Board’s own Tablecloth Enterprise and Dragon's Den-style events.

And the site's creators know what kind of help people behind new enterprises need – they are entrepreneurs themselves. It has been developed in partnership with Breed Creative, based at RiDO's Fusion @ Magna business centre.

The Enterprise Board and the website are funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The Board provides the strategic direction to enterprise support in the borough, with the aim of driving up local enterprise levels. Made up of Rotherham entrepreneurs who want to give something back to the community, the Board’s focus is to make the borough a centre of sustainable, diverse and growing businesses and a place where anyone wishing to start a business can get all the support and help needed.

Board chairman John Wainwright, of Executek, said: "The website will provide a one-stop-shop for anyone thinking of starting or growing their own business. The advice and expertise individuals will be able to access is extensive and I would encourage people to use this valuable resource."

Rotherham Enterprise Board website
Rotherham

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News: Castus create good websites - pure and simple

"Cut through unnecessary online jargon" - that is the gospel according to the two young website entrepreneurs behind their Rotherham-based Castus web-design agency.

The former school friends, Chris Harpin and Gary Hides, felt so strongly that websites should focus on simplicity and get straight to the point as well as look great, that they named their business Castus – Latin for pure and simple.

Chris Harpin said: "Having a website these days is an essential tool for any business, but because there's so much out there that’s both sophisticated and functional, a clumsy, long-winded, poorly designed website reflects badly on any company. It's a damaging mistake.

"People's expectations are very high. That's why we're so passionate about simplifying the jargon for our clients as well as making sure design quality is high. There's just no point in having a website that doesn't reflect, in a nutshell, what your business does and makes it accessible for potential customers, including e-commerce."

The future entrepreneurs were schoolboys sitting next to each other at Wickersley Comprehensive, but went their separate ways at 18 when Chris went into project management at the Arcadia Group and Gary went into the RAF as an electronics technician.

By 2007 they had set up Castus together, a web design, development and management agency based at RiDO's Matrix @ Dinnington business centre.

Now, both aged 29, they have a team of five staff to help them service a list of impressive clients.

Chris Harpin said: "We're different from other web design agencies in that I've got a background in project management, so we’re efficient and deliver what we say we will, on time.

"The technical side of the web is evolving all the time. What looked modern two years ago, looks outmoded today. That's our challenge."

Moving into Matrix was a good, low-cost solution to taking on the overheads of premises for their fledgling company, said Chris Harpin.

"The facilities here are second to none – it provides a real wow factor for our business clients. We often use the board room for meetings and we have flexible, 24-hour access, plus an easy-in, easy-out policy. There are also business advisers we can go to if we need advice. It's been a great move for us."

Castus website
Rotherham Invesment and Development Office
Rotherham

Images: RiDO

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News: Rotherham town centre on show thanks to Qurotech

Local web and software development company, Qurotech are set to showcase Rotherham town centre and their own cutting-edge Multi-Touch technology at the Rotherham Show.

One of the greatest uses for Multi-Touch technology is providing an interactive photo and image gallery, making displaying and interacting with media as simple as possible.

Qurotech are calling on Rotherham residents to help build up a collection of photos, artwork and videos of the town centre and the surrounding areas for the display. The technology will allow for the images to be rated on screen and the winner, with most accumulated votes, will get their own photo gallery website for all their hard work.

Other features being offered will allow media downloads to be stored onto USB and sent via email.

Rotherham Show takes place on the September 12 and 13 and photos should be sent to rotherhamshow@qurotech.co.uk

Qurotech is based at RiDO's Fusion @ Magna Business Centre and provides personal and innovative web and software development solutions to facilitate business and community needs.

Qurotech website
Rotherham Town Centre website
Rotherham

Images: qurotech.co.uk

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News: Prototype of a successful business

Gavin Winder and Joshua Abbotts, both 26, have been named the Best New Start Up at the Rotherham Young Entrepreneur Awards 2008 for their graphic and web design business, Prototype Creative. The Barnsley College graduates set the business up in February 2007 after getting some invaluable experience in the trade. They now have a string of corporate clients and their unusual approach to design is really taking off. Gavin said: "We always said we’d set up a business together at college, but both of us went off and did our own thing, although we did still see each other socially. "One day we were saying how we’d be millionaires if we set up that business together - so we did." The pair moved into a small office at RiDO-run Century Business Centre at Manvers with six months rent-free on a Youth Enterprise scheme. They now employ two staff and have already moved to the biggest office available at the centre and are looking to employ more. Gavin said: "The award is a great pat on the back for us. We’ve worked really hard these past 18 months and it’s great to know that other people think you’re doing good a good job too."
Prototype Creative website
Rotherham

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News: Rotherham entrepreneurs helping singles find their guardian angel

Kevin Finlay and Simon McCall from Rotherham have launched a new website for uniform dating, GuardianAngelDating.com. More than a simple personals website for online dating, the site offers blogs, message boards, chat rooms and instant messaging. All emergency services are welcome, police dating, firefighter dating, nurse dating and all for civilians wishing to date someone in uniform. The site has also found favour with the military, enabling users to make contact with loved ones on active duty. Regular internet webcam and online chat now takes place between the UK and Iraq and the USA and Afghanistan. The site is free to join and the pair hope that they will become the biggest player within the sector within 6 months.
Guardian Angel Dating website
Rotherham

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News: Rotherham to share Renaissance best practice online

The team behind the massive town-centre programme, Rotherham Renaissance, is set to launch the UK’s first website aimed primarily at other regeneration promoters and practitioners. The idea is to highlight the lessons learned in how best to unlock complex schemes, get new markets moving and engage high-quality developers and architects. The new website focuses on the £60m Westgate Demonstrator Project. Visitors will see and hear experts talking about the practical issues that have gone into bringing the council's and its partners’ ambitions to reality. Yorkshire Forward's Rob Tranmer stated that "Rotherham has demonstrated its ability to be innovative and its initiative by being the first town to share its best practice in this way." The Westgate Project which will provide 1,160 apartments, is the first major mixed-use scheme to be built under the renaissance scheme.

Rotherham Westgate Demonstrator Project website

Rotherham Renaissance website

Rotherham Advertiser article

Rotherham

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