One hundred of the most digitally ambitious businesses in the Leeds City Region are being profiled and celebrated in the Digital Enterprise Top 100 report, announced later this month.
Representing a wide range of business sectors, the 100 small-to-medium-sized firms have been identified by the Government-backed Digital Enterprise business support programme as having invested in, and significantly boosted, their digital influence to increase competitiveness.
Firms from across all nine Leeds City Region local authority areas of Leeds, Kirklees, York, Harrogate, Craven, Calderdale, Bradford, Selby and Wakefield feature in the Top 100 report. They represent a diverse range of industries, from Harrogate retail and logistics specialist architects practice SMR; to Rainbow Trout, a Ripponden film production company; and state-of-the-art waste shredding firm Untha, in York.
Livewell Vending, a Leeds-based provider of modern automatic vending machines, also features in the listing. The firm received a £5,000 Digital Growth Voucher from Digital Enterprise this year to upgrade its digital technology. Managing director Aaron Prout said: “The funding helped bring about a huge technological advance for Livewell. We used the grant to help invest in a machine-to-machine telemetry system, which now provides remote access to live sales information, stock levels and the operating status of all of our vending stations.”
He added: “It’s made a huge difference to the productivity and efficiency of our business; quite simply we know precisely when we need to visit a station, exactly what stock to take, and whether there are any technical faults that need to be resolved. It has also improved our customer service as we can now ensure full product availability. The system enables contactless payments too, which is essential in the modern world. We’re now in a position where, overall, no other vending company in the UK is currently as advanced as Livewell in terms of this remote technology.”
Digital Enterprise programme manager, Muz Mumtaz, said: “The Top 100 is a celebration of the transformative power of digital technology for businesses and the regional economy, and that is what Digital Enterprise is all about.
“These 100 diverse and pioneering businesses have made an investment in technology that has really paid off for them and helped to drive competitiveness and growth. As we strive – and succeed – as a region to compete both in the UK and globally, we need to be open to the huge commercial advantages that digital technology can deliver, helping the Leeds City Region to grow, prosper and generate new jobs.”
An event to celebrate the Digital Enterprise Top 100 and launch the full report will be held on 27 June. The Digital Enterprise Digital Growth Vouchers, Connectivity Vouchers and Digital Knowledge Exchange schemes, which are currently closed for applications, will be relaunching in September, offering funding towards digital projects and access to knowledge, expertise and advice on deploying digital solutions.
