Category Archives: Wiltshire News

Appointments, Business & Property News, Technology, Wiltshire News

New MD takes over at IT firm Mintivo as founder steps aside after six years of rapid growth

WILTSHIRE IT services and solutions company Mintivo has appointed Alex Jukes as its new Managing Director after a fifth consecutive year of growth, with 2022-23 seeing a more than 45 per cent increase in turnover.

Founder Chris Gough is stepping aside as MD, although he will remain a member of the Chippenham company’s board.

Mr Jukes, who joined the company three years ago and has more than ten years’ experience in the sector, said: “I’m really excited about this new role because it’s always been my ambition to get to this type of position.

“I’m fortunate because I’m taking it on at a time where the company is incredibly stable and when we have a strong team in general but particularly a really strong management team who I will be able to lean on.”

He said clients won’t notice the change because the company will maintain its focus on customer service. “It’s going to be business as usual,” he said. “We’re not going to make any major changes but we’re going to try and highlight opportunities to change things for the better at the same time.

“We will look at how we make sure that people who work for us get the opportunities they want. In our market although the most important thing is retaining customers, it is also essential to retain the right people, because people buy from people.”

Executive Chairman Steve Healy said: “We see this as a fantastic opportunity for Alex to step into the role of managing director, he brings a wealth of experience and a strong commitment to excellence, making him the ideal candidate to lead Mintivo into its next phase of growth.”

Mr Gough, who is also a non-executive director at Wiltshire Friendly Society, said the move has been planned for more than six months and that he will be looking to become involved in other projects while supporting Mintivo as an advisor to the board. “It has been an absolute honour to lead this remarkable team since we started the company back in 2018 and I am immensely proud of what we have achieved together,” he said.

“We have an exceptional leadership team who will undoubtedly continue growing Mintivo. I am privileged to have worked alongside such talented individuals, and I have every confidence that they will continue to drive our company forward with the same passion and dedication.”

Mr Jukes said he has made maintaining customer service a priority for the year ahead. “Since day one we’ve reinvested in the business, whether it be people or systems,” he said.

“The goal for us is to keep growing, but our reinvesting over the last five years has put us in a strong position. We will continue to reinvest to underpin our growth, while ensuring we partner with customers that value IT.”

He said the company will make a major investment into upgrading its ITSM system. “Our team is excited about the capabilities of what we’re doing, it’s going to enable them to spend more time on things they want to be doing rather than on administration. It’s going to make us more efficient while allowing our teams to focus on our customers,” said Mr Jukes.

The last year’s growth has been driven by attracting new customers who want to evolve and develop their environment through the use of Cloud technologies. Mr Jukes said: “Our goal is to partner with organisations who want to leverage more from their IT, organisations who want to approach IT in a strategic way and see us as a valuable partner.”

Mintivo’s early clients tended to be in highly regulated sectors including financial services and defence, hence the unusual amount of security and compliance accreditation for a firm of its size, but recent years have seen its client base expand into recruitment, professional services, hospitality and its largest recent growth area, the charity sector. In the last few months it has become the long-term strategic partner for Dorothy House Hospice near Bath, Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Bristol Drug Project.

The company has seen an rise in new customers enquiring about IT support and strategic guidance, averaging two new customers a month with the aim of beginning their digital transformation. “I think the key for us and our growth is not purely down to bringing in new customers, but ensuring we are a good fit for the customers’ needs and we attract customers who want to go on the journey together and who see the value in IT,” said Mr Jukes.

“Our customer attrition is incredibly low and we want to continue to look after all of the customers that have trusted us so far.”

Find out more about the company’s services at mintivo.co.uk.

Charity & CSR, South West, South West England News, Tech, Technology, Wiltshire News

Mintivo contract with Wiltshire Air Ambulance gets lift off

WILTSHIRE Air Ambulance (WAA) has signed a five year deal with Wiltshire IT services and solutions expert Mintivo to be its strategic IT partner.

The charity, which provides a lifesaving helicopter emergency medical service across Wiltshire, Bath and surrounding areas, said it was looking for a new IT partner to support its lifesaving service and that Mintivo was successful because it demonstrated a clear understanding of its needs. The Lacock company will be supporting the charity’s service with a 24/7 resilient and stable network as well as providing essential staff training.

Mintivo Commercial Director Alex Jukes said that as the Semington charity has no IT department of its own, his firm’s ability to cover every aspect of support, training and guidance on strategic development was key to its winning the contract.

“I think the key thing for them was working with a local business that aligned to their values and had expertise in the charity sector, and with the NHS,” he said.

“We’re able to provide that 24/7 capability, which is what they need because obviously they are working 365 days a year. If there is an issue with their network or systems they need to know that they’ve got a partner who is always available and understands the intricacies and nuances of how they operate, otherwise it might stop their pilots from being able to take off and at that point it could become a life or death scenario.

“So for them, it is really about having confidence in a provider with proven capability in the market, with values which align to theirs and a partner who sees them as a valuable customer.”

The charity needs to raise £4.5 million a year, the equivalent of more than £12,000 every day, to keep its Bell 429 helicopter in the air and critical care car on the road. During 2023 it was called to 1,167 missions, an average of three per day.

Mr Jukes said that as the charity is already forward thinking in its IT provision, part of Mintivo’s role will be to help it get more out of its technology to save staff time and money. “They run a slick operation generally anyway, and you’d expect them to because of that critical service element,” he said.

“From an IT point of view, they’re in a fairly good place and they just want to continue to leverage some of the technologies in their business better and maximiser their investment, particularly around Microsoft.

“A key thing for us to continually assess with our charity customers is how are we going to add value? How is technology going to allow it to do better fundraising, deliver better services? Can we create efficiencies from automation, or increase productivity through a better use of technology? Any money saved can potentially then can go back into the charity’s funds. So it’s all about using technology to gain more efficiencies.”

He said Mintivo, which was formed in 2018 and offers managed IT support, consultancy, cyber security and automation, will ensure its IT helpdesk is available online round the clock, while staff will be at the charity’s Semington base regularly to answer queries. “As with our other customers, our personal approach and attention to detail mean we are almost seen as ‘in house’ by clients,” he said.

WAA Director of Finance and Infrastructure Danielle Friend said: “When we undertook an exercise to tender for our IT services, the intention was not only to find a strategic partner who would look after the infrastructure and general IT requirements, but one who would assist in bringing innovative ideas to life. Being an IT partner is no longer about just setting up users and sending emails, especially as the Microsoft 365 applications have become such a powerful tool for change and advancement.

“We went through the tendering process as a team and Mintivo were the clear winners. We believe Mintivo will help us achieve our ambitious plans around data and automation, and very much look forward to working with them over the next five years.”

Mr Jukes said: “We are really proud to be working with a prestigious charity that is so well respected and loved across the county, and one that saves so many lives.”

Find out more about the charity at wiltshireairambulance.co.uk and about Mintivo’s services at Mintivo.co.uk.

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Pictured: Wiltshire Air Ambulance doctor Reuben Cooper, left, pilot George Williams, Mintivo  Commercial Director Alex Jukes, Service Director Jason Lovell and Operations Manager Hannah Saunders and Wiltshire Air Ambulance Finance Director Danielle Friend and Critical Care Paramedic Craig Wilkins with the charity’s Bell 429 helicopter

Pictured: Wiltshire Air Ambulance Critical Care Paramedic Craig Wilkins showing Mintivo’s team around the charity’s Bell 429 helicopter. Last year it and the charity’s critical care car were called to 1,167 missions, an average of three per day

International News, Marketing, PR and SEO, Recruitment, Recruitment News, South East England News, South West, USA, Web Design, Wiltshire News

Recruitment expert aided in US expansion by creative agency’s new brand and website project

NOTTINGHAM-BASED recruitment agency Distinct has been aided with a push into markets further south and in the US by a redesigned website and an updated brand.

Distinct, which specialises in recruitment for roles within finance, HR, marketing, IT and office support and supply chain and procurement, is opening an office in London to mount an expansion into the south and is about to open another in Boston to capitalise on its rapid growth in the North American market. It turned to Wiltshire design agency Milk & Tweed for its new brand look and an upgraded website with functions to help both clients and job hunters.

Milk & Tweed, which has offices in Chippenham and Brighton in Sussex, is building a reputation for excellence in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing.

Distinct Marketing Director Amy Robinson-Nunn said: “We’ve got exciting expansion plans in both London and North America, whilst also pushing to stand out in quite competitive markets. So, one of the things we wanted to do was make sure that our brand and our website supported this strategy.

“We wanted something that was fresh, confident, clean and modern, whilst still retaining the core of what the brand has always been – I think that’s been achieved here.”

Milk & Tweed’s design team refreshed the Distinct logo to give it a more modern feel, sharpened the colours and used cleaner typography. “While it’s not been radically transformed, these changes have made it look totally different,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

The agency’s website has been redesigned and features two new user-friendly tools. “For a candidate being offered a job, one of the first things you want to do is work out your take-home pay, so we’ve got a salary calculator where they can insert their wage and then the tax, student loan and pension deductions are calculated to leave the exact amount they’ll receive in their bank account,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

“On the flip side for our clients, we’ve got a wage insights tool which uses live data from the last 12 months, so if they are advertising a job in a particular area, the tool will display the going rate for that job title in their chosen location.”

She said the agency is delighted with the new site. “The development team in particular have been incredible,” she said. “Milk & Tweed’s Web Manager Jon Mynette has been leading the way for us from a development point of view and he’s been fantastic to work with.

“I think they’ve created something that I am genuinely proud of and would recommend them to others.”

She said the new website is particularly important, given Distinct’s ambitious expansion plans. “We’re really taking hold in the US and we’re working in roles within the public accounting and legal sectors,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

“We started off in New York and have since moved into Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, Florida, Connecticut and Ohio, so we’re opening an office in Boston to further strengthen our operation in the US.

“Our refreshed brand and new website help us to stand out from our competitors and will certainly support our new strategy and exciting expansion plans.”

Milk & Tweed Web Manager Jon Mynette said: “The project was amazing to work on and the team at Distinct were great to work with because they were so organised, driven and ambitious. It really pushed us as a team and I’m very proud of the work we’ve done and the results we’ve achieved.

“Distinct had some amazing ideas around how they wanted their site to be presented and perform. It meant we had to push the boundaries of how we usually build, which I always enjoy. I must give a special mention to the lead designer Jon Francis and lead developer Sam Jones, who have both done fantastic work on the project. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have.”

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Pictured: Recruitment agency Distinct turned to creative agency Milk & Tweed to help prepare it for an expansion into the south of England and further into North America

Elderly Care, News, Wiltshire News

Warning over energy bill debt as Wiltshire Community Foundation launches Surviving Winter appeal

WILTSHIRE Community Foundation is appealing for businesses to support an appeal that bids to prevent older and vulnerable suffering over the cold winter months.

Its annual Surviving Winter appeal, now in its 13th year, was set up in response to the average 300 cold-related deaths each winter in the county and works with Wiltshire Warm and Safe, Swindon and Wiltshire Citizens Advice and Age UK, which distribute £200 grants to help with fuel bills as well as provide energy-saving or benefits advice to older and vulnerable people in fuel poverty.

Last year the appeal’s partners helped 3,039 people across 1,892 households. This year a fifth partner, the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living, has joined the programme.

Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Joint Chief Executive Fiona Oliver said harrowing stories of older and vulnerable people heating just one room for a few hours a day or skipping meals to save money for their bills have become commonplace since the appeal was first launched in 2010.

“Every year we hear heartbreaking tales that just shouldn’t be happening in a civilised country in 2023,” she said. “The fuel grants help provide people with peace of mind that they can have the heating on, which we are told by experts in geriatric health is essential for older and vulnerable people.

“Also the extra support and advice our partners supply can increase a households’ income through benefits they are entitled to but either didn’t know about or couldn’t understand how to apply for. We can help fix immediate problems but more importantly, we can leave people better equipped, safer and more hopeful for the future.”

She is hoping businesses will consider supporting the appeal. “It would be wonderful if companies could donate money from Christmas jumper days, mince pie bake-offs or collections at their festive parties.

“We have had superb support in past years from businesses across Wiltshire and Swindon and it would be fantastic if we had that again.”

Shareen Elnagy, a project manager for the Centre For Sustainable Energy’s Wiltshire Warm and Safe programme, is warning that although energy bills have fallen slightly, they are still significantly higher than two years ago and the government’s Energy Bills Support Scheme, which gave households £400 off their bills, ended in March.

She and her energy advice teams fear a rise in the number of people falling into arrears because of high standing charges will see more coming to them for help. “It’s hard giving energy advice at times, because there’s only so much you can do and with the standing charge being such a large proportion of the bill you’ve already paid before using any energy,” she said.

“I think without the help of the government and with the standing charge debt and the cost of living, everything is so expensive now, it’s scary. We’ll have even more people asking for financial help.”

Mrs Oliver said any amount people can spare will make a huge difference and is asking people who receive the government’s Winter Fuel Allowance to consider donating all or part of it. She said: “This year everyone is under extra financial pressure but support for those who see the colder months as a time of worry and dread has never been more needed – or appreciated.”

Donate to the appeal at www.wiltshirecf.org.uk/about/surviving-winter, by calling 01380 738989, emailing wiltshirecf.org.uk or sending a cheque made payable to Wiltshire Community Foundation to 21 Northgate Street, Devizes, SN101JT.

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Pictured: Wiltshire Community Foundation Joint Chief Executive Fiona Oliver, with Chair of Trustees Angus Macpherson, right, and trustee Mark Barnett. They are appealing to businesses to support the community foundation’s 13th Surviving Winter appeal.