21st August 2019
A technology business which relocated to The Deep Business Centre after outgrowing its previous home is poised for further expansion by making the most of its new surroundings.
Think Cloud has created four jobs since moving to The Deep in autumn 2018, taking their team to 11, and will soon recruit more people after adding a new dimension to the business with a series of masterclasses and workshops.
The company is also applying its skills to its partnership with the Yorkshire-based mental health charity Andy’s Man Club, with a strategy of “digital well-being” designed to reduce the stress generated by too much technology at work.
Think Cloud welcomed clients from large and small businesses to its first masterclass in the conference suite at the Business Centre earlier this year. A second event in October will see the company launch its new IT support application, and before then co-founder Leon McQuade will share his knowledge as a speaker at two major industry events.
In October, Leon will join the speakers at the Humber Tech Expo, which takes place on Thursday 1 October and Friday 2 October at the Bonus Arena in Hull. On Wednesday 11 September he will speak at the “Inspiring Business 2019” event hosted by James Legal at the Hallmark Hotel, North Ferriby.
In addition to the key themes of cultivating a winning environment and a winning culture, Leon will look at taking a digital approach to promoting well-being at work – in line with the overall aim of Andy’s Man Club to halve the number of suicides in men aged under 45.
He said: “Our first event focused on our winning workplace framework, which provides a holistic approach to driving digital transformation, and our next session will be a lunch and learn event with our new IT support application.
“But front and centre of this is to arm companies with the best tools to promote digital well-being by focusing on the people and the processes and technology they use. We ask businesses what they are doing to promote employee engagement and how their email strategy works.
“When are people allowed to receive emails? We can set start and finish times, enabling people to send emails in advance and removing access to tools and notifications when people leave the office. We also set up collaborative mailboxes so people don’t return from holiday to find hundreds of emails waiting.
“It supports flexible working and it helps us to use technology as a tool instead of technology using us as a tool.”
Leon, who co-founded Think Cloud with long-term project partner Scott Clark, added: “One of the reasons for moving to The Deep was to enable us to host events, from small workshops in our own training room to larger sessions in the conference suite at the Business Centre.
“The first one went very well, attracting existing clients and some of our general business contacts and a welcome offshoot is that we’re already being invited to speak at clients’ premises and other events.”
Freya Cross, Head of Business and Corporate at The Deep, said: “I am proud that one of our business centre clients, Think Cloud, are leading digital transformation in the Humber sub-region, growing their organisation and finding themselves in demand as expert speakers.
“I learned a lot from attending Think Cloud’s inaugural event, which was innovative and interactive and ensured we were participants – from building spaghetti towers to sharing experiences in technology – rather than just an audience.
“We recognise the importance of businesses ensuring they are aware not just of the opportunities presented by app-based technology but also the well-being of their workforce. The Deep is committed to the Time to Change Employer Pledge, which is all about mental well-being, and we have been discussing how we can involve and support our Business Centre clients alongside our staff within our commitment to this initiative.”