The MEN Tech Awards are on for 2021 - and we’re proud to have found a group of worthy finalists for this year’s awards. The awards will be held on May 20th as a virtual ceremony - tickets are free and can be booked via the .
Over the last year, technology proved its importance to the world of business to a greater degree than ever. When many businesses found themselves having to radically alter the way they did business as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, technology was there to provide new ways of thinking.
Many businesses took the chance to overhaul the way they did things and, with the help of technology, take their work to a new level of efficiency and reach. It’s this ability to understand the potential of tech, and bring it to life that the awards will celebrate - and after a period of judging, our finalists have been dedicated upon.
In preparation for the awards, we’ve put together profiles on our category finalists, to provide some insight into the impressive work that led to them being chosen. This is our final article, detailing the finalists for Female Tech Ambassador, Best Tech Business (up to 49 employees), and Best Tech Business (over 50 employees). For the full list of finalists, .
Female Tech Ambassador - sponsored by
One of tech’s key strengths is the ability to be used by anyone, so long as they have a willingness to learn and a point of view. This award will celebrate the women achieving incredible things with tech, and working to make that notion a reality within the industry.
Maria Sarkar - DriveWorks
DriveWorks is a software that provides automation for computer aided design (CAD) - making it far more accurate and efficient. Maria Sarkar co-founded the company in 2001, working to make it a trusted name synonymous with high-quality. DriveWorks has a particular dedication to helping people get a start in the industry, taking on a number of interns and placements every year.
Katie Gallagher - Manchester Digital
Manchester Digital is a trade body for digital and tech businesses - the largest of its kind in the north. Working with funds from its members, Manchester Digital provides a space where people in the industry can find news, scout for jobs, learn about industry events - and raise their profile. As managing director of Manchester Digital, Katie Gallagher has worked to make sure that Manchester Digital does as much for its members as possible - pushing for investment in innovation and skills development - and leading on the Digital Security Centre.
Beverley McGowan - The Specialists Hub
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Beverley McGowan founded The Specialists Hub in 2018, in an effort to provide high quality training and apprenticeships to people around the country. With over 20 years of experience in finance, insurance, and banking, Beverley made use of her expertise to focus The Specialist Hub’s offerings on digital skills, IT work, and risk analysis. Outside of her work at The Specialist Hub, Beverley has strived to support small businesses - working with Lloyds Banking Group and The Growth Company to secure them funding for apprenticeships.
Why Amazon is a great place to work
Amazon is a great place to work with highly competitive pay, benefits from day-one, and training programmes for in-demand jobs. It provides a world-class, modern workplace with leading career progression opportunities such as Career Choice and apprenticeships. Career Choice is an innovative programme which pre-pays 95% of tuition for courses in high-demand fields, up to £8,000 over four years, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon.
Amazon also provides opportunities to improve existing skills or learn new ones through internal career progression opportunities such as cross-training, transferring to a different department and promotion into a managerial role.
Safety is the number one priority across operations. Amazon prioritises the safety and health of its employees and has invested millions of dollars to provide a safe workplace. It is committed to providing employees with a great and safe place to work.
Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of employees and since the onset of the pandemic Amazon moved quickly to make more than 150 COVID-19 related process changes. This includes supplying masks, gloves, thermal cameras, thermometers, disinfectant spraying in buildings, increased janitorial teams, additional handwashing stations, hand sanitizer, sanitizing wipes, and COVID testing at our sites.
To find out more about Amazon
Best Tech Business (up to 49 employees)
This category is designed to recognise companies that, although not huge, are having a big impact on industry and the wider world via their daring and innovative use of technology.
Cevitr
Automation can be a huge help to businesses - freeing up time from simple or mundane tasks, and allowing a company to focus more of its attention on what really matters. Cevitr provides a digital workmate call Jo, that can handle a variety of tasks and leave employees to tackle more demanding work. Handling the process from consultation to implementation to maintenance, Cevitr’s digital workmate has been used in a diverse range of industries, including the travel & tourism, legal, and construction sectors.
GAS Music Limited
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, GAS Music Limited decided to be bold and invest in itself, in an effort to keep the business going and make it stronger. This decision paid off, and the company is already doing better than it was at this time in 2020. Producing music for a wide range of sectors including advertising, TV and video games, the company’s high quality work has seen it land contracts with organisations like TalkTalk, BBC Sport, and Jaguar.
Q Energy
Efforts to be environmentally friendly are more important than ever, and Q Energy works to help consumers use energy much more efficiently. The company provides an AI platform that analyses energy uses, and gives people the know-how they need to live more sustainably. In addition, Q Energy has been part of numerous projects to foster cleaner energy usage - including taking the lead on a £2.2 million effort in the 海角视频 and Canada to provide 36 SME sites with smart energy services.
Best Tech Business (Over 50 Employees)
Given the scale of their operations, tech is an invaluable resource for a bigger business - but not all of them use it to its full potential. These finalists have all demonstrated the willingness to do more than rely on size, and innovate with tech to ensure that they’re always learning and growing.
Mojo Mortgages
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Buying a house is a stressful process - and the complications around securing a mortgage don’t do anything to make it easier. Mojo Mortgages was set up in an attempt to give people the high quality advice of a mortgage broker at the speed of a comparison website - without any of the cost. Mojo’s work has seen 68,000 users sign up, and won it Best Mortgage Broker at the British Bank Awards.
Peak
Peak helps other businesses step into the future, by working with them to implement an AI called Decision Intelligence. The system analyses data from all over the company, and produces decisions based on in-depth analysis of that data. The boost in efficiency and efficacy that this provides companies has seen Peak enlisted to implement Decision Intelligence in companies like ASOS, Boohoo, and Pepsico.
Team 17
Team 17 is a games company with a stellar record to its name. Founded in 1990 after two games companies - 17-Bit Software and Team 7 - merged, the indie studio publishes games from other developers as well as its own creations - and has put out hit games like ‘Yooka-laylee’, and the immensely succesful ‘Worms’ series. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Team 17 hasn’t slowed down, publishing 12 games in the year alone.
All of our finalists have gone above and beyond during a difficult year to do amazing things with tech. We look forward to celebrating their work on May 20, and hope you'll tune in to the ceremony. For more information, visit the .