Centre that’s giving a helping hand to young digital firms

The desire to help small businesses improve their information security led Melanie Oldham to develop an online training package for employees.

The aim was to take a dry subject and make it more appealing. The web-based application, which is completed by staff, includes colourful animated characters who teach staff how to create a safer online working environment and protect company critical information.

Initially, the project was a collaboration between Mid-Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. But two years on, Mrs Oldham now works under her own company name – Bob’s Business – and has expanded the service to include 21 modules.

The modules, which take 10-15 minutes to complete, cover a number of topics, including identity theft, email etiquette, perfect passwords, backing up data and information classification. Each module can also be customised for each organisation.

Customers include Kirklees Council and Barnsley-based Independent Training Services.

Mrs Oldham said: “We have a real mix of clients because everyone uses the internet. This is for anyone who has access to the internet and company information.”

Although there are other web security products available, Mrs Oldham said the main stumbling block for providers was how to engage with employees.

“There are free products out there but if you are rolling out an e-learning product you want everyone to do it,” she said. “Our programme is unique in its delivery and has fantastic engagement levels.”

The company, which employs five staff, began a drive to grow the business three months ago following Mrs Oldham’s return to work after having two children.

She has doubled the size of the business after taking on new staff and moving into Barnsley’s Digital Media Centre (DMC).

The company is exhibiting at information security event Infosecurity Europe next April to increase its brand awareness and attract new customers.

“That will make us more nationally and internationally recognised,” said Mrs Oldham.

Bob’s Business has also been re-branded and is launching a new website this week. In addition, it is creating a number of new modules to be released next Easter.

Ms Oldham said: “We used to operate through word of mouth referrals but now we’re on a mission to drive the business forward and get our name out there.”

Bob’s Business is one of the creative, digital media and technology businesses based at the DMC in Barnsley, a £10m building which opened in August 2007 to support the success and development of creative media and digital businesses in the region.

The centre recently completed its connection to the Digital Region network. The service provides internet speeds of up to 40Mbps and has the capacity to be increased to 100Mbps if required.

Launched in 2008, Digital Region is due to deliver super-fast broadband to 80 per cent of homes and businesses across South Yorkshire by the end of the year. It is expected to cover 97 per cent of the region by the time of completion.

The scheme was set up with money from the European Regional Development Fund and is owned by local authorities in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

DMC manager Gareth Scargill said: “We wanted to make it simple and straightforward for businesses in the centre to gain the benefits of Digital Region.”

Terry Goff moved to the DMC three months ago to set up Object Communications, which aims to help small companies create online business communities to collaborate by sharing information.

Mr Goff re-sells and personalises Microsoft Office 365, which was launched earlier this year, and also provides a hosted hybrid of three Microsoft products: Exchange email, SharePoint 2010 collaboration, and Lync Unified Communications, an instant messaging, audio and videoconferencing system.

He said: “I can use the best parts of Office 365, which there is no point in competing with, and use them with my own technology to customise the product and make it as user-friendly as possible for customers.”

The idea for the business came about after Mr Goff was working as a consultant on projects using Microsoft SharePoint. “I was working on six-figure projects and I realised this system should be going out to smaller businesses as well,” he said.

The system is already being used in large organisations including the NHS, large educational institutions and government departments, but Mr Goff wants to target small businesses.

He is initially planning to work with companies in Barnsley and wants to move out to the rest of South Yorkshire and further afield in the future.

To start with, Mr Goff wants to work with young entrepreneurs taking part in the I Know I Can Barnsley Big Challenge, a project which encourages teenagers to start their own business.

He said: “With this system, all the people taking part will be able to collaborate straight away – they won’t have to go away and think of their own ways to share information.

“They will also be putting the system through its paces, which will benefit my business going forward.”

Mr Goff plans to take the business a step further and encourage businesses and organisations to use the system to talk to each other by setting up online communities.

“These communities could help each other by sharing non-competitive information,” he said.

“We are just at the point where social networking and business collaboration is starting to take off but not in a cohesive way. I’d like to see a network of communities where people are communicating and publishing information that is relevant to people within that community.”

He added: “I am very excited about it because it is getting a tremendous amount of interest. People are starting to see the value that it could bring to their businesses. It could increase productivity, improve communications and empower a more mobile workforce .”

Strategy bears fruit

The Barnsley Digital Media Centre (DMC) was founded in 2007 as part of a strategy to encourage technology firms to South Yorkshire.

There had been concerns that Yorkshire was lagging behind the rest of Britain in terms of the number of people taking computer-related training.

Yorkshire Forward and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2005, in which they pledged to work together to broaden the region’s economic base.

Since it was founded, the DMC has attracted a wide range of businesses, including online estate agency Armitage Residential, internet marketing business Bigfoot Digital and InteliTap, a company which helps pubs and restaurants to provide quality draught beer. InteliTap’s monitoring system ensures beer is served at the right temperature.

The DMC recently completed its connection to the Digital Region network and clients in the building are now moving over to the new service.