BUSINESS REPORT


CITYFIBRE INVEST IN CONNECTIVITY


Businesses and residents in Northampton will soon access some of the fastest broadband speeds in the UK thanks to CityFibre’s £40m investment. Recent Government policy


highlighted the need for investment in critical digital infrastructure, however most of the UK’s digital services still rely on a copper-based telephone network not designed for sharing massive volumes of data. Enter full fibre networks. Now in


widespread use across Europe, Asia and beyond, this future proof technology offers unbeatable speeds, near limitless bandwidth and increased reliability.


‘THIS INVESTMENT WILL ADD A FURTHER £160M PER ANNUM TO NORTHAMPTON’S ECONOMY’


However, lack of investment in


recent decades has meant just 10% of UK premises have access to full fibre connectivity compared with over 95% in South Korea and Japan. Northampton performs even less favourably, with around three per cent availability. James Cushing, CityFibre’s city manager for Northampton, said: “Fortunately for Northampton, it’s among the first locations in the UK to benefit from a full fibre rollout from CityFibre. “Research indicates this


investment will add a further £160m per annum to Northampton’s economy, through increased productivity, access to services and flexible working.”


Visit: www.cityfibre.com/gigabit- cities


Whittlebury Park is investing £1m in its conference and events spaces. Phase one of the project started


in November and includes a range of exciting new room concepts including an ‘inside, outside’ space, contemporary corridor seating and new coffee stations. Whittlebury


PLANS UNDERWAY TO IMPROVE EVENTS SPACE


Visualisation of Whittlebury Park’s new Conference and Events facilities


‘WE’RE


Park’s facilities include 19 training and meeting rooms and 15 syndicate rooms, all of which are included in the refurbishment. The project will see the rooms upgraded to introduce modern and functional fixtures and fittings as well as entirely bespoke


PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE SMALL DETAILS AS WELL AS THE


OVERALL VISUAL APPEAL’


elements and inviting colour schemes. The meeting spaces that will be upgraded vary in size, but each room will have its own new look and feel. Whittlebury Park commercial director, Marc Webster said: “The aim of this significant project is to give our clients what they’ve told us they want from a meeting space, as well as responding


to industry trends. “We understand


conference facilities need to


progress with changing needs and the new look and feel of the spaces will achieve this. We’re paying close attention to the small details as


well as the overall visual appeal of the rooms and we look forward to welcoming new and existing guests back to experience the difference.” During November, an additional


£40,000 of SHY ZIP System Blackout Blinds were also installed in Whittlebury’s 1905 Suite. The fully motorised flexible solution allows for total room personalisation which means customers can opt for windows to be open, closed, partly closed or any other configuration that improves their meeting. Whittlebury’s flexible purpose-


built conference and event spaces can cater for small meetings of 20 people to a conference for 500, and all delegate packages can be made bespoke.


Visit: whittlebury.com/business GOBBY DEVELOPS DROP & GO


Experts in stakeholder engagement have helped the Post Office to enhance its Drop & Go service for customers. Gobby was asked to engage with Drop & Go


customers to capture their perceptions and service requirements. Gobby founder Gary Beckwith said: “The challenge we faced was to improve engagement with marketplace sellers, understand service ‘pains’ and identify the appetite and features for a loyalty programme. “We captured ‘value statements’ on the


existing offering, asked open questions to identify needs gaps related to perceived ‘pain points’ and asked customers to provide a list of preferred benefits from a potential loyalty programme. “We doubled the anticipated response rate


Gobby’s founder Gary Beckwith


6 inbusiness FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020


target and provided value statements for external marketing content, actionable


improvement measures, an evidence base for a loyalty programme business case and business insights by customer size and location for targeted strategies.” Post Office senior marketing manager Frankie


McCrone added: “We continually look for innovative ways to engage with our customers. “Gobby offered an alternative, customer-led


and flexible approach, to understanding what was most important to our Drop & Go customers. “Gary blended well with our core team and


partners in order to deliver the survey from question design to analysis; providing us with a clear and concise management report to support business decisions.”


Visit: www.gobby.app Email: info@gobby.io Call: 01780 769159


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48