Future Plans for Growth

Last week involved a lot of meetings and events largely aimed at developing the business to the next level. As a result there will be some major changes to the way the business is organised and, hopefully, some new staff coming on board.

On Monday we were at the launch of social digital apprenticeships at Middlesbrough College where the keynote speaker was Penny Power talking about the Digital Youth Academy. Seems as though this was the "World Launch" with Middlesbrough College being the first organisation to sign up. We're meeting with a representative of the college next week to discuss being one of the first companies to employ a social digital apprentice - so watch this space.

Tuesday saw us at a meeting organised by Redcar & Cleveland council for creative businesses. The plan is for businesses to mentor each other and we're keen to be involved - it's always good to have a fresh view of what you are doing. Tuesday also saw an informal meeting with Simon Brown of Faris International which was really useful on getting a view on where our business stands now and some great ideas for taking it forward.

Wednesday saw a meeting with a young web developer with a view to getting him involved with us on specific projects either as a freelancer or on a project by project contract. As we aim to grow we are looking at freelancers to fill the gap between now and requiring more full-time permanent developers - if you fit the bill contact us for a chat. We also had a meeting with a rep from Redcar council's Capital Projects Team with a view to moving into the Hub at the end of the year. As it stands this looks like a great prospect and we have provisionally booked a new, larger office with a sea view - we're going for a look next week and will make a decision within a couple of weeks whether we sign up for the move or not.

On Thursday we went to the Middlesbrough Breakfast Exchange for the 2nd time. Both times have been enjoyable and we have made new business contacts and had a free breakfast! What more could you want?

Friday saw us conducting interviews for a new marketing & sales apprentice. we think we have identified someone with great potential who will fit in with our company. Hopefully in a couple of weeks we will welcome a new member of staff who will play a big part in the future growth of Tad Web Solutions.

Oh and we did some work for our clients as well - it's been a very busy week.

Cricket, Chess & Adieu

Cricket on TV no less - no not T20, pro 40, England v Windies or any such low level performers but the Strasbourg Strollers v ICI Wilton C Team (yes that's us) on French TV. After around 37 years of playing competitive cricket I finally make it on to TV (albeit French TV) as a cricketer when I'm fat, old and half blind. Mind you I am seen taking a wicket on TV!! My French language skills are not great and despite our several minutes of fame I think it's more of a "what are these mad English ****ers doing in the rain" piece - and we lost match which also meant losing the 3-match 10 year series, 2-1 - great fun though.


After returning back to Blighty I had a chess match for Middlesbrough in the Northern Counties Chess Union Major Club Championship final in Heywood, Lancs (oh the glamour of it all). A bit of a trek, including a flat tyre, for a game of chess but we won which made it almost worthwhile (it meant I missed watching Boks v Eng 2nd Test which did not please me).


On the work front, today is the last day for our two French interns so an early finish for a quick couple of beers to say goodbye. There's still a lot of work to do on their two projects so we're looking at how we can progress these. Our thoughts at the moment are that unless we source some funding with our business partners then the projects will be developed in slack time which is not ideal, we have funded most of the work so far so business partners need to kick in with their share plus funding applications or we go it alone on one project and take the plunge to develop it as a commercial application. 


We're interviewing for a marketing/sales apprentice next week, the idea being that a few months down the line, when they can work more independently, we will increase sales sufficiently to take on a new web designer/developer and expand. Yes we're in a double dip recession but after a month of things quietening down as everyone hears the news and stops spending, orders are coming back in plus we have a number of other potential sales leads to follow up as well. We aim to use freelancers on short-term contracts for specific projects in the period between now and requiring a new full-time developer in order to meet peak needs. To that end we have meetings with a small number of freelance developers in the next couple of weeks.


The last couple of weeks has seen us adding solutions to websites so they meet the new "Cookie Law", if your site does not comply give us a call on 01642 438173 and we will give you a very reasonable quote to provide a solution for you. We've also been developing new sites for a pest control company based in Surrey, a local windows company and the e-commerce section of a first aid training site which we hope to complete in the coming week,  along with the usual SEO work plus some mentoring training via the Experience Bank as I look to get involved in that.


We're also meeting up with a Redcar & Cleveland Council representative next week regarding their new Hub on the seafront. We've expressed an interest in moving premises there and we're meeting to firm up prices, what's included, incentives, etc. so that we can make an informed decision on whether a move would be beneficial to the business or not.

The Week is Too Short

Had a great long weekend in Strasbourg with great friends (and Dougie) even if we did lose our cricket match. Modesty prevents me from letting you know who the top scorer was but when the fat, old, blind bloke top scores it shows that the team decision to stop playing league cricket was right.

When you run a business the downside of a nice long weekend is that you have the same amount of work to do just in a much shorter time so instead of the usual Mon-Sat, I've got Wed-Sat and Saturday has to stop early for a very important event (beer and Boks v England on TV). So a short posting this week.

A Nice Long Weekend

So we have a long Bank Holiday weekend and we're making the most of it by shutting today (Friday 1st June) and reopening on Wednesday 6th June, even though I'll be at Leeds with a client that day.

So what are my plans for the weekend? A traditional escape to a republic for a game of cricket. I'm off to Strasbourg with a bunch of friends to play the third and final match in a 3-match cricket series against the Strasbourg Strollers which has stretched over some 15 or so years. At one-all in the series it's the deciding match but as we are all old, knackered and blind we're not too hopeful of a victory. It's also a celebration of the fiftieth birthday of one of the team - should be a good weekend

Obviously, as always, the mobile will be on for emergencies - please try and have them early in the day as later on I may make no sense at all (so you may not spot the difference).

Have a great weekend.