Each week we interview one of our members to find out a bit more about them and their work in the Greater Manchester digital sphere. This week we're speaking with Marcus Hadfield, Chief Strategy Officer at the award-winning UK app development agency, Apadmi.
What does your organisation do?
We design and build mobile technology solutions for organisations as diverse as the BBC, NHS, Argos and the Co-op. We also find and work with exciting, disruptive start-ups through Apadmi Ventures – our investment division.
What do you think is currently the biggest issue facing the digital and tech industry?
People. There aren’t enough. The demand for technology, for new skills and for innovation is far greater than available resource to deliver it. That’s why we’re working with the universities to recruit and train brilliant graduates, and to create an ‘always learning’ environment to attract the best talent.
What is your organisation’s biggest achievement?
It has to be DonorPath. We’ve won awards for loads of brilliant commercial projects, but our work with NHS Blood & Transplant is the one we’re all most proud of. Every organ that’s donated in the UK now goes through a system we designed and delivered. By removing paper from a time-critical process, it’s saved over a thousand hours and – arguably – a number of lives.
What would you consider to be your organisation’s biggest challenge?
We have to continually look for new ways to solve problems for our clients and make sure we stay ahead of the market. We can’t stay still. New technologies and opportunities are created every day – some great, some not – and it’s impossible to predict. All we can be certain of is that things change – we need to be ready when they do.
What do you think the future looks like for Manchester’s digital and tech sector?
Manchester is the most exciting place to be in tech right now – and the amount of collaboration is brilliant. It’s a massively generous ecosystem. I’m hopeful that this will continue to be the case, and we’ll attract even more talent to the city. We’re already attracting global businesses, but I genuinely believe some of the start-ups we see have the potential to be future world leaders.
Tell us something we might not know about your company
The founders of the company were contracted to build the original mobile software for both Shazam and Audible. Apple bought Shazam for £400m and Amazon bought Audible for £300m. We’re hoping one of our own ventures will be next!
