Rocketmakers, one of the South West’s most successful software development consultancies, responsible for helping to develop the tech behind huge numbers of the South West’s most prolific startups, celebrated its 10th anniversary in Bath last week.
Inviting key figures from the South West’s booming tech and digital scene, Co-Founders Richard Godfrey and Keith Walker (pictured left) and the team celebrated the businesses highs and lows and toasted the community that it helped grow, and that helped it to grow too.
“We love working with passionate entrepreneurs who want to change the world”
Richard tells us: “We had a fantastic celebration with a unique combination of our own staff and their partners, many customers from the last 10 years, investors who have actively helped our startups and many members of the incredible Bath and Bristol technology and innovation community that we’re privileged to be a part of.
“Local startups and scale-ups attending included TravelLocal, Neighbourly, LUX Rewards, Food Drop and Pure Planet who were joined by some of our corporate innovation customers such as the English Institute of Sport and even some of our American customers who flew in especially to help us celebrate the occasion.
“We’ve had an incredible journey over the last decade – from us leaving Microsoft and the BBC to start at the Bath Innovation Centre through to being a core part of many of the growing startups in the area. We love working with passionate entrepreneurs who want to change the world and are looking forward to the amazing opportunities ahead in the next 10 years.”
Behind the scenes and snapping away, TechSPARK’s assistant editor Alice Whale captured the highlights of the celebration and some of the success stories behind the smiling faces. You can check them out below:
Planning tech: Simon Starr, organiser of Bath Ruby conference
which returns in March 2018 and Paul Leader,
organiser of tech meetup BathCamp. Cheers!
From the sky: Jim Morrison, Founder of Bath-based
web design consultancy Deep Blue Sky is greeted by
Richard Godfrey, Co-founder of Rocketmakers. Deep Blue Sky
were also behind the impressive recent Bath Digital Festival.
Family business: John Courtney, local entrepreneur and mentor,
Siobhan Hone, Graduate Enterprise Manager at the University of Bath,
James Routley, CEO of data personalisation tool the Filter
and James Courtney, Founder of fine dining awards app LUX, enjoying some fizz.
Startup stars: Briony Phillips, Scale-up Enabler at Engine Shed,
Paul Forster, Community Manager at SETsquared Bristol, Rosie Bennet,
Centre Director at the University of Bath Innovation Centre and
Rick Chapman, Entrepreneur in Residence at SETsquared Bristol.
Bristol businesses: Huw Owen, joint MD and Co-founder of
digital travel agency Travel Local (far left), Neil Stephen, a freelance startup consultant
and Paul Lewis, Founder of augmented reality specialists Media Grand.
The SPARKS: Ben Shorrock, MD of TechSPARK and Sarah Keates,
Events Manager at TechSPARK and VR World Congress and
involved with Bristol VR Lab.
Tech Community: guests meet, greet and network amongst
fellow members of the South West tech scene.
Growth enablers: Rosie Bennett and Jenny Cowderoy,
Founder of scale-up consultancy Cowderoy Consultancy.
Busy at the bar: Keeping the party going was some of
Bath’s best mixologists at Circo bar.
From the hub: Tom Lewis, MD of CoworkInc and The Guild Coworking Hub
and Neil Stephen, sharing a joke.
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Take off: Keith Walker, CTO of Rocketmakers with Glenn Smith,
CEO of collaborative cloud computing startup Cloudfind.
Travelling locally: Rikki Tooley, frontend dev (centre) and
Penelope Edwards (far right), head of digital marketing at TravelLocal.
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Hip Hooray: Applause all round as Richard thanks his
guests for joining in Rocketmakers’ celebrations.
Friends in tech: Rosie Bennet and Paul Forster with Abby Frear,
co-organiser of the SPARKies tech and digital awards and
Andrew Carr, a local entrepreneur and principal big data consultant
at Bristol-based software development consultancy Scott Logic.
Gaming geeks: Jamie Ridyard, co-founder of award-winning startup Keymailer
that better connects games companies with Twitch and YouTube users
and Ben Trewhella, CEO at Bristol-based Opposable
and head of the Bristol VR Lab.
Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting news from Rocketmakers on the Rocketmakers website or by following them on Twitter here: @Rocketmakers. They are also looking to recruit – so if you fancy joining this fun team head on over to the Rocketmakers’ jobs page.
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