Zipporah Ltd

Zipporah Ltd was formed in July 2003 and is a software development company currently successfully undertaking bespoke software development under contract for local authorities and other public sector organisations throughout the UK. The company has established itself as a leading supplier of electronic booking services in the public sector. The Zipporah product is now in use in more than 25 senior local authorities, in 130 different council offices and departments, and is being used by thousands of staff, including a wide number of citizens.

The Compnay has been a tenant at CBTC since April 2006 where it has re-launched and grown the company. As part of the standard offer to tenants, Zipporah received a business development credit of 50% of costs for a pilot marketing strategy. The Business Development Credit is a grant of £5,000 maximum available to companies accepted for entry to CBTC towards the cost of strategic business development. This includes items such as business plans, marketing strategies or the acquisition of specialist expertise.

During residency at CBTC, Zipporah has extended its product range and now includes an e-commerce module. The new module has already attracted a wide range of interest, despite it only being marketed in early 2008, and has been purchased by two authorities. The company’s market position has been further served by the introduction of its sales team in 2007 and by the overhaul of marketing which was undertaken to develop and implement a full marketing plan. This has been hugely successful and has seen website visitor’s increase by more than 10 times.

"We have found CBTC very useful in our continuing development. Just meeting with our fellow tenants has helped us develop in partnerships with other companies providing complimentary services and to find companies that provide services in areas we are less experience like marketing and sales".

"The environment of the centre is very flexible and the staff do everything possible to accommodate. It’s perfect for a start-up company and is flexible enough to allow you to expand and develop. Working alongside companies providing differing services to our own really helps to stimulate our thinking and opens doors in areas we may not have considered."

"The CBTC team and the support they provided upon entry into the centre was really useful when taking our first steps in business" - Scott Burton.