38 BusIness AUGUST 2019
TECH AWARDS 2019
L
awrence Jones, the
founder of Manchester-
headquartered internet
hosting provider
UKFast, won the award
for Best Tech
Ambassador.
The entrepreneur launched the
business with his wife, Gail, in 1999.
Today, the company employs more
than 370 people at its UKFast Campus,
in Hulme, with plans to accelerate its
growth following a landmark
investment from Inflexion Private
Equity last year.
The company has made significant
investment in technical support and
R&D, which has seen UKFast launch a
number of successful products in the
last 18 months, alongside major
developments within the firm’s flagship
eCloud portfolio.
Delivering services into the public
sector remains a strong area of growth
following the acquisition of Secure IA,
a public sector cloud and cyber-
security specialist.
Lawrence was recognised for his
commitment to the tech community
over the past 20 years.
He launched Tech Manchester three
years ago to support the development
and raise the profile of tech businesses,
as well as mentor and support start-up
firms.
Last year, Jones also created a 30,000
sq ft incubator, FastForward, for tech
start-ups at its Manchester campus
providing subsidised space, meeting
areas, free parking, and networking
conference facilities.
On winning the award, Lawrence
thanked wife and business partner Gail
for her support and praisedManchester’s growing tech scene. He
said: “The north west and Manchester
is a great place to start and grow a
business.
“If you’re a tech start-up, this is the
place to be.
“I have grown my business here and
plan to expand further, but at UKFast
we also have a real passion to support
start-ups and help to grow.
“we see ourselves investing in morecompanies, I see the leadership team at
UKFast becoming CEOs of tech firms,
and we want to continue to inspire and
invest in the future of our young
people.
“what we do now, and the
foundations we lay, is for the future
generation, and that’s why we’re
making investments, we’re expanding,
and we’re playing our bit here in
Manchester.”Best Tech Ambassador Lawrence Jones
Best Tech Ambassador, sponsored
by Praetura, is Lawrence Jones,
founder and CEO of UKFastBest Digital Innovation Mojo Mortgages
F
intech company Mojo
Mortgages won the Best
Digital Innovation
award.
The company was
born from a frustration
with the traditional
brokerage model which can be a
lengthy process.
Launched last year by industry
entrepreneurs Richard Hayes and nick
Sherratt, the online platform aims to
quicken the process with a mortgage
recommendation in 15 minutes.
Mojo’s algorithm-powered mortgage
recommendations give customers
more certainty around eligibility and
ensures they get the cheapest deal.Its Mortgage Matcher will analyse a
customer’s spending habits to
automatically recommend their
perfect deal.
The tech identifies customers’
existing mortgage or rent payments
and lets them know if they could save
money with a better deal. The
eligibility service, which is alsoavailable to Mojo’s strategic partners,
combines automation and machine
learning to give customers more
accurate mortgage recommendations,
online and in real-time.
So far, it has helped nearly 50,000
people and saved customers £4m in
broker fees.
Mojo has also raised £800,000 in
seed round funding and £7m in Series
A funding to develop and expand its
platform.
Commenting about how they have
been disrupting the marketplace, Mojo
Mortgages CEO and co-founder
Richard Hayes said: “we’re working so
hard to create amazing technology and
to empower human beings to find a
better mortgage and not to pay too
much for their mortgage.
“we’re soon launching a proposition
called Mortgage Store, which is going
to give customers much more insight
into exactly which mortgages they’re
eligible for.
“It’s going to be completely market-
leading, it’s going rethink and change
the landscape of mortgages for ever, so
we’re really excited about it and we’re
all working really hard to bring it to
life.”Best Digital Innovation, sponsored by
Godel Technologies, is Mojo Mortgages