TechNation200 Almanac 2015/16

See the full profile interviews at www.techcityinsider.net
John Peebles
Chief executive
Administrate
“It’s a very crowded market. The most recent survey revealed there were more than 650
learning management systems out there, which is the typical nomenclature you hear in the
edtech market. We like that. We feel that’s a good smokescreen for our market. We are quite
a bit different from everything that’s out there. The traditional LMS focuses on the student
experience. We care about students too, but we focus on the administrator’s experience and
make sure all the reporting, workflow, analytics and things that go on behind and around are
front and centre and it makes it easy for them to become strategic with their training.”
Online training platform Administrate helps organisations all over the world manage and deliver education.
Peebles, an American in Edinburgh, works from the CodeBase incubator space. @Adm1nistrate
Gareth Williams
Chief executive
Skyscanner
“When we started out in
2003, we focused on
flights. These days, we
provide flight, hotel and car
hire comparison, and we’re
a global company with
millions of users across the
world. We’ve also created
Skyscanner for Business,
to deliver data-led tools to the travel industry. As a result, the non-flights contribution to overall
revenues increased by 47% in 2014. Lastly, we’ve adopted a mobile-first attitude – last year we
saw a 77% increase in mobile visitors alone, and we believe the tendency towards mobile will
continue. Our primary focus is the people who use our product. What do they want? How can
we make this process even easier?”
Skyscanner, ‘the world’s travel search engine’, is one of the UK’s great tech startup success stories, with 40
million monthly users and backing from Sequioa helping it to achieve mythical unicorn status. The company
remains resolutely Edinburgh-based. @Skyscanner
Ed Molyneux
Chief executive
FreeAgent
“There are about 5.2
million businesses in
the UK and 95% of
them have fewer than 10
employees – and 75% have
no employees at all. So the
vast majority are one- and
two-person businesses.
In our last survey, we
found most were using
spreadsheets or just paper
to manage their finances.
What they were getting from
software companies was
the typical small business
accounting package, but with
all the interesting features
taken out. We wanted to
do something about that.
Because we focus on
these small businesses,
we do a lot more around
tax compliance, income-tax
returns and payroll that tiny
businesses need.”
FreeAgent is the UK’s leading
online accounting software for
freelancers and micro-businesses.
Molyneux previously served for
a decade as a Harrier pilot in the
RAF. @freeagent
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