Novatura News

FreeAgent Integration: Connecting the Dots

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 08:00:00 GMT

What is the FreeAgent API?

Nowadays, financial control has never been more important for businesses. Millions of businesses use FreeAgent (NatWest's cloud-based accounting platform) to streamline their financial processes. It has a wide range of powerful features, from invoicing to payroll - but it can be even better when integrated with other software. That's what the FreeAgent API does, it lets you connect your accounts to useful tools and services.

[!info] API stands for Application Programming Interface. It's a way for one software system to communicate with or provide a service to another.

Why integrate FreeAgent?

While FreeAgent is powerful standing on its own, integrating it with your business software can take it to the next level. Let's explore some ways integrating FreeAgent might be useful.

Automatic invoicing

If you're using a CRM, or project management software, we can completely automate your invoicing process. For example, you might want your CRM to automatically generate regular invoices for a customer, or you might want your project management software to automatically generate an invoice when a project or deliverable is completed. Whatever your requirements, the possibilities are endless.

Payment/invoice tracking

All too often we speak with businesses who are constantly logging into their accounts to check if customers have paid an invoice. This is a considerable waste of time, and can instead be automated. By integrating these metrics directly into your application, you can create custom behaviours, save time and focus on what's important.

Contact management

If you're using a CRM, we can save you time by automatically syncing your contacts with FreeAgent. This means you'll never have to manually add a contact ever again - it'll be reliable and automatic.

Integrating FreeAgent into custom software

At Novatura, we specialise in building bespoke software solutions for businesses, and we're experts at integrating third party services. The key is keeping all your data in one place, reducing the number of times you have to log into another system, or open another spreadsheet.

FreeAgent is a particularly interesting platform to discuss, because it's so powerful. Sitting centrally within your financial operations, it opens the doors to some truly powerful automation. Whether you're looking to speed up your invoicing, get a clear picture of your finances, manage your inventory, or something else entirely, we'd love to help.

What about other third-party services?

We've been focusing on FreeAgent so far, but truthfully the same principles apply to most third-party services subject to a couple of requirements:

The service must have an extensive API
The service must have a clear use case for your business

The good news is that, in most cases, these requirements are met! For example, we can work with the following platforms:

Microsoft Office 365 (Sharepoint, Outlook, etc.)
Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, etc.)
WhatsApp
HubSpot
Slack
Stripe
Shopify
WooCommerce
And many more!

Additionally, in most cases, we can also combine multiple services to create a truly powerful solution. For example, you may need a mobile app that lets your staff sign in with Microsoft, view their upcoming shifts on a calendar, while automatically creating invoices for customers in FreeAgent. So many possibilities!

Get in touch today to discuss your requirements.

Rendering Strategies: The Web's High Performance Secret Sauce

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 13:00:00 GMT

Web development is an incredibly fast-paced landscape. In recent years, we’ve seen modern web frameworks have huge breakthroughs in performance thanks to the creative strategies they employ. But why should you care about these?

Truthfully, you might not, but it’s still cool to glimpse the inner workings of your day-to-day software platforms! Plus, understanding even just the basics might help you make better informed tech decisions down the line.

We've got a need for speed

I’m sure you’ve experienced slow page loads before. Annoying, aren't they? As we’ve covered before, performance is a major factor in user experience. Keeping visitors engaged improves conversion rates and ultimately sales. To do this, content has to be loaded as quickly as possible. Enter rendering strategies; powerful techniques to optimise online experiences.

What is rendering?

To put it simply, rendering transforms your underlying website code into the visual experience that your visitors engage with in the browser. It’s a bit of tech magic when you think about turning a bunch of files and scripts into a beautiful and fluid user interface.

Client Side Rendering (CSR)

Back in the early days of the web, servers would typically send clients (you, surfing the web) some code files which the browser would execute before rendering the site content. That code might load more data from other sources like a CDN or make the page interactive. This approach was called Client-Side Rendering and it was pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, as apps became more complex, they became super slow. This was due to the browser needing to download and run all the relevant code files before it could show the user anything!

Server Side Rendering (SSR)

To lighten the browser’s load, a new technique became popular: server-side rendering. As the name implies, with this approach the initial page gets rendered on the server before being shipped off to the browser. This way, the browser doesn’t have to process as much code and can focus on showing the user something straightaway, with client-side rendering taking over to fetch any remaining data and interactivity.

This method is favoured by web apps with highly interactive or dynamic content. It also has an SEO advantage, as search engines can crawl and index the server-generated content easier.

Static Site Generation (SSG)

Taking things further, static site generation is a technique which pre-renders entire web pages long before users try to access them. These pre-built files and be cached and served to directly to users, achieving incredibly fast load times, since neither the server nor the browser have to do any rendering! For content-heavy websites like blogs (take this one for example), SSG is an ideal choice, although it’s unsuitable for any dynamic applications which require user-specific content or live updating.

But which one is the best?

Each strategy has its specialty, so picking between them completely depends on your use-case. Choosing the right tool for the job and understanding the trade-offs can help businesses make the best possible decisions when they’re looking to scale. Here’s a quick table to get you started:

<div style="overflow-x: scroll;"> <table> <thead> <tr> <th>Feature</th> <th>CSR</th> <th>SSR</th> <th>SSG</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Initial Load Time</td> <td>Slower due to large code bundle downloads</td> <td>Faster as initial HTML is rendered on server</td> <td>Extremely speedy as full pages are pre-rendered</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Subsequent Page Loads</td> <td>Fast for SPA navigations</td> <td>Slower as new pages need new server requests</td> <td>Fast for static content, slow for dynamic content</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Interactivity</td> <td>Highly interactive, real-time updates</td> <td>Interactivity requires CSR</td> <td>Limited interactivity without client-side code</td> </tr> <tr> <td>SEO</td> <td>Challenging without server rendering</td> <td>Good with proper server rendering</td> <td>Excellent as search engines see fully rendered pages</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Use Cases</td> <td>Single Page Apps, client-heavy interactivity</td> <td>Server-rendered websites, web apps</td> <td>Static websites, blogs, marketing pages</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div>

Summary

As you can see, the evolution of rendering strategies has made the web a whole lot faster. We’ve just scratched the surface, as there are many other strategies which can be mixed and matched (incremental static regeneration, rehydration, code splitting and lazy loading, to name a few). But those are for a future blog post. Different frontend architectures and frameworks utilise a lot of inventive method combinations, so choosing the right ones is critical for getting a job done properly (and less expensively).

Luckily for you, Novatura have long studied the ways of the web so that you don’t have to! If you’re stuck wondering how you’re going to develop your application or website, we can help you out. It’s easy to get in touch and discover the ways we can help you render your hard work into results:

Click here to get in contact

OAuth: how Social Login can boost and secure your business

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 13:00:00 GMT

import OAuthProviders from "../../components/blog/OauthProviders.tsx";

What is OAuth?

OAuth (or more specifically, OAuth2) is just the technical term for a process you've probably used hundreds of times: social media login. Strictly speaking, it's a protocol of "access delegation" - designed to allow third-parties to make requests to a server on behalf of a user. For example, when you log into a website using Facebook, you're granting that website the permission to contact Facebook and request your profile information. This is a powerful concept, and comes with several benefits that we'll explore in this article.

The benefits of OAuth

Increased Security

One of the biggest, and not immediately obvious, benefits of using social media logins is removing your responsibility for storing user's passwords. By using OAuth, your users are protected against:

Brute-force attacks: without a password, there's nothing for an attacker to guess!
Phishing attacks: the target for a phishing attack is usually a password, but with OAuth, it's a social media provider. These companies have huge security teams, and are much less likely to be compromised.
Password reuse: if a user reuses a password, and it's compromised, it's compromised everywhere. By using OAuth, you're not responsible for storing passwords, so you're not responsible for the consequences of a password breach.

Convenience

The obvious benefit of OAuth is user convenience - it's much easier to click a "Login with Google" button than it is to fill out a form, remember yet another password, verify an email, etc. By reducing the friction of signing up, you're more likely to get users to sign up - OAuth is a great way to boost conversions.

Access to data

Finally, and most powerfully, OAuth gives you access to a wealth of data and services offered by different social media providers. For example, by having a user sign in with Facebook, you can automatically fill out their name, email, profile picture, etc. Going beyond this, however, by having a user sign in with their work Microsoft account, you can access not just their profile information, but their calendar, email and more - opening up a world of possibilities for custom integration and automation!

Implementing OAuth

OAuth is a complex protocol, and it can be daunting to try and implement it yourself. While there's many apps and libraries out there to help, it's still no easy task - especially if you're trying to add it to an existing codebase. Fortunately, at Novatura, it's something we specialise in.

Whether a new app, or an existing one, we can help you implement almost any social login provider - here's just a few:

What about other or custom OAuth providers?

If your provider isn't listed above, or you have your own identity service, don't worry! Other or custom identity providers all use the same protocol, so we can help you integrate them too. Equally, should you want to implement your own OAuth provider, that's something Novatura can do too.

Conclusion

In conclusion, OAuth is a powerful protocol that can help you boost your business. By using social media logins, you can increase security, convenience and access to data. If you're interested in implementing OAuth in your app, or want to know more, contact us today!

Is Automation a Bad Strategy for 2024?

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 09:00:00 GMT

I think we can all relate to the feeling of the day escaping us. When it gets to 5pm and we feel like we haven't done anything. As humans, we've got limited time and energy (which is why I'll keep this brief 😁). Therefore, it's a good idea to reflect on our daily routines and figure out how we can maximise the value we create for ourselves.

What does it mean to create value?

In business and life, the value of goal setting and planning can't be underestimated. Choosing the right path helps us get to where we want to be.

But setting our sights on a goal isn't enough. We need to align our activities with the pursuit of our goals, and do the tasks that significantly contribute towards them. For me, those are the actions that create value. Not just towards goals, but our time and effort should be directed towards things that contribute to well-being and overall satisfaction too.

In the rapidly evolving business landscape, software automation provides new and exciting opportunities for growth and acceleration.

Automatic processes: communications, transactions, etc.
Software Tools: opportunities for enhancing human productivity.
Organisation: system integration and cohesion, moving and processing data.
Scalability: software tasks are done in a fraction of the time it takes people.

You can see why it's a bit of a gold rush, getting more value from our time. As exciting as it is however, we shouldn't get carried away...

Automate all the things

If we do everything faster, won't we create value faster as well? Maybe. But it's important to consider what we can lose through a digital overhaul.

Upfront costs. Automation should be an investment. If you're not making your money back or getting a good benefit, is it worth it?
Adapting to change. New technology can be hard. We need a strategy to integrate new ways of working, like training or upskilling.
Loss of human touch. It's important to consider people and their strengths.
Over-reliance. We shouldn't become dependent on something we don't control, that's not future-proof. Contingencies shouldn't be overlooked.

As Michael Porter put it: The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. If we put all our resources into operational efficiency, we're probably making a big mistake.

This applies to our daily routines as well. If we do something regularly which doesn't contribute to our goals, why are we doing it to begin with?

Choosing the right strategy

Now, I'm not saying software automations aren't awesome. They are, and we know it. But knowing where they should go to optimise your spending benefits everyone. This is crucial when the to-do list keeps getting longer as your business scales.

It's time to scrutinise that list, and ask yourself: Am I getting value out of the time I've spent on this task? If your answer is yes and it would benefit from being automated, you might have found a good opportunity.

Strategic automation. Choosing the right time and place to implement it can save us a lot of time and resources. The best choices for doing so should maximise efficiency, reduce errors and most importantly, allow us to focus on meaningful and high value activities.

While that's not always an easy task, Novatura are here to help 😉.

Goal alignment: the path to success

For us, the point of automation is to enhance value, but this goes for any process we do as humans too. If it’s not contributing towards your goals, why are you doing it?

Identifying when software is a good idea, and being aware of the drawbacks can help us immensely when we evaluate the tasks we perform on a daily basis. Before we can digitise, the first step is aligning our processes with our goals.

Having the right digital strategy is essential to differentiate from competition. If you’ve got a goal or an idea, Novatura’s team can turn it into a plan, and execute. We’d love to hear how we can help you make a difference.

Get in touch today to discuss your requirements.

WhatsApp Integration: communicate at scale

Mon, 15 Jan 2024 09:00:00 GMT

What is WhatsApp?

I'm sure you're already familiar but for those who aren't, WhatsApp is a popular instant messaging and VOIP service owned by Meta. Used worldwide for communication as a secure and reliable alternative to SMS, it's got over 2 billion users (Statista). That makes it the most popular messaging app in the world! In this article, we'll talk about some ways that WhatsApp integration can provide new avenues of growth and automation for businesses.

Why is communication key?

Communication is a vital tool for organisation and decision making, as well as pretty much every other facet of business. The next step is effective communication. When we can provide useful data with clarity and purpose, we're at the top of our game when it comes to maximising strategy and productivity.

What's this got to do with WhatsApp? A lot of businesses already use WhatsApp to communicate internally (we do too!), but integrating with business software opens up new doors for effective communication. So let's take a look at some of the key benefits.

Automated messaging

Information which is worth delivering, is worth delivering in a timely and efficient manner. Things like status updates, reminders and more can be automated (even transaction info when you integrate with accounting software 😉). If you receive a high volume of messages, or your business has a lot of moving parts, streamlined and scalable communication can relieve some of that pressure, helping to keep things ticking over nicely.

CRM integration

This doesn't have to be internal either! If you use a CRM, notifying customers can improve engagement and retention. WhatsApp also lets us establish two-way communication, allowing customers to respond to messages and ask questions. For example, we might decide to use WhatsApp for support ticket submissions, before processing the message and notifying the relevant member of the team (directly to their smartphone!).

Broadcasting messages to a wide audience is also an effective tool for mass communication. Whether that's for a marketing campaign, customer announcement or any other use case you can think of.

Customisation and interactivity

The WhatsApp API is pretty flexible. Rich media, like images, videos and documents are all supported, as well as location data, contact information and more. Interactive messages like lists and auto-reply buttons can further personalise communication. These forms of user interaction have been shown to improve comprehension, conversions and response rate, making them effective methods of customer engagement (when done correctly).

There are plenty more benefits out there, but after touching on the highlights, it's time to talk more about what we mean when we say 'software integration'.

Integrating WhatsApp into custom software

To integrate software tools together is to join lots of little parts into a big, well-oiled machine. What that machine does and the value it creates is ultimately up to you and the big picture you're aiming for. At Novatura, we're experts at implementing those integrations and creating bespoke software solutions that scale.

WhatsApp is a great example, because there's so many ways it can be used to create value. Enhancing the way we communicate with each other and our audiences opens up the doors to some really clever automation, and better ways to do business. So, whether you're looking to improve productivity internally or engage better with customers, we'd love to hear what you come up with (and help you implement them of course!).

What about other third-party services?

Apart from WhatsApp, there's a lot of other third-party services out there. They all work very similarly, and can be joined in so many different and useful ways subject to a couple of requirements:

The service must have an extensive API
The service must have a clear use case for your business

The good news is that, in most cases, these requirements are met! For example, we can work with the following platforms:

Microsoft Office 365 (Sharepoint, Outlook, etc.)
Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, etc.)
Xero
Social Media Platforms (Instagram, X, Facebook, etc.)
Stripe
Shopify
And many more!

Our typical projects involve combining multiple services together, making a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts. An example of this would be platform where staff sign in using Microsoft and add upcoming jobs to a calendar. Then, the system automatically sends WhatsApp messages to relevant staff members and customers, updating them with information such as date, time and location. There's really an endless list of possibilities!

Get in touch today to discuss your requirements.

Why Page Speed Matters so much in 2023

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 13:00:00 GMT

Understanding the 2023 SEO landscape

In 2023, SEO is more important than ever. With the rise of voice search, and the increasing importance of mobile devices, it's crucial that your website is optimised for search engines. One of the most important factors in SEO is page speed. In this article, we'll explore why page speed matters so much in 2023.

What is page speed?

Page speed is a measurement of how fast the content on your website loads. It's measured in seconds, and is a key metric for search engines like Google. There's several ways to measure page speed called Core Web Vitals - defined as:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): measures loading performance. To provide a good user experience, LCP should occur within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.
First Input Delay (FID): measures interactivity. To provide a good user experience, pages should have a FID of less than 100 milliseconds.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): measures visual stability. To provide a good user experience, pages should maintain a CLS of less than 0.1.
Time to First Byte (TTFB): measures the time it takes for a browser to receive the first byte of page content from the web server. TTFB is a key metric for search engines, and is a good indicator of server performance.

You can read more about Core Web Vitals at web.dev.

The significance of page speed

Page speed is a key metric for search engines, and is seen by several as an indication of a website's quality. In fact, Google has stated that page speed is a ranking factor (source). This means that if your website is slow, it's likely to rank lower in search results. This is particularly important for mobile devices, where users are more likely to abandon a slow website.

The cost of a slow page

The cost of a slow page can't be understated - research from Google shows that as page load times increase, so does the chance of a user bouncing (leaving the website). In fact, the probability of bounce increases 32% as page load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds.

The cost of a bounce

The cost of a bounce can be significant, too. It's not that a user loads your website then leaves, it's that they give up before it's even loaded. This means that you've instantly lost a potential customer, and they may well have gone to a competitor - all because of a largely fixable issue!

Diagnosing page speed issues

At Novatura, we're specialists in building high-performance websites. As part of that, we've got a lot of experience diagnosing and resolving issues holding websites back and use a variety of methods to do so. Here's some of our favourites:

Large file detection

One of the biggest culprits for slow websites is large files - usually images and videos. By auditing all the files on your website, we can identify find the largest files and optimise them for the web. This can have a huge impact on page speed, and is often a quick win.

When we build a website, we'll always optimise your images for you automatically - even ones you upload yourself!

Server performance

Another common issue is server performance. If your server is slow, it doesn't matter how fast your website is - it'll still be slow. We can help you identify server performance issues, and recommend a solution. We can even host your website for you, and ensure it's always fast.

Code quality

Finally, code quality can have a huge impact on page speed. If your website is built using a slow framework, or has a lot of unnecessary code, it's likely to be slow. We can help you identify these issues, and recommend a solution. Even better, we can build you a new website that's fast from the ground up!

Building for speed, by default

At Novatura, we pride ourselves on building high-performance websites without compromise. Our commitment to performance means that our websites are loved by users, never held back in search results and always fast.

When we're working on a website, we're focused on:

Rigorously testing across multiple browsers and devices
Using our audit-identify-fix cycle to iteratively improve performance
Using the latest technologies to ensure your website is fast, now and in the future:
- Next-generation image formats (WebP, AVIF)
- Server optimisation (HTTP/2, HTTP/3)
- Code optimisation (minification, dead-code removal, etc.)
- And many more!

Conclusion

In conclusion, page speed is a crucial factor in SEO, and can have a huge impact on your business. By ensuring your website is fast, you can improve your search engine ranking, reduce bounce rate, and increase conversions. At Novatura, we're experts in building high-performance websites, and we'd love to help you.

Get in touch today to discuss your requirements.

Xero Integration: levelling up business automation

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:00:00 GMT

What is Xero?

In today's digital world, financial control has never been more important for businesses. Millions of businesses use Xero, a cloud-based accounting platform to streamline their financial processes. With a wide range of features, from invoicing to payroll, Xero is undoubtably a powerful tool - but it can be even more powerful when integrated with other software. In this article, we'll explore how Xero integration can help you streamline your business operations and take things to the next level.

Why integrate Xero?

While Xero is powerful standing on its own, integrating it with your business software can unlock even more potential. Let's explore some ways Xero integration can save you time and money.

Automatic invoicing

Payment/invoice tracking

All too often we talk to businesses who are constantly logging into Xero to check if a customer has paid an invoice. This is a huge waste of time, and can be completely automated. By integrating these metrics directly into your application, you can save time and focus on what's important (at a glance!).

Contact management

If you're using a CRM, we can save you time by automatically syncing your contacts with Xero. This means you'll never have to manually add a contact to Xero again - it'll happen automatically!

Integrating Xero into custom software

At Novatura, we specialise in building custom software solutions to power businesses, and we're experts at integrating third party services. The key is keeping all your data in one place - we want to reduce the number of times you have to log into another system, or open another spreadsheet.

Xero is a particularly interesting platform to discuss, however, because it's quite so powerful. By sitting at the heart of your financial operations, it opens up possibilities for really powerful automation. We've already discussed some powerful integration ideas, but whether you're looking to speed up your invoicing, get a clear picture of your finances, manage your inventory, or something else entirely, we'd love to help.

What about other third-party services?

We've spent a lot of time talking about Xero, but truthfully the same principles apply to most third-party services subject to a couple of requirements:

The service must have an extensive API
The service must have a clear use case for your business

The good news is that, in most cases, these requirements are met! For example, we can work with the following platforms:

Microsoft Office 365 (Sharepoint, Outlook, etc.)
Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, etc.)
Github
Discord
Slack
Stripe
Shopify
And many more!

Additionally, in most cases, we can also combine multiple services to create a truly powerful solution. For example, you may need a mobile app that lets your staff sign in with Microsoft, view their upcoming shifts on a calendar, while being able to write invoices for Xero. The possibilities are endless!

Get in touch today to discuss your requirements.

The Power of Progressive Web Apps: Enhancing User Experience and Engagement

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 15:34:52 GMT

The web is evolving, long gone are the days of developing separate apps for web, iOS and Android. Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), a recent frontier in web development, have emerged as a game-changer for providing immersive and native-feeling user experiences- while really just being fancy websites with app-like features! In this blog post, we'll explore what we mean by a PWA, the benefits of adopting the technology, and look at a handful of PWA success stories from some big brands.

What is a PWA?

PWAs are a type of modern website, which uses state-of-the-art technologies (like offline service workers), to offer fast, reliable, smooth and secure web experiences, while looking and feeling like a native app! That means they have all the functionality of apps with the added benefit of attracting more users, driving engagement across all platforms and improving conversion rates.

The term "Progressive Web App" was coined in 2015 by Chrome developer Alex Russel and designer Frances Berriman. Some of the biggest players in tech, like Google and Microsoft, have been actively promoting Progressive Web Apps as a way to bridge the gap between web and native applications. So, why are they so great? What's wrong with developing a website and an app separately?

Best of Both Worlds: Web and Mobile

Web and native applications have always been two very different worlds, being especially difficult to make work together due to having a whole host of unique issues and technologies. Developing for both is also expensive and time-consuming. PWAs make a great proposition: combine the strengths of both into a unified solution. Rather than invest in separate development, create a seamless and consistent user experience across all supporting devices.

Seamless User Experience Across Devices

PWAs can reach a wider audience than websites and apps alone, and maximise their engagements. Users can access PWAs directly through their web browsers, eliminating the need for app store downloads and installations. The small size of PWAs also means their download is minimal and super fast. This ease of access increases discoverability and removes barriers to entry, making it easier for users to engage with the brand. A smooth transition between web and app mode also creates consistent user experiences a feel as comfortable as a native app.

Push Notifications and Increased Engagement

By leveraging technology like offline service workers, this allows users to access content offline, granting game-changing functionality. This ensures users can continue to interact with the PWA and access information regardless of their network connectivity. Unlike a normal website, PWAs can also interface with push-notifications, opening several doors for app features previously limited to native apps. A particularly useful advantage is the ability re-engage users through personalised messaging and updates, which has huge benefits for customer retention and engagement.

Easily Discoverable

Native apps have a lot of challenges when it comes to discoverability. But unlike a standard app, PWAs can be indexed by search engines, making them more visible in search results. This discoverability boost opens the doors for businesses to attract a whole host of new users through organic search results, no longer relying solely on app store ranking or marketing campaigns.

Low-cost Development and Maintenance

From a development and maintenance perspective, PWAs offer significant advantages. By building a single codebase for multiple platforms, businesses can reduce development time and cost while ensuring consistency across different devices and operating systems. Updates and bug fixes can be deployed seamlessly, eliminating the need for users to download and install updates manually.

Progressive Success Stories

Since the technology became mainstream, thousands of brands have adopted PWAs, all with their own use-cases and success stories. From those I've picked 3 that really resonated with us to keep this blog post short and sweet.

1. Starbucks

Check out this PWA built by Formidable for Starbucks. The goal was to provide a faster loading, accessible, and search engine optimised version of the Store Locator. Deciding to go for a PWA, this enabled the app to work offline where able, improving performance and being highly accessible to customers on their commutes, who regularly go in and out of internet connectivity. Starbucks' PWA is able to browse menus and add drinks to a basket while offline. Once online, the customer can view more accurate pricing and place their orders. The groundbreaking detail of this success story was not only that it doubled the number of web users placing orders, but that the PWA was 99.84% smaller than Starbucks' existing iOS app.

2. Uber

Uber is another great example of a successful move towards PWAs. In its attempt to break into new markets, Uber needed a solution that could be utilised in areas of the world with poor internet connections on low-end devices, utilising 3G or 2G mobile data networks. Their PWA was incredibly versatile, making the software hugely accessible and accommodating to consumers. The size of the app was also greatly reduced, improving download speeds too.

3. BMW

Utilising the power of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) and PWAs, BMW managed to increase their click-through-rate to sales sites from 8% to 30%! Not only that, their mobile site generates 50% more traffic thanks to a huge performance boost and search engine optimisation. The immersive experience and push notification capabilities of PWAs drove up customer engagements, highlighting the incredible benefits.

Conclusion

In summary, PWAs represent a paradigm shift in web development, providing businesses with a powerful tool to deliver exceptional user experiences across web and mobile platforms. By embracing PWAs, companies can harness the strengths of web and app development, drive user engagement, increase conversions, and stay ahead of the game in the evolving digital landscape.

Looking for a competitive edge? Novatura specialises in web and app solutions of any sort (including PWAs), for businesses just like yours. Contact us today to discover how we can help you.

Supercharge Your Business Marketing with Google Analytics 4

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 09:30:44 GMT

As a business owner, you understand the importance of data-driven decisions in today’s digital landscape. That’s why Novatura, your trusted web development agency, is here to help you harness the power of analytics and make your marketing efforts more effective than ever. With our expertise and the advanced capabilities of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), we can provide you with actionable insights that fuel your business growth.

Understanding the Value of Analytics

Analytics is the key to unlocking valuable insights about your audience, measuring marketing effectiveness, and making informed decisions. By understanding and leveraging analytics, you can optimize your marketing efforts, save resources, and achieve better results. Novatura specializes in translating complex data into actionable recommendations, making it easy for you to know what path suits your business requirements best.

Introducing Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest iteration of Google’s analytics platform, offering a comprehensive set of features that can give you a holistic view of your audience’s journey. With GA4, Novatura can help you record and analyze user interactions across multiple devices and touchpoints. It’s a powerful tool, geared to help you understand your audience better and optimize your marketing strategies.

Simplified Implementation Process

We understand that the technical aspects of analytics can be daunting. That’s why Novatura takes care of the entire implementation process for you. Our team of experts will guide you through the setup process and integrate the necessary tracking code into your website seamlessly. You can start collecting valuable data right away without any hassle.

Enhanced Audience Insights

GA4 provides enhanced audience insights that go beyond basic demographics. It helps gain a deeper understanding of the interests, behaviours, and preferences of your target customers. By segmenting your audience based on these insights, we can tailor your marketing campaigns to resonate with your target market effectively. This personalized approach can significantly improve your marketing ROI.

Unifying Data Across Multiple Channels

In today’s omnichannel world, customers interact with businesses through a multitude of touchpoints. Novatura will help you leverage GA4’s capability to consolidate data from different channels, including your website, mobile app, and social media platforms. By unifying this data, we can provide you with a comprehensive understanding of your audience, enabling you to improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts across all channels.

Powerful Reporting and AI-Driven Insights

With GA4, we can generate powerful reports and provide you with AI-driven insights that are simple to understand, even if you’re not a technical expert. Our team will help you track website performance, monitor conversions, and measure the success of your marketing campaigns. We’ll provide you with actionable recommendations based on these insights, ensuring that you make the best-informed decisions to drive your business forward.

Making Data-Driven Marketing Decisions

By partnering with Novatura, as a business owner, you’ll have the expertise and tools necessary to make good data-driven decisions. We analyze user behaviour, identify the most effective marketing channels, optimize your website for a better user experience, and personalize your messaging to make sure your value resonates. Our strategies will help you boost conversions, increase customer loyalty, and achieve your business goals.

Conclusion

At Novatura, we are committed to helping business owners like you achieve success on the web. With Google Analytics 4 and our expertise, you can gain valuable insights, optimize your marketing efforts, and achieve remarkable growth. Let us take care of the technicalities while you focus on running your business. Contact Novatura today to discover how we can help you leverage analytics and supercharge your business marketing.

Remember, you don’t have to navigate this journey alone. Novatura specializes in implementing analytics solutions for businesses just like yours. Contact us today to discover how we can help you.

Maximising Conversions: The Potential of an Impactful Landing Page

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 10:59:19 GMT

In the digital age, a well-designed and impactful landing page has become a crucial component of successful online marketing campaigns. For business owners looking to captivate their audience, scale conversions and drive growth, understanding the significance of an effective landing page is paramount. In this blog post, we will delve into the reasons why having an impactful landing page can significantly boost conversions, increase customer engagement, and drive the success of your business.

1. First Impressions Matter

They say first impressions are the most important, and have a lasting effect that goes well beyond the opening moments. A landing page serves as the first point of contact for potential customers. It’s your opportunity to make a lasting impression and capture their attention. An impactful landing page, with a visually appealing design, compelling content, and a clear call-to-action, creates a positive and memorable experience for your users. By instantly conveying your value proposition and capturing the interest of visitors, you lay the foundation for higher conversion rates and increased customer engagement.

2. Clear and Focused Messaging

An impactful landing page allows you to convey your message concisely and clearly. Just like any good sales pitch, hitting all the right notes quickly gets your message across in the most effective way. By focusing on a specific product, service, or offer, you eliminate distractions and ensure that visitors understand the key benefits and value you provide. Clear and precise messaging establishes credibility, builds trust, and helps potential customers quickly identify how your business provides value, which, in turn, encourages them to take action and convert.

3. Conversion Optimization

Great landing pages employ various optimization techniques to maximize conversion rates. Elements such as compelling headlines, persuasive copy, well-placed call-to-action buttons, and strategically positioned forms contribute to a frictionless user experience. Through A/B testing and data analysis, you can continually refine and optimize your landing page to drive higher conversions. By understanding user behaviour and preferences, you can tailor your landing page to resonate with your target audience, resulting in increased conversions and business growth.

4. Building Trust and Credibility

Trust is a critical factor in improving conversion rate. A well-designed landing page helps build trust and credibility by showcasing positive customer testimonials, case studies, client logos, and industry certifications. By highlighting social proof and demonstrating your expertise, you instil confidence in potential customers, assuring them that they are making the right decision by choosing your business. Always remember, it’s usually better to show, not tell when it comes to establishing a precedent of reliability and experience. Trust is a key driver of conversions, and a well-crafted landing page can foster it effectively.

5. Personalization and Targeted Messaging

Landing pages let you personalise your message and tailor it to specific customer segments or marketing campaigns. By aligning your landing page content with the interests, needs, and preferences of your target audience, you create a highly relevant and engaging experience. Personalization increases the likelihood of conversions by connecting with visitors on a deeper level. Demonstrating that you understand their unique challenges and can provide tailored solutions further instils confidence in your value proposition.

6. Data-Driven Insights

An effective landing page is not only a conversion tool but also a valuable source of data-driven insights. By tracking user behaviour, engagement metrics, and conversion rates, you gain valuable information about what resonates with your audience and what areas need improvement. These insights can guide future marketing strategies, website optimization efforts, and business decisions. Ultimately, these data-driven decisions lead to improved conversion rates and better profitability.

Conclusion

Having an outstanding landing page is a game-changer when it comes to scaling conversions and driving business growth. It sets the stage for a great first impression, communicates your value proposition effectively, optimises conversion rates, builds trust and credibility, enables personalization, and provides valuable data-driven insights. By investing in a well-crafted landing page, you empower your business to capture the attention of potential customers, engage them effectively, and ultimately convert them into loyal clients. Remember, a captivating landing page can be the catalyst for significant growth, and increased conversions.

Streamline Your Business Operations: Integration and Automation Services

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 09:00:16 GMT

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced business world, efficiency and productivity are paramount. Yet, many businesses still rely on outdated, laborious processes that drain valuable time and resources. At Novatura, we specialise in providing integration and automation services that help businesses replace outdated, inefficient methods with streamlined solutions. In this article, we’ll explore how our services can revolutionise your operations, save you precious time, reduce human errors, and improve your operational efficiency.

The Challenges of Outdated Processes

As a business owner, you understand the frustrations of manual, error-prone processes. Outdated methods, such as managing data through spreadsheets or relying on paper-based systems, hinder productivity, lead to inconsistencies, and increase the risk of human error. Worst of all, it consumes a lot of time, causing stress as tasks fall behind schedule. In today’s digital age, it’s time to learn new ways to be productive and embrace the benefits of integration and automation.

Simplifying Data Management with Central Databases

Novatura offers seamless integration services that enable businesses to replace cumbersome spreadsheets with central databases. By centralising your data, you can eliminate duplicate entries, improve the reliability of data, and enhance collaboration among your team. Our expertise ensures a smooth transition, allowing you to focus on leveraging your data to maximise business growth.

Digitising Workflows for Efficiency and Accuracy

Manual processes often involve time-consuming paperwork, which is slow and error-prone. Novatura’s automation services can revolutionise your business by digitising workflows. For example, we can provision web or mobile apps to your staff, replacing paper-based forms and enabling real-time data capture. This automation saves time and also ensures data is reliable, leading to improved operational efficiency and a better user experience for staff and clients. What’s more, the time saved lets you focus on what’s important to you, boosting productivity.

Seamlessly Integrating Systems for a Unified Approach

Disconnected systems can create bottlenecks and hinder productivity. We excel at system integration, enabling smooth communication and data flow between different software applications. An example of this would be PDF upload and parsing, report generation and automated emailing of data to staff. By integrating your systems, we can eliminate the need for manual data entry, reduce human error, and provide you with a holistic view of your business processes, empowering you to make informed decisions.

Custom Solutions Tailored to Your Business Needs

At Novatura, we understand that every business is unique. That’s why our integration and automation services are customized to fit your specific requirements. Our team works closely with you to analyse your existing processes, identify pain points to target, and develop tailored solutions that streamline your operations. Our goal is to enhance efficiency, boost productivity, and drive your business forward.

Embracing the Future of Business Operations

By replacing old, laborious processes with integrated and automated software solutions, you can stop holding your business back. Novatura’s expertise and innovative approach ensure a smooth transition with minimal disruptions and maximum rewards. Experience the power of automation and unlock your business’s true potential.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s time to replace repetitive, manual processes with Novatura’s integration and automation services. Whether it’s centralizing your data, digitizing workflows, or seamlessly integrating your systems, we have the expertise to revolutionize your operations. Embrace efficiency, save time, and unlock new growth opportunities. Contact us today to embark on your journey toward streamlined success.

5 Great Ways Automation Can Drive Business Growth

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 09:00:57 GMT

Automation has become a game-changer in the business world, empowering organizations to streamline processes, increase efficiency, and drive growth. By leveraging automation technologies, businesses can save time, reduce errors, and focus on high-value tasks that contribute to their bottom line. Let’s explore five great ways automation can drive business growth:

1. Increased Productivity and Efficiency

Automation eliminates manual and repetitive tasks, freeing up valuable time for employees to focus on more strategic and revenue-generating activities. By automating routine processes such as data entry, report generation, and customer support, businesses can significantly increase productivity and efficiency. This enhanced productivity allows organizations to accomplish more in less time, leading to improved business outcomes and growth.

2. Enhanced Customer Experience

Automation plays a crucial role in delivering exceptional customer experiences. By automating customer interactions, businesses can provide timely and personalized responses to inquiries, resolve issues quickly, and deliver consistent service. Automated systems, such as chatbots or customer relationship management (CRM) software, enable businesses to engage with customers 24/7, improving satisfaction levels and fostering long-term loyalty. A positive customer experience ultimately leads to increased customer retention and repeat business, driving overall growth.

3. Improved Data Accuracy and Decision-Making

Manual data entry and manipulation can introduce errors, leading to poor decision-making and costly mistakes. Automation minimizes the risk of human error by automating data collection, validation, and analysis. Automated systems can integrate data from multiple sources, ensuring accuracy and consistency. This reliable data empowers businesses to make informed decisions based on real-time insights, enabling them to identify growth opportunities, optimize processes, and stay ahead of the competition.

4. Streamlined Workflow and Collaboration

Automation streamlines workflow and facilitates collaboration among team members. By automating task assignment, tracking, and notifications, businesses can ensure that work progresses smoothly and efficiently. Automated project management tools and communication platforms enable teams to collaborate seamlessly, regardless of their physical location. This streamlined workflow and improved collaboration result in faster project completion, reduced delays, and increased overall productivity, driving business growth.

5. Scalability and Adaptability

As businesses grow, scalability becomes crucial for sustainable expansion. Automation enables businesses to scale operations without proportionally increasing resources. By automating key processes, businesses can handle increased volumes of work without sacrificing quality or incurring significant costs. Additionally, automation allows businesses to adapt quickly to changing market conditions and customer demands. The ability to automate new processes or modify existing ones ensures that businesses remain agile, flexible, and well-positioned for growth in a rapidly evolving business landscape.

In conclusion, automation offers immense potential for driving business growth. By harnessing the power of automation, businesses can boost productivity, enhance customer experiences, improve decision-making, streamline workflows, and achieve scalability. Embracing automation as a strategic tool empowers organizations to optimize their operations, stay competitive, and unlock new opportunities for growth in an increasingly digital world.

The Value of a Professionally Made Website: Going Beyond Templates

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:58:18 GMT

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for businesses and individuals alike. When it comes to building a website, the question often arises: should I use a template or invest in a professionally made website? While templates offer convenience and affordability, opting for a professionally made website brings numerous advantages that can set you apart from the competition. Let’s explore why a professionally made website is worth considering:

1. Customization and Uniqueness

A professionally made website offers unparalleled customization and uniqueness. Templates, although they provide a quick and easy solution, lack the ability to fully represent your brand identity and differentiate you from others. With a professionally made website, you have the freedom to work closely with designers and developers to create a unique and tailored online presence that aligns with your brand’s vision, values, and aesthetics. This level of customization ensures that your website stands out and leaves a lasting impression on visitors. Establishing a brand requires you to stand out from the competition, a template makes you blend in with everyone else.

2. Tailored User Experience

User experience (UX) is crucial for engaging and retaining visitors. Professionally made websites are crafted with a focus on UX, ensuring that every element of the site is optimized to provide a seamless and intuitive browsing experience. Designers and developers consider factors such as information architecture, navigation, responsive design, and accessibility to create a website that is user-friendly and encourages visitors to explore further. By prioritizing UX, professionally made websites can drive higher engagement, conversions, and customer satisfaction.

3. Scalability and Future-Proofing

A professionally made website takes into account scalability and future growth. Designers and developers plan and build the website architecture with scalability in mind, allowing for easy expansion and integration of new features and functionalities as your business evolves. Templates, on the other hand, may have limitations in terms of customization and scalability, potentially hindering your growth and requiring a complete redesign down the line. A professionally made website offers a solid foundation for long-term success and adaptability to changing business needs. Have a website that allows growth.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Advantage

Search engine visibility is vital for attracting organic traffic to your website. Professionally made websites are developed with SEO best practices in mind, ensuring that the site structure, code, and content are optimized for search engines. Designers and developers can implement strategies to enhance website performance, page load speed, mobile-friendliness, and meta tags, improving your website’s ranking in search engine results. With better SEO, your website has a higher chance of being discovered by potential customers, driving organic traffic and business growth. There is so much competition out there, you can’t rely on people searching your brand name. Get higher on the list when people search for key terms that relate to your business.

5. Ongoing Support and Maintenance

A professionally made website often comes with ongoing support and maintenance services. Design and development agencies offer assistance in managing updates, security patches, and troubleshooting issues that may arise. This level of support ensures that your website remains secure, up-to-date, and optimized for performance. In contrast, template-based websites typically require you to handle updates and maintenance independently, which can be time-consuming and potentially expose your website to security vulnerabilities. Have ease of mind, one less thing to worry about.

In summary, while templates provide a quick and cost-effective solution, a professionally made website offers distinct advantages. Customization, tailored user experience, scalability, SEO advantages, and ongoing support make professionally made websites an investment that pays off in the long run. By partnering with skilled designers and developers, you can create a unique online presence that reflects your brand, engages visitors, and sets the stage for business growth and success.

Transport Industry SaaS Product Build

Mon, 07 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The transport industry has a big risk problem. Data is fragmented, making it hard to get a good view of fleet risk on the whole. Cracks form, problems go undetected, and the costs of non-compliance eventually show themselves across a fleet’s finances. This is where <a href="http://shieldmyfleet.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">SHIELD</a>, a driver-oriented solution that helps fleets reduce claim risk, is actively making a difference.

When we first engaged SHIELD, they had a vision to transform the transport industry. This vision was being tried and tested in one of the UK’s top startup accelerator programmes, the USSP Catalyst Programme. They had an MVP and a set of customers who were ready and keen to be onboarded. This was one of the things that impressed us most about SHIELD in the beginning. Involving the customer from the start of the product development journey combined with the founders’ deep industry knowledge, meant that SHIELD was in a great position to get to market and start making a real difference.

The Situation

At the time, SHIELD had two things to solve.

SHIELD brought the industry expertise, product vision and early customer validation. They needed an experienced technical partner to turn that vision into a scalable SaaS platform. Novatura provided the technical, product and development capability to bring their vision to life.

As SHIELD moved from its initial MVP towards a commercial platform, it became important to establish a technology foundation that gave the business full control over its product, roadmap and future development.

They needed to start fresh, and build something that could scale from day one.

Quick Wins, High Value

When SHIELD came to Novatura, they needed a partner who had experience in building SaaS products - a team who could guide them through technical decisions and enable them to get to market quickly. In early conversations, the SHIELD roadmap was huge! They certainly had plenty of ideas. It was vital to scope the project to something that was achievable and could provide immediate customer value. We workshopped the product roadmap in those early days, breaking the wishlist down into deliverables with tangible outcomes.

Define the product roadmap and generate user stories
Break these down into a scope of work and product backlog
Establish costs and time-frames

As the product vision was being developed, SHIELD wanted to translate its industry knowledge and requirements into a clear, intuitive user experience. To create clarity and ensure creative alignment, we did a short design deliverable with them.

Understand the brand identity
Evaluate the initial user experience, told through wireframe designs
Create a design prototype that could be used for demos and marketing assets

This pre-project phase was a crucial part of the development strategy to de-risk the project and reduce the time spent re-working the solution later. We could challenge assumptions that we were making sooner rather than later, and receive feedback from SHIELD's customers before writing any code, helping us to get off on the right foot and avoid wasting time.

Once we had our technical milestones and roadblocks identified, we fixed the costs, declared the timeframes for delivery and got ready to start building.

Customer-Led Development

As customer feedback started arriving faster than the original scope could flex to accommodate, SHIELD's priorities evolved quickly. To support this more effectively, Novatura moved the engagement towards an agile development model, allowing the product to continue evolving alongside customer requirements.

This gave both teams precisely what they needed. For SHIELD, they could adjust the work being done in accordance to their changing needs, all without losing momentum. For us, we could maintain predictable development cycles with regular release rhythms and keep delivering at full pace.

Where is SHIELD now?

Shortly after the initial beta launch in October 2025, one of SHIELD’s customers fed back that they’d saved a significant amount of time and money because the system had surfaced anomalies in their expense data that they acted on immediately.

Today, the product has been integrated into several enterprise fleets, and has been very well-received while it continues to incorporate new customer feedback. Novatura deals with the hosting and maintenance of the platform, so that SHIELD can focus on growing the platform, supporting customers and continuing to develop the product around real-world industry needs.

Something that makes SHIELD a stand-out client for Novatura, is their emphasis on keeping the driver at the heart of the platform. Their mission really came through in what they are trying to achieve: a solution that improves driver welfare and makes our roads safer.

If you've got a product vision and need a technical partner to turn it into something deliverable, talk to us. We'll help you scope it, design it, build it, maintain it, and keep it evolving as your customers' needs do. As a team of expert UK-based developers, we specialise in applying our technical expertise to business projects of all sizes.

Reach out today, and we'll get the ball rolling

A new home for Ethos Ethics & Compliance

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Ethos is on a mission to make pharmaceutical compliance education accessible, effective and engaging - they recognise that changing hearts, minds and company ethos at a deeper level is key to impactful education.

Building for the Future: A Need to Overhaul

Boasting a set of high-quality, flagship online educational programmes, Ethos turned their attention to their marketing - starting with the website. They recognised some key pain points:

Poor overall user experience
Outdated design
Lack of functionality and scalability
Lack of maintainability

After seeing one of the Novatura team presenting at an entrepreneurial marketing event, Ethos approached us with the following project goals:

Improve overall user experience
Improve admin usability (to allow Ethos team to make website updates moving forward)
Elevate online presence
Convert visitors into potential clients
Improve aesthetics, exposure, function & scalability

Formulating a Solution

Following consultation, our proposal aimed to address all of Ethos' concerns and provide them with a modern, performant web platform that would allow their business to scale.

We split this into 3 deliverables:

WordPress website build
Members-only newsletter area
A full event ticketing system

Novatura's designers produced the following landing page concepts, with the goal of conveying a fun, personable brand. The use of strong iconography and artwork was used to portray the brand as established, relevant and authoritative.

Breakthrough Results

After a quick turnaround, the website went live in time for the ABPI Annual Conference 2024, at which Ethos were exhibiting. Since then, Novatura successfully implemented the hidden members area, the event advertising and ticketing system as well as several marketing integrations.

Now, Ethos are looking forward to their Annual Charity Symposium, investigating how AI is rewriting the pharmaceutical rulebook.

We couldn't be more excited for them - and look forward to working together in the future as their business continues to grow! Check out their new website here.

If you're looking for a specialist WordPress website, get the ball rolling with Novatura. As a team of expert UK-based developers, we specialise in applying software to business projects of all sizes.

Let's chat about your project today.

Commercial Kitchen SaaS Product Rebuild

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

<a href="http://labl.it/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Labl.it</a> is one of the South Coast’s fastest growing tech startups, providing commercial kitchen automation to thousands of establishments nationwide. Since their launch, their product has been a hit with kitchen staff and restaurant managers.

The Situation

Labl.it’s success had invited deals with some major enterprise clients. They demanded more complex functionality and a scale that their product wasn’t ready for at the time.

9 months into a full platform rebuild, their project stalled. The new system was still not ready for launch. With only 5 weeks left to onboard their enterprise clients, Labl.it needed a team who could deliver something quickly, without letting them down.

Labl.it approached Novatura to take over the project. This pivot wasn’t an easy decision, as they had sunk significant time and resources into their current project. Changing directions like this takes real nerve, but they resolved to take the risk to improve their odds of success.

The Code Audit

To start with, we audited the existing codebases to see what could be used. There was a mobile app frontend, a back-office portal frontend, and a backend. We concluded that the frontend codebases were good to keep for now, and would save us time in the delivery. However, the backend could not be used, so we resolved to rebuild it from scratch.

Requirements Workshop

We spent some time with the Labl.it team in their Southampton office, aiming to understand and scope out the outcomes they needed the new system to deliver. Since the specification was mostly to clone the old system, we collaborated closely with the Labl.it team to detail as much as possible about the original system’s goals and features.

With the scope determined, our task was:

Reproduce all existing features
Improve performance and scalability
Add support for enterprise features
- Multi-site management
- User hierarchies
- Role based access control

The scoping allowed us to do one thing particularly well. The most critical part of the project was to design the new database architecture. In doing so, an understanding of the current and future needs of the system helped to ensure we built a strong foundation that would last.

A Critical Migration

The plan was simple in theory: deploy the new backend and swap it with the old one. We had designed our backend in such a way that the new interface was virtually identical to the old one, meaning the frontends shouldn't be affected much by the swap. This approach was a compromise, inheriting some technical debt in exchange for speed and ease of adoption.

Another issue was migrating all of Labl.it’s customer data from one system to the other. With kitchens printing labels every day and adhering to strict allergen regulations, this had to be achieved with as little disruption as possible.

When the time finally came to perform the swap, our strategy worked. The payoff was an operational system delivered just in time, ready to onboard their enterprise clients. Now that the urgent deadline was out of the way and more than 1,000 customers had been migrated successfully, the next items on the roadmap could be tackled.

Upgrading the App

The next step was to improve Labl.it’s React Native app, adding new features, improving performance and polishing the user experience. We were able to produce an app that was faster and more reliable than the previous version. In the kitchen, reduced loading times and better offline capabilities meant less time spent on labelling and better customer satisfaction.

To coordinate the release we collaborated with Labl.it and an agency called Blue Frontier, who were going to be taking over support on the project when we were finished.

Handing Over

Labl.it’s customers work round the clock, and a platform running in a thousand commercial kitchens needs support cover that can match that. Labl.it chose Blue Frontier to take on their support needs.

With a smooth handover, both teams could move on to their next big projects. Kudos to the team at Blue Frontier for their support throughout!

Where are Labl.it now?

The new system has been live since 2024, and is used by all of Labl.it’s customers. The product satisfied the enterprise customer needs, thanks to the upgraded capabilities and performance.

As of August 2024, the system was being used at over 1,000 establishments, with over 1,500 devices deployed, and 400,000 labels printed every week. Today, in 2026, Labl.it is trusted by more than 4,000 UK kitchens. To date, they’ve printed over 47 million labels.

It’s been great to watch that growth, and even greater to know that they didn’t just overcome their roadblock - they’re trail blazing in pursuit of their mission. Learn more about Labl.it and how they help kitchens stay compliant and efficient, at https://labl.it.

If your project has stalled and the deadline is looming, we’re not interested in whose fault it was. The first useful step is to find out what’s worth keeping, because the fastest way through is rarely the one that throws everything away.

If you’re in this situation, get in touch. We’ll get the ball rolling..

Vehicle Repair Ticketing Dashboard

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Storm Auto Services is a body shop service specialist in the UK. They support hundreds of vehicle collision repair businesses across the country, helping get cars back on the road.

Storm's customers create job tickets through a third-party portal. Within Storm, these tickets get managed and processed by their back-office team. Once the jobs are completed, customers are sent reports and certificates of compliance.

The Challenge

When we first met Storm, they were using a spreadsheet to track these tickets. This was time-consuming, and introduced some other issues:

Manual data entry: Storm’s team had to manually input data from one portal into their spreadsheet, creating a slow and error-prone workflow.
Manual report writing: After the data was put into the sheet, the team had to pull it back out to create reports and certificates for customers, adding to the workload.
Communication delays: With customers waiting for reports, their satisfaction with the service was at risk.

The current system worked for now, but as Storm grew, they knew they needed an upgrade to help their operations keep up with demand.

A Streamlined Approach

In the early days, our collaboration with Storm pinpointed where the bottlenecks were in their system. Our approach was careful, making sure that we built on top of the systems that were already in place. The key thing to remember is that people ultimately drive the system, so we needed the team to have a positive experience adopting the changes.

Automatic data retrieval: The system integrated with Storm’s third-party ticket portal, enabling staff to read and edit everything they need in one centralised place.
Automated report and certificate population: The system could automatically generate PDF reports and certificates on job completion, eliminating the need to do it by hand.
Improving client communications: The system handled sending these reports to customers, reducing delays and providing better visibility into email delivery.

With an intuitively designed user interface, the team became accustomed to their new workflow with relative ease. Initial feedback was very positive, with technicians noting how much time the system was saving. Management was eager to see what else we could produce. A few years on, the same system is processing 3,000+ jobs and 12,000+ emails a month. The type of volume that would been unreachable without a much bigger headcount.

A Long-Term Partnership

The story doesn’t end there. In fact, as one of Novatura’s first customers, Storm’s systems have been in development for over 3 years! We’ve been behind the scenes, acting as Storm’s software function, delivering far more than just back-office tooling. We built an Android app, did some device management work, and even re-built their website at one stage.

A key moment for Storm was recognising the potential that bespoke software could bring to the business. With Novatura taking part in the strategy and design, new possibilities opened up. Over this period the dashboard became far more capable. New additions are made all the time, so the system keeps up with the business instead of falling behind.

Continuous Improvement

Recently, we’ve updated the way we work with Storm, moving to a more agile way of working that has brought flexibility to the relationship, as well as a regular cadence of reviews and planning sessions so that we could more thoroughly align our work with their business needs.

With Novatura’s support, Storm has been able to do more than just overcome bottlenecks. They’ve seized the opportunity to digitally transform their operations, and in doing so been able to serve more customers, more efficiently, and re-allocate their savings to growth. Where other body shop networks might still be stuck using spreadsheets, Storm now runs on a connected system that gets more capable every year.

If your business is growing faster than your operations can handle, sometimes it can be hard to find solutions when you’re in the thick of it. Novatura has experience supporting businesses in need of new digital workflows. We'll meet you where you're at, and build on top of what you've already got.

If that resonates, get in touch today. We'll get the ball rolling.

Ski Competition Booking Platform

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Every year, the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers invites their fellow livery companies to a charity skiing competition, originally hosted in Morzine, France. As one of the Great XII Livery Companies of the City of London, their links to the Iron trade date back 700 years.

Recurring Admin Workload

Each competition creates a significant admin burden for volunteer organisers. Since they had day jobs, any time commitment would have to come from evenings and weekends. The Ironmongers wanted to improve this situation for the team. With the first competition after the pandemic opening for registrations soon, they needed to move quickly if they were going to make a meaningful change in time for it.

When we first met the Ironmongers they pointed out the main issues with their current spreadsheet-based system:

Time consuming: Organisers would often manually comb through multiple spreadsheets to chase bookings, payments, and other information.
Manual data entry: The organisers had to move data between multiple sheets, which was a tedious and error-prone process resulting in data duplication.
Communication issues: With hundreds of applicants from over 30 teams, the back and forth was messy, and duplicated messages were causing friction.

Off-the-shelf event tools weren’t the answer. The Ironmongers’ main constraint was delegated approvals: since applications were arriving from dozens of separate institutions, it was down to the captains to approve their own teams. Most tools would assume a single organiser and a flat list of attendees, not the multi-team register used by the competition. Data also had to be kept separate between teams. A captain in one team shouldn’t be able to see other teams’ sensitive information.

A Bespoke Solution

We worked with the Ironmongers to identify the system’s requirements. The project was scoped to meet the needs of the upcoming competition, with optional enhancements deferred to a post-event deliverable. We designed the proposed system’s information architecture, so that it could comfortably accommodate the multi-team setup, keep data separated, and be extensible enough for future features.

Hands-off workflow: Participants could now register by themselves. Captains could approve and reject bookings without back and forth with the organisers.
Spreadsheet import / export: Organisers in Morzine needed offline capabilities, and backwards compatibility made the new system much easier to adopt.
Automated progress updates: Organisers no longer needed to send so many emails. The system kept all captains and applicants up to date with their progress.

Year on Year Improvement

The system was built in time for the upcoming event. Everything went smoothly, with the new platform handling the admin for over 250 attendees. With the admin burden lifted, organisers were quick to note how much time the system saved them and how much easier registration had become. Deferring some of the optional enhancements made the deadline realistic, and those improvements eventually made the following year’s experience even better. Since the platform's launch, Novatura has been looking after it as well as the WordPress website, making upgrades and supporting the competition each year.

Now, still using the same system we built in 2023, the 2027 competition is accepting registrations, set to take place in Mayrhofen, Austria. This year, the Ironmongers are raising money for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal and Snow Camp. We wish them the best of luck!

If the admin behind your operation is eating away at your team’s evenings, it’s usually work that doesn’t need a person sitting in the middle of it. Novatura builds systems around how you already operate - keeping what works so your team gets their time back without you replacing everything.

If that sounds familiar, get in touch. We’ll get the ball rolling.