FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders
At the heart of their towns and cities, wonderful local businesses and social enterprises are the vital spark in their communities. Our guests may all be brilliant but they're also real and relatable, with practical insights and tips to share.
All are united by one factor: they had a dream to grow, and used finance from the Business Enterprise Fund, a non-profit social enterprise, to make it happen. And our guests give us the inside story about their business journeys and all the lessons learned on the way in these fascinating and candid interviews with people facing the same business challenges you do.
FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders
A Rocket Boost for Business Growth with the Human Touch: Michelle Atkinson, Apollo Cloud
Apollo Cloud has experienced remarkable growth, tripling its turnover in two years and winning around 80 customers, including a multinational, multi-billion dollar turnover company.
The technology business provides omnichannel telephony and comms services to customers who value the power of communication, including professional services, logistics and other firms, and educational organisations.
Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Michelle Atkinson reveals the power of putting the "special" back into being a specialist as she describes Apollo's philosophy, unique selling proposition, communication and customer service approach.
Michelle and her co-founder's shared love of the NASA Apollo Space Programme informed the business' name, and she describes a memorable trip to Cape Canaveral, plus:
• their work with schools in North Yorkshire, and providing bespoke services to the education sector
• achieving quality certifications including ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certifications within Apollo's first nine months
• Apollo's sustainability and tree-planing initiatives
• their startup and growth funding: initial finance came from the founders themselves, but they also secured a six-figure sum from the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) which accelerated their growth
• when chatbots and automated systems are often "unbearable" for customers, human connection is even more valued
• Apollo's quality commitment and hiring philosophy
• plans for the future, including potential acquisitions
What next?
- More about Apollo Cloud: https://www.apollocloud.co.uk/
- More about the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF): https://www.befund.org/about
FUNDED: Brilliant Entrepreneurs and Founders is a podcast by the Business Enterprise Fund a social enterprise dedicated to breaking the "finance shackles" faced by many small and medium-sized enterprises & social enterprises.
Find BEF online at https://www.befund.org and on LInkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/business-enterprise-fund/
• This podcast is produced and edited by Jamie Veitch https://www.jamieveitch.co.uk/
• The music is "Aerosol of my Love" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Artwork design by Research Retold https://www.researchretold.com
