Leading mobile technology specialist mkodo announces the opening of its technical hub in Newcastle. The new office, set to open in January 2016, will be an extension to the 35 strong team based in Tech City London. mkodo supplies market leading mobile CRM and commerce products to major brands and governments across the globe.
mkodo chose to locate in Newcastle after exploring over a dozen different cities and finally narrowing the shortlist down to Newcastle and Sheffield. Newcastle’s broad talent pool, high quality graduates, low costs and buzzing city culture met all of the company’s criteria. However above all it was the commitment and support of Invest Newcastle, the universities and the wider tech community which solidified the company’s decision.
“We are excited to continue the growth of our mobile technology business in the vibrant city of Newcastle. The city has a strong digital sector and excellent universities with which mkodo can engage to help drive our innovative and proven product range forward.” Stuart Godfree, MD, mkodo.
Catherine Walker, Inward Investment Director at Invest Newcastle, said: “We are delighted to welcome mkodo to the city and they are a great addition to the digital sector. They will bring additional expertise, create jobs and will undoubtedly enhance the city’s burgeoning reputation, here in Newcastle, as a tech hot-spot.
For Newcastle to be chosen over more than a dozen other locations for mkodo’s first office outside of London is a testament to not only the city’s competitive offering but also our increasingly strong digital presence within the UK.
We’ve seen an influx of digital businesses, with our Inward Investment team supporting 21 businesses locating or expanding here in the past year. Our digital sector has also seen huge investment with £12.5m being invested in city’s digital infrastructure, supporting the thousands of creative and digital businesses across Newcastle. Our ambition is to be internationally recognised as one of the top five cities in digital and technology by 2020 and attracting businesses such as mkodo is a further step towards achieving this.”
mkodo has taken office space in The Core, the city’s iconic new digital hub at Newcastle Science Central.
“The Core is an excellent choice for mkodo as it offers a superb space combined with the collaboration possibilities with other Core-located organisations. The Future Cities agenda of Newcastle Science Central also sits well with mkodo. Our mTarget product offers the potential to add an iBeacon infrastructure and ecosystem to buildings/venues, streets or cities. This can then be utilised to implement strategies and service that involve understanding the whereabouts of people/animals/assets and/or involve the dissemination of location-based information to users of those spaces.” Sue Yoxall, ED, mkodo.
During mkodo’s 14 years in operation it has won numerous awards such as Innovation in Mobile Bingo. mkodo is planning to expand their Newcastle team rapidly and will be recruiting for roles throughout 2016.
Invest Newcastle is a service delivered by NewcastleGateshead Initiative on behalf of Newcastle. In partnership Newcastle City Council Invest Newcastle attract and secure new investment and jobs for the city.
