About this article

Read time:

4 minutes

Category:

Opinion

Our take on the 2022 Manchester Digital Conference

London is often considered the epicentre for many of the UK’s varying sectors from entertainment to finance. But, when it comes to the tech sector, the North West stronghold of Manchester is arguably a hotbed for talent, startups and established tech firms. In 2019, £181 million of investment was pumped into the city’s tech sector, establishing Manchester as one of Europe’s fastest growing tech clusters!

To spotlight the sheer wealth of varying business, Manchester Digital held their annual Digital Member Conference and Summer Celebration recently, bringing together over 150 people across the industry to discuss, learn and collaborate on today’s issues and challenges facing the sector. Here’s what we learnt.

A turbulent and precarious time for the tech industry

In the introductory talk, led by Manchester Digital’s Katie Gallagher and Alison Ross, a stark picture was painted for the sector. As we’re all aware, the past several years have been incredibly turbulent. The economic picture today is one that continues to reel from the effects of the pandemic as well as soaring inflation, scarcity amongst the talent pool of workers and complications from the war in Ukraine.

With ongoing recruitment and investment slow-down hampering the growth of the sector, we would forgive you if you thought that it was all doom and gloom in the months ahead, but thankfully, we were able to take away some positives. E-Commerce, FinTech and Cyber all did remarkably well during the pandemic and continue to boom – and a practical recommendation to implement career strategies early to win the recruitment battle shows that there are routes out of this turbulence.

AI shares behavioural similarities to that of a crow?!

We know, it sounds left field but hear us out. In a fascinating talk led by Tom Liptrot of Ortom, he notes that artificial intelligence can be described as sharing similar behavioural and cognitive traits to that of a crow when it comes to problem solving.

It really put into perspective what AI’s capabilities are and really helped debunk the myth that the technology can open the door to almost Sci-Fi concepts like self-driving cars. In fact, the AI is no way near capable of achieving such a complex line of decision making. It might be the buzzword at present, but it has a long way to go before it become commonplace across numerous industries.

Businesses need to ensure their websites are accessible

In one of the more poignant talks of the day, Molly Watt and Danny Lancaster of fellow Macclesfield-based Nexer Digital, led a talk that was as insightful as it was reflective. Drawing from personal experience, Molly led us through a talk highlighting the top five common issues when it comes to accessibility on websites. Low contrast text (840,000 websites are guilty culprits of this!), empty links, missing alt text for imagery, a lack of sufficient contrast on a website’s foreground and background; these are just some of the issues that prevent accessibility for those afflicted with a disability. If businesses really want to ensure that their websites are accessible for all, they need to ensure they take a proactive approach to addressing these issues early in their online development cycle.

Leading by example in the age of the mindful shopper

Consumer habits, wants and expectations have evolved considerably in recent years and the shopper of today is just as focused on the values of the companies they purchase from as they are nabbing a bargain. In a talk from Timothy Willis, Head of eCommerce at PushON, we learnt that a whopping 58% of shoppers would stop using a brand if they go outside their values! Not just that, but customers are very aware of ‘greenwashing’ so businesses need to be honest and genuine in their efforts to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. By leading by example and ensuring they are transparent, businesses who are ethically sound will reap the rewards from customers who place their trust in them.

Want to find out more about Skout but don’t have the time to scroll through the website?

Here’s a two minute video that tells you all you need to know.

Tech for good, data science – and pets?

Keith Hinder, principal consultant at tech4pets and Roger Zorlu, data scientist at Global Logic, demonstrated how data modelling can be used to help improve animal welfare. With the pandemic increasing the amount of fraudulent activity around the movement of pets across the UK, Global Logic analysed data on countless of ad sites to identify problem sellers online. This looked at everything from the language and imagery used on ads to classify breeds of animals as well as spotting historic trends in seller activity that might point to illegal behaviour and/or animal abuse. This has enabled tech4pets to enrich its data sets and provide better insights to the charities it supports.

Did you know that Skout’s origins were founded in B2B technology – it’s our bread and butter! If you’re looking to learn more about our experience and how we can help you stand out from the crowd, head over to our services page.

About this article

Read time:

4 minutes

Category:

Opinion

Celebrating EOsmile: How being employee-owned is helping us build a brighter agency

Creativity in B2B marketing: what we learned from episode 1 of Shaking the B2B Tree podcast

Browse more blog posts

EO Day
Posted on
byRebecca Brown

Did you know that Skout is an employee-owned B2B PR and communications agency?   In 2023, our founding shareholders Rob and Claire made the decision to sign the company over to an Employee-Owned Trust (EOT). As Claire mentioned at the time of the transition: “Much of the success Skout has

Shaking the B2B PR tree: Episode 1 banner detailing the episode contents with guest Victoria Jackson, acting global head of marketing, Silverdoor
Posted on
byHonor Williamson

If you haven’t heard about Shaking the B2B Tree yet, it’s a fresh new podcast from Skout launched by our MD, Rob Skinner, aimed at challenging traditional thinking in B2B marketing. The whole idea? To shake up the way we think about B2B marketing – challenge the usual, dig into

An image of healthy and nutritious food options
Posted on
bymarketing@skoutpr.com

When choosing what to eat, most of us think of calories, nutrients and the overall taste. But, did you know that your diet not only affects your physical health but also plays a major role in your mood, mental clarity and overall well-being. More and more studies display that food

A photo of the Skout PR team at the 2025 annual offsite at Alton Towers Resort
Posted on
byTom Embleton

Life in PR can be a bit of a rollercoaster, so what better place for Skout’s annual offsite than Alton Towers? Last month, we swapped our office for the theme park and two jam-packed days of strategy, team bonding and adrenaline-fuelled fun. Day one: Strategy with a side of pastries

Skout Team celebrating for 15 years of Skout
Posted on
byRebecca Brown

This year marks a milestone for Skout – it’s our 15th birthday! What began as a leap of faith from our founder Rob Skinner has grown into a thriving B2B communications agency built on authenticity, relationships and a healthy dose of workplace humour. In celebration, we wanted to take this

An image of the actress Millie Bobby Brown, a centerpiece of a blog about the role of clickbait and the impact on journalism
Posted on
byClaire Lamb

What started as a simple lunchtime read today ended up down a rabbit hole. It all started with Millie Bobby Brown. Like many women, I applaud her for calling out the media on their response to her appearance. I’m not going to go over it as it’s a tale as

Copy of International Women's Day template (1200 x 500 px) (2)
Posted on
byRebecca Brown

Did you know that as an agency we have a strong female presence across all roles within the business? In fact, two-thirds of our senior management team are female – this exceeds the global PR industry average of around 30%! That’s why we never miss the opportunity to celebrate International

A group of three women in a podcast environment with microphones.
Posted on
byHonor Williamson

Launching a podcast involves more than just hitting the record button. From selecting the right equipment to securing guest speakers, the early planning stages shape everything. But before considering the logistics, there’s one crucial question you should ask from day one: How will I engage my audience? Without a clear

A visual image showcases tech trends for B2B marketers. The graphic displays icons signaling tech trends such as AI.
Posted on
byJames Weaver

Things change quickly in the world of B2B marketing. With every ‘eureka!’ moment for new and disruptive technologies that herald to change the game, staying ahead of the curve is vitally important. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has been used by businesses for decades, today the technology is plastered across the

An image of a woman reading a business, financial and fintech newspaper
Posted on
byIsobelle Yoxall

It’s a new year for your FinTech business, and there’s big news on the horizon: a new product launch, exciting partnerships, or innovative features to announce. This makes for the perfect time to share your story with the media. Or perhaps you are just seeking fresh opportunities to make a

Get in touch

Skout
11 Market Place
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK10 1EB

Send us a message

Name(Required)

Send us a message