2023: That's A Wrap

The past 12 months have brought developments in AI, some serious cyber attacks across the globe, and plenty of updates when it comes to using tech to better businesses across every sector. Keep reading to learn of all the achievements of our people over the last 12 months. 

• Growing our client base by almost 45%
• Welcoming 61 new employees
• We focused on supporting key industries, we appointed Sector Principals to support Higher Education, Private Equity, AEC and Manufacturing sectors
• Our UK team were shortlisted in nine awards including Woman of the Year and Innovation of the Year at the Cyber Security Awards, and Employer of the Year (250+) at the Investors in People Awards. We are so immensely proud of our people! 
• To ensure we’re at the forefront of new technology, we created our Innovation Team (sign up to their weekly Substack here to find out what they’re getting up to)
• Jessica Hall winning Young Digital and Technology Professional of the Year at the North East Young Professionals Awards 2023, taking the title from our own Keira Hall (two winners in a row, wow - we have some talented people at Waterstons)
• We retained our Investors in People Gold accreditation for another three years
• INGENUITY, our software hackathon with Teesside University entered its second year (UK)
• Team members Helen, Lora and Shannon were appointed to charity boards across the UK
• Data scientist and Innovation Consultant, Andrew Blance, was invited to speak at the Databricks Data + AI summit in San Francisco
• We welcomed over 50 tech experts to our office to host the Women in Tech June meetup
• Adam Lisik, Head of Software Operations and Automation, was named in the DL100 list
• Shared monthly detailed cyber security insights through our Cyber Threat Landscape Report, offering advice for businesses and learning from attacks worldwide (make sure you receive this direct to your inbox here)

CEO Michael shares his thoughts;

“This year has taught us many things, and I’m proud of the whole team for getting where we are today.

“We were concerned to be above the industry average for employee turnover, but we’ve hugely invested in recruitment, and putting people first, to reduce this by almost 8%. We’re now focusing on softer skills as well as technical expertise across all areas of the business to ensure we can truly get to know our clients to help solve their business problems. It also means we can start to push our clients to be more innovative, try new things, and work with us to be at the forefront of new technologies that otherwise may not be considered.

“Part of our people investment is the Trusted Advisor programme. Something we’re encouraging all our team to get involved with so, no matter what area of the organisation, we can support each other and our clients in the same way.

“Ultimately, this year we have cemented our goal and our purpose to translate business problems into technical solutions that help organisations to grow, add value and thrive.

“As we head into 2024, and our 30^th anniversary year, I’m looking forward to seeing newer and younger members of the team flourish in their roles, bring fresh ideas to the table, and understanding how the Waterstons of the past can inform the Waterstons of the future.”

Managing Director of Australia, Charlie Hales shares her thoughts; 

"2023 has been a massive year for Waterstons Australia, even though we are still young (having only been in Australia for 4 years in March), we've achieved a lot. We've cultivated a team over 4 states which excel at looking after our clients.

We've made (and kept) exceptional relationships with those clients. One of my favourite pieces of feedback I've received over the year from clients is how we're able to look at not only their tech but their people and their processes as well to truly understand their businesses. It has made such an effect on their organisations and it makes me proud to direct the Australian arm of Waterstons. 

Next year, we'll be celebrating 30 years of Waterstons and we're excited to step into a new decade of brilliant solutions for brilliant organisations. There are a lot of constant, rapid changes to the tech industry, especially in Australia. But, we are prepared to continue providing tailored and bespoke support to organisations based on their unique needs. We look forward to helping you with these new challenges.

Our people have been such a committed team, it's a wonderful place to be and I know that 2024 will continue to bring growth, new challenges, new solutions and most importantly - another fantastic year of Waterstons." 

If you have any further questions about what you've read and how we can support you in 2024, get in touch 24/7 - info@waterstons.com.au