Winning solution forenterprising Gareth

‘OBBI’ was created by Gareth Macklin, director of the Macklin Group that employs over 650 people in care homes, hotels and construction.

The development came about after Gareth failed to find an existing solution that allowed him to integrate the company’s business processes and streamline procedures effectively.

Gareth said: “We are delighted to have OBBI recognised by the Invent Award for Enterprise Software Company of the Year.

“It comes at a great time for us with OBBI now being used by increasing numbers of businesses that need to increase productivity, save money and resources and help relieve the stress and pressures of running a business.

“With more and more compliance, checks and legislative red tape combined with the significant desire to retain and develop the best people, I knew there had to be a better solution, and since nobody else had come up with it, I decided to invent it.”

The Invent competition attracted more than 100 entries across six categories. The nine-month judging process challenged innovators and entrepreneurs to showcase their products to bring forward the best tech ideas Northern Ireland has to offer.

OBBI’s “intuitive, user-friendly interface” organises everything from training, compliance, risk assessments and audits to quality control and productivity.

Gareth added: “We believe our product has been so successful because we designed and developed it with the insight of both business owners, managers and staff; therefore, we know exactly what solutions companies need. With more challenges than ever before for business people of today, OBBI’s platform can truly make a difference and our clients are experiencing amazing results so far including headline reduction figures of up to 75% in admin time, 60% in onboarding time and 22% in staff turnover. Additionally, we’re increasing compliance visibility to 100% .”