Alertacall achieves milestone moment and employs 100th employee

An award winning technology company whose ambition is to enable more and more older people to retain their independence has reached the milestone of appointing its 100th employee as demand for its services continues to grow, and it is still looking for more people to recruit.

Alertacall is the brainchild of James Batchelor who created technology to allow his 86-year-old grandmother Eveline to confirm she was safe each day while also enabling her and many others like her to enjoy a great deal of personal freedom.

In line with a surge for its services from housing associations and local authorities across the UK, the company recently celebrated employing its 100th staff member.  Most of the team are based in the North West, at its offices in Windermere, Cumbria, and Warrington, Cheshire, with an increasing number working remotely from their homes across the UK.

The timing of the landmark appointment coincides with the recent announcement that Alertacall was honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation – the highest accolade awards for UK businesses recognising and celebrating business excellence.

James said: “I remember the early days when it was just me in the business running pretty much everything. The team has steadily grown since but there has been a real spike in the past five years, which has seen our numbers more than double. The number of people receiving our services has grown at some pace  in recent years, and I think that is largely because we have woken up as a society to the very real need for more regular and more caring contact with older people.  It is inevitable that we have grown because we put daily contact at the heart of our services and because we invest so much in our team members, the customer experience is great. To meet this extra demand, we have needed to grow our team and it’s an excellent feeling to be able to create jobs for  so many people in a rural part of Cumbria where it can often be difficult to find roles that can develop into lasting careers.”

Alertacall’s products have helped tens of thousands of older people retain their independence for longer, and are used to modernise supported housing schemes nationwide with features that include providing internet access for those who have no broadband or smartphone.

Among the products provided by the company is the award-winning OKEachDay service which allows daily contact, easy messaging and video calling through a touchscreen device.

As Alertacall continues to grow, the company remains on the lookout for further new members of staff across its operations, technical and business development departments.

James said: “We have plans for further significant growth in the coming years and to meet the increased volume of business we will need to recruit even further. In particular, we’re looking for people to join our Business Development team right now. As a company, we have a strong focus on not just looking after our customers but looking after our team members too.  We invest in training, run our own leadership programme and everyone has confidential access to a trained coach or counsellor. We strive to make Alertacall an attractive place to work and create somewhere people can learn, grow and develop not just their professional skills but their personal skills too.”

To find out more about job opportunities at Alertacall, email jobs@alertacall.com or visit our current vacancies.

Background:

Founded in 2004 Alertacall helps as many people as possible feel safe, connected and informed using ingenious technology and contact with people who care.

Alertacall employs around 100 people and was founded by James Batchelor, the original inventor of the “I am okay” button. He was inspired by Eveline, his own staunchly independent grandmother and her desire to remain in her own home for as long as possible.

The company now improves the lives of tens of thousands of people and has won many awards. It works in partnership with dozens of organisations in housing, health and social care and has many private customers.

Alertacall employs team members from all across the UK, with offices located in Windermere, Cumbria, and Warrington, Cheshire.

Eveline, James’ grandmother – who inspired his creation of Alertacall was a village shop keeper for much of her life, and a B+B operator up until her early eighties. After the death of 2 husbands – the first of whom was detained as a Prisoner of War in WW2, she learned to drive in her late 50s, travelled the world on her own and was an inspiration to many with her grit and determination to live on her own, and under her own terms for as long as possible.