A start-up backed by two decades’ experience

Thursday 30 May 2019

It is a position that represents, in many ways, the best of both worlds. Vaiie, a new digital business focusing on internal and external communications, is far from starting from scratch.

The Guernsey business has the flexibility that comes with being a start-up, plus the know-how, business links and client base that comes with two decades’ worth of experience in the communications industry.

“We have been working in the communications space for almost 20 years, traditionally providing data to print services for businesses in Jersey,” said Vaiie Director Lee Bosio. “We work for quite a lot of banks [in Jersey], some of the telcos, commercial businesses and we take huge feeds of data on a weekly and monthly basis and output those into communications, statements, bills etc. 

“During those years we have obviously seen huge changes in the industry and multiple new channels and tools available for businesses to use to communicate with their customers. Staying on top of all of those channels while maintaining brand consistency and tone and voice can be quite challenging and that is where we feel that we have got a bit of a niche and have the most experience because we have managed those communications on behalf of customers for quite some time.

“We wanted to replicate what we have been doing in Jersey for many years. We already have a number of pan-island customers so it made sense to grow outside of the island and do what we have done in Jersey here. We have been working with TPA for quite a few years, they are the main agency for the work we do, websites work etc. 

Mr Bosio said Jersey Post Digital's long-standing partnership with TPA had been advanced further through the launch of Vaiie. Pictured by Michael Borowski.

“I come from a background of managing agencies and what I think is quite unique about Vaiie is that we can run with the and work with the ability of a start-up, the agility of that sort of team but we are backed by some big and stable businesses with a lot of experience and experienced teams on both sides in their respective spaces - Jersey more with the communication, the production, the multi-channel management, and with the Guernsey team more on the web, the database and marketing. So I think collectively we have quite a strong offering.”

Turning two islands into one team 

Business development manager Matthew Bain will manage the initial growth of Vaiie in Guernsey with the team at TPA in a market that he sees as ripe for modernisation. 

“There are plenty of opportunities in Guernsey and companies who are operating in quite an old-fashioned sense with lots of paperwork being printed off,” he said. “I came from a recruitment background and working there nothing was really changing, there was no modernisation within the sector. There are lots of industries we will be able to approach and help with - it’s all about making efficiencies in communications, so there is going to be lots of potential for growth.”

Other key players in the team are TPA MD Nigel Kennedy, a Development Consultant at Vaiie, and David McGrath, who is the start-up’s Head of Marketing.

“There is a team of 10 that I manage in Jersey who cover production, development, product and business development and relationship management,” said Mr Bosio. “Then TPA have around 27 staff across both islands, so we are benefitting from the combination of both teams. 

“We want to grow and take on more staff" 

A lot of the early focus has been on promoting the new brand and establishing its presence in the island.  

“The period we are in now is that it is a new brand, so the first phase really is that brand launch and that brand recognition. It is very important to us to not just work from Jersey and that’s why we have partnered with a local business and we have the benefit of a bricks and mortar studio we can work in. 

Vaiie held a launch event recently in order to introduce people to the new company. 

“This is not a short-term fix - we want to be in Guernsey for many years and to grow with TPA, to take on more staff, to build a team around Matt, and to replicate the success we have had in Jersey and build up a similar client base.”

Mr Bosio said timing was important and now was a good climate for a business like Vaiie to enter the market. 

“I think the focus on digital that Guernsey has, very much in the same way as Jersey, means it is a good time for digital businesses, a good time for start-ups. I have been involved in running digital businesses for 12/13 years and back in 2005/2006 recruitment was quite a challenge finding the right staff and developers who were interested in this kind of work. 

“I think schools are doing a lot more now to get people interested in this industry and I think people want to work in these sort of environments. I think now is a good time and Guernsey has recognised that and certainly with the conversations I have had so far with government I feel confident that it is.”

Cutting through the fake news

Mr Bosio said their target market is ‘as broad as any business who have customers, who have challenges in communicating with those customers and want to take control of those communications.’ 

“We have different suites of products and what we can do is scale depending on the size of the business. We work with some of the main high street banks, and communicate with their customers on a global scale because of the network we have and the links we have within the postal industry, down to local customers on a much smaller scale, so we have got a bespoke offering.

“There are loads of tools, loads of options that enable companies to take control of their own destinies but it can be overwhelming because of the amount of channels that are available. It can be very hard and time-consuming to create that source of truth for your own business, to cut through the fake news and that is where we can help because we are focused on only communications.”

Pictured top: Nigel Kennedy, Matthew Bain, David McGrath and Lee Bosio.

This article first appeared in the Bailiwick Express weekly newspaper. If you have a business story for us, email editor@bailiwickexpress.com 

Images by Chris George except where stated.