Podfather celebrates its 21st birthday
Podfather, the supplier of route optimisation and electronic proof of delivery technology, is celebrating turning 21. What started as a dream to create bespoke software solutions for fleet operators has developed into an award-winning business employing a team of 35 people and supporting over 30,000 users in the UK. As the Podfather team looks forward to lockdown restrictions easing and a return to its Edinburgh office we reflect on some of the highlights of its 21-year history.
On the 1st of April 2000 Podfather was born. Back in the early days, a small team of dedicated developers had the idea to develop software that would help businesses to operate more efficiently. During the early years projects were very intricate and bespoke, delivering great results to a range of industry sectors.
In 2007 the team identified the importance of developing a SaaS solution that focused on an easy-to-use electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) solution. As a result, the original Podfather ePOD solution was born and the first customers signed up.
During subsequent years, Podfather started to make a name for itself in the construction sector, proving its worth being deployed on high-profile civil engineerings projects such as the M25 road widening initiative, the Victoria Station Upgrade, the London power tunnel project, and the London Olympic Legacy Park. This win was followed by another high-profile client addition in the form of The Energy Saving Trust who deployed Podfather to help manage the insulation of over 200,000 Scottish homes.
Jump to 2014 and Podfather starts to become a major tech employer in the West of Edinburgh, recruiting the best and brightest talent from the industry… something that continues today. Around this time the company celebrated being awarded G-Cloud supplier status and shortly after won its first NHS customer. With more staff and big plans, Podfather moves to larger offices and shortly after wins a significant contract with Tarmac to deploy the system across its fleet of 1,800+ vehicles. This relationship is still going strong today.
2019 saw us achieve ISO 27001 status and be crowned the Scottish Digital Technology Company of the Year at the Herald Digital Business Awards.
2020, the year that will be remembered for the COVID-19 pandemic saw us reach 30,000 users and over 150 customers as businesses signed up to Pofather to get help with an increased need for route planning and contactless deliveries during the challenging times that we all faced.
So far in 2021 we have celebrated the renewal of our ISO 27001 certification and being named as one of Scotland’s top 10 flexible employers by Flexibility Works. We are actively recruiting across our engineering, sales and customer success teams and we are looking to the roll out of several game-changing development across both our logistics and construction software offerings.
“In 2000, when we launched the Podfather business we knew that we had a good idea,” adds Colin McCreadie, Podfather’s Managing Director. “Over the years that idea has grown and evolved into the fantastic business that we have today. With a fantastic team, a growing customer list, and big plans, now is definitely a very exciting time for us all here at Podfather.”
