Obbi founder Gareth Macklin leans against a brick wall holding up a tablet device displaying the Obbi logo on its screen.
Gareth Macklin. Image: Obbi Solutions

Obbi software investment will create new jobs in Northern Ireland

6 Aug 2021

The Belfast start-up is expanding in Northern Ireland, where it believes it can access ‘some of the finest talent out there’.

Compliance software start-up Obbi Solutions has secured £300,000 in funding from Innovate UK, which will be used to expand the company’s team.

Founding director Gareth Macklin said the funding application process saw almost 3,000 entries from across the UK.

“Securing this funding now enables us to accelerate our growth plans quicker than we have ever imagined,” he said. “Our software development team will now be expanding, along with our sales and customer support teams,” he added.

The Belfast-based company expects to start hiring for new roles in tech, sales and customer support in the coming months.

“We believe Northern Ireland has some of the finest talent out there, which is why we are exceptionally proud to be able to offer additional roles within Obbi, sooner than planned, because of Innovate UK,” said Macklin.

He emphasised that Obbi has “concrete plans for growth” when it comes to its compliance software suite.

Obbi digitises compliance processes, offering automated alternatives to paper-based and manual workflows across operations, HR, and health and safety teams. It claims clients have saved thousands of hours in admin time, reduced costs by up to 74pc, and seen onboarding and induction time drop by 60pc through use of its software. It also pitches its software as a way to mitigate risk through more effective and efficient compliance management.

Founded in 2016, the company established key target markets in manufacturing, engineering and waste. More recently, it spied an opportunity in the sports sector and launched Obbi Golf.

“The need for an integrated compliance, health and safety system in golf clubs particularly stood out as a gap in the market where we’ve already secured some of the top golf clubs across Northern Ireland as clients,” said Macklin.

“For many clubs, implementing, managing and documenting health and safety legislation to demonstrate compliance is difficult but it’s a problem we know we can help clubs with easily.”

Macklin’s own background is in care homes and hospitality. He is the owner of The Malone hotel in Belfast and Macklin Care Homes, which operates six locations across Northern Ireland.

Elaine Burke
By Elaine Burke

Elaine Burke was editor of Silicon Republic until 2023, and is now the host of For Tech’s Sake, a co-production from Silicon Republic and The HeadStuff Podcast Network. Elaine joined Silicon Republic in 2011 as a journalist covering gadgets, new media and tech jobs. She later served as managing editor before stepping up as editor in 2019. She comes from a background in publishing and is known for being particularly pernickety when it comes to spelling and grammar – earning her the nickname, Critical Red Pen.

Loading now, one moment please! Loading