A former Master Inventor at information technology giant IBM has joined one of the South West’s fastest growing tech firms.
Rob Breeds is now working at Plymouth-based digital agency Elixel having been an UX (user experience) designer at the multinational company where he was given the title Master Inventor – a privilege only handed to talented individuals who have produced and sustained top quality work.
He joins Elixel as head of user experience to spearhead the company’s mission to help businesses, large and small, tap into their existing talent and deliver a better customer experience.
Mr Breeds has worked in diverse roles including marketing, sales, book publishing, software engineering and most recently as a designer at IBM, where he spent the past 19 years.
Part of his responsibility was in mentoring others in innovation and ultimately achieving the prestigious title of IBM Master Inventor with several technology patents to his name.
Elixel will be utilising Mr Breeds’ experience across multiple industries, and has already been running workshops to bring people from different roles within an organisation together to uncover hidden challenges and converting them into opportunities for the business to grow and improve.
It is all part of Elixel’s plans to boost productivity in the region’s businesses through unlocking their latent talent and improving communication across departments.
Mr Breeds, said: “I am delighted to be welcomed on board the Elixel team. I’ve watched them grow as a company and developing the design community inthe South West.
“We’ve now got a real opportunity to help businesses take advantage of the value in collaborative design thinking to build better products and services.“
Elixel was founded in 2012 by four University of Plymouth digital art and technology students. It has since built digital products and services for clients such as Game, JP Morgan and even top TV puppet Sooty.
Since November 2017 it has doubled in personnel, growing to a team of eight, whilst turnover and profit have each grown by more than 30%, two years in a row.
Gavin Jones, managing director of Elixel said, “The growth of Elixel over the past 18 months is evidence that businesses are looking for help to innovate.
“They are realising that they need help to overcome the challenges that stand in their way. We help them achieve improved customer experience, faster time to market and more engaged employees.”
He added: “Rob’s track record of design leadership, delivery and quality at enterprise level is exactly what we need to help us drive our business forward.”
Mr Jones formed Elixel alongside Becky Veater, financial director; Christian Cook, technical director; and Paul Bird, creative director.
The foursome were all students in their final year when they won a Venture Culture module competition with a reward of three months in the University of Plymoith’s start-up incubator Formation Zone
They went to the now defunct Outset programme, which offered start-up businesses support, and were able to move out. The business is now based in offices in Armada Way, in Plymouth city centre.
To contact William Telford: william.telford@reachplc.com
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