We've been working with the famous Nicholson farming family over the last few months to build a new farming app - SOLID Diet Management (see https://blog.start-software.com/2025/05/were-building-new-farming-app-meeting.html ). Built using the Alpha Software development platform ( Alpha Anywhere ), our team have built an innovative and robust self-service app. Dan & Lucas attended the soft-launch at the Dairy Show The Dairy Show was the ideal venue for the soft-launch of the app (not least because it was in Telford!), so Dan & Lucas went along to meet the farming brains behind the product, Richard Nicholson, and watch him introduce it to fellow farmers.
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The Big C (V2!) is back in the water! Andrew's preparations for his next World Record attempt are going well
Adventurer and friend of Start Software Andrew Bedwell has been video-calling us from his new boat, Big C V2!
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| Andrew with Big C V2 at Whitehaven, UK |
Andrew has rebuilt Big C from scratch using a new design, new materials and a new approach to weight distribution. It is still tiny - but there is (slightly) more room inside for his navigational aids and for food.
His sea trials at the weekend were a great success and the boat only needs a few minor adjustments in time for his journey to start in May 2026.
We're supporting Andrew right up to the point where he sets off - to break the World Record for the shortest boat to cross the Atlantic (Big C is only 1m long...) he has to be completely unsupported. That means 3 months at sea eating only the food he can take with him (or catch) and drinking water made by hand-cranking a desalination unit.
Watch this space for more photos, videos and news.
Our Risk Assessment webinar recording is now available on YouTube
If you missed the live webinar on Risk Assessments within Alpha Tracker, you can watch it on our website or direct on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8o9bFGNZD_0
You can also click the video below!
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| Watch Kim, Dan & Jack on the webinar |
You can also click the video below!
40 Marathons in 40 Countries in 4 Months - all for Cancer Research
Our good friend and client John Read of CleanUpBritain (remember, we built the roadside-litter-tracking RoadVlog app?) is a very proud Dad. His son, Angus (22) is running 40 marathons in 40 countries in 4 months, raising funds for Cancer Research.
Angus is hoping to be the youngest person to achieve this feat, and he is doing it completely unsupported. Wow, what a challenge!
Follow Angus on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@angus_read/video/7545555352952130838
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| You've got this, Angus! |
Follow Angus on TikTok here: https://www.tiktok.com/@angus_read/video/7545555352952130838
And - just an importantly - donate to the cause by clicking here: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/angus-reads-euro-40-40-4-expedition?feed=e8d79554-289a-48eb-be2a-2e59e4a6add8
Thanks in advance!
Update - Angus has just started his Montenegro marathan and sent us this message...
Support Desk Performance - August 2025
August was another busy month for our support team, with 832 tickets solved in total. Of these, 166 were high-priority – the kind of issues our clients really need us to resolve quickly.
We’re pleased to report that:
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97.08% of high-priority tickets were solved within the timescales set by our customers.
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Across all tickets, 90.99% were solved on time.
Although August’s overall performance dipped slightly compared to earlier months, our handling of urgent issues remained consistently strong. Clients can be reassured that when a critical problem arises, we act swiftly and effectively.
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| Good performance over the last 6 months |
Looking back over the last six months, a few trends stand out:
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High-priority tickets are always given the attention they deserve – month after month, we’re above 95%, peaking at an excellent 99.2% in April.
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Ticket volumes have eased slightly since the spring (down from 1,080 in March to 832 in August). That gives us some breathing space, but we’ll keep working to bring overall “on time” performance back up towards the mid-90s.
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Consistency is key – even with fluctuations, we’ve handled around 800–1,000 tickets every month, showing the reliability and resilience of the team.
In short: August showed that we can be relied upon when it matters most, and we’ll be focusing on lifting our overall response rates back up as we head into autumn.
Three (3!) new Alpha Tracker asbestos consultancy orders in a week! New users from the UK, Australia & New Zealand have joined the Alpha Tracker family
It's been a busy period for the Alpha Tracker teams in the UK, Australia & New Zealand. Three orders in one week! This will keep the installation team busy...
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| Only joking - we're always happy to receive new orders |
We've had an order for asbestos software Alpha Tracker from a new asbestos lab in the UK along with asbestos consultancy Hazchek joining us from Australia and Dowdell joining from New Zealand.
Can we help your asbestos consultancy to become more efficient? Are you wanting to learn more about how AI is changing our software and how asbestos consultancies are using systems to automate their businesses? Get in touch!
All MDS (Tracker Mobile) Android glitches are now resolved - thanks for your patience
We've had a few irritating issues with MDS (Tracker Mobile) over the last few days, relating to Android updates affecting handsets. In particular, you might have seen:
- the Android "back, home and switch" buttons overlaying the Tracker Mobile "Connect" and "Settings" buttons
- the on-screen keyboard being shown on top of text boxes (making it difficult to read the text below)
- problems pressing "Connect" and "Settings".
All of these issues are now resolved with the latest Mobile Data update from the Google Play Store.
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| Our Tracker Mobile issues are now resolved |
Thanks for your patience - despite all of our testing, we can sometimes be caught out with Android updates and this one was difficult to troubleshoot.