A pioneering tech entrepreneur who helped put a hotel on top of the world and save red squirrels on Anglesey has been named as business person of the year in Conwy.
Paul Levy, the managing director of the Livetech digital creative agency, was honoured at the prestigious Conwy Business Awards at Venue Cymru.
The accolade capped a momentous 12 months which saw the company move into new town centre offices in Llandudno, formerly the North Wales headquarters of the National Trust in Trinity Square.
According to Paul, the new premises, with 5,500 square feet of office space and two car parks, represents a major investment in the future for Livetech.
Livetech have also just been accredited as official Full Google Partners and part of an elite selection of companies that are certified by Google to manage AdWords accounts.
They are the only company in Conwy, Gwynedd, Anglesey or Denbighshire to achieve the coveted status and permitted to use the Google branding in their own marketing materials.
There are only 5,000 Full Google Partners in the whole world with three billion web users.
Paul’s CV includes being a Stress and Performance Engineer on the landing gear of several variants of the European Airbus, the A321, A330 and the A340 aircraft.
He later retrained as a teacher and taught Design Technology and IT, most of the time at Prestatyn High School but also at Ysgol Friars in Bangor and Ysgol John Bright in Llandudno.
Paul established Livetech in 2000 and the company has continued growing ever since, doing everything from web design over masses of different fields from visitor attractions to accommodation providers, online retail, construction and engineering.
He said: “I am absolutely thrilled and delighted to be accorded this massive honour by the Conwy Business Awards, it is a fantastic reward for the hard work of all the team at Livetech who have played a blinder.
“Livetech’s mission is to make their clients successful. Our aim is to provide the digital oil that keeps the wheels of business and commerce turning.
“We have laid the foundations for further growth by investing in the company’s new office complex which is teeming with technology, including two super-fast channels.
“Putting them together creates a commercial connection beyond anything else that is available locally to small businesses.
“There are hard-wired data points throughout the building as well as robust wi-fi systems that have helped future-proof the premises.
“The wealth of experience of the Livetech team is also something that sets us apart from the competition.
“When the company started the digital industry was in its infancy and as a result we have been able to successfully surf the technology wave that has transformed the world of business and commerce.
“As a result, we have developed a talent for seeing what’s around the corner, what’s working best, what to steer our customers away from what would trip them up.
“What’s popular and being heavily marketed today isn’t necessarily going to be the best option in 12 months’ time. Inn this way, we are also future-proofing our customers.
Paul says that providing first class customer service is at the heart of everything Livetech do.
Among the accommodation providers being helped by Livetech is a Llandudno hotel, Lauriston Court, that hit the international headlines when they were hailed by TripAdvisor in 2013 for having the best service in the world.
Livetech run Lauriston Court’s website and introduced online bookings, ensuring consistently high rankings on Google through Search Engine Optimisation. Paul Levy is proud of the part they are in Lauriston Court’s ongoing success.
Long term clients Duckworths has also snapped up awards in the past 12 months. They have been awarded a Gold Trusted Merchant status for 2015 from Feefo, a Global Feedback Engine where customers are invited to leave reviews regarding their shopping experience.
Livetech are also doing their bit to save red squirrels. They were asked by the Red Squirrels Trust Wales to create the Squirrel Location Map to keep track of the loveable ruddy rodents.
The application, which can be used on iPhone, iPad and android devices, allows people to pinpoint where they’ve spotted the native red squirrels, which faced wipe-out from Britain before a huge conservation effort was launched on Anglesey two decades ago.
Another innovative project has helped show the Houses of Parliament are full of old fossils.
Livetech created the first interactive map of fossils embedded in London’s historic buildings – including our historic seat of government in Westminster.
They teamed up with retired geologist Dave Wallis, from Colwyn Bay, who worked in the oil and gas industry, to build the ground-breaking London Pavement Geology website.
The map has revealed the Clipsham limestone used to repair the Gothic parliament building since the 1920s includes the fossils of echinoids or sea urchins dating back to the Middle Jurassic period more than 160 million years.
Paul added: “We tailor a bespoke service to meet the needs of individual clients so they can achieve their business goals – and it works.
“Our primary focus is on local SMEs, providing them with a platform to promote their businesses.
“We need a part of the building in Trinity Square, so we are offering the rest out as serviced offices to other businesses – small, medium or large.
“Our aim is to be an increasingly influential part of a vibrant community helping other businesses to thrive and prosper.”
