Archives
Technology and Data Insight company, Vianet, awarded 2 accreditations after taking part in Best Companies employee engagement survey for the last 4 years. The company received our highest scores yet crediting us as a Very Good employer to work for in 2021!
Great news for the whole team at Vianet Group PLC as we are also honoured to have been place on the Technology sector list, as one of Technology’s 50 Best Companies to Work for in 2021.
Our place on the list was announced on the 21st May during Best Companies Live, their online event to celebrate the awards. We would love to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our hard-working employees as we celebrate this significant achievement.
WHAT DOES BEST COMPANIES ACCREDITATIONS MEAN TO VIANET?
These accreditations officially recognise the UK’s best organisations and benchmark for workplace engagement across all regional, sectors and national lists. A similar approach to how the Michelin star system signifies excellence in the hospitality sector, Best Companies’ star-based ratings system is the equivalent used to recognise the very best in the workplace. It is one of the most robust process with research surveys from the consultancy team supported by academics, and inputs from the Department for Trade and Industry.
Over these years, Vianet have been quietly making an impact in our chosen sectors continuously delivering data insights for our clients in the hospitality and unattended retail sectors across the UK and Europe. We have been transforming business performance through providing real time monitoring systems and data management services. We are continuously innovating and evolving our services and products, using the growth of the business to nurture on our own employee development.
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF VIANET’S COMPANY VALUES
The importance of inspiring people, championing people’s growth and excellence is greatly valued at Vianet. Therefore, to receive this recognition in creating the best environment and workplace engagement is testament to the great people involved. In celebration for everyone’s contribution to our overall success, Vianet treated all its employees with a thank you card and Just Eat gift voucher to order a takeaway of their choice on us!
In addition to being awarded the accreditations, several of our managers have been recognised by their teams at the highest level as 3* managers. Based on the engagement survey completed by Vianet employees, this year’s results showed a huge improvement in our employee engagement across the business, and particularly in leadership and management.
Michelle Staniforth, Head of People and Development told us:
“We are delighted to be recognised as having very good levels of engagement and our place in Technology’s 50 Best Companies to Work For. Our highest scoring factor is ‘My Team’ and ‘My Manager’, both of which are testament to the relationship we believe are so important to employee engagement.”
BUSINESS GROWTH AND CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT AS VIANET LAUNCH NEW PRODUCTS IN 2021
The last year has brought its challenges, but Vianet has been more committed than ever to supporting our employees and clients. We had periods of having to work from home, whilst some employees were put on furlough. Throughout this time of ongoing change, we have been continuously providing professional development and support. This includes safe working environments as employees return to the office during periods of ease between lockdowns.
Moving into 2021, there have been several structural changes within the business that have opened many exciting opportunities internally and externally. Existing employees have had opportunities to apply and transition into new roles within the company, and there has been significant growth to the team with several new recruits. Combined with the accreditations received, it is an exciting time to be working at Vianet. Consequently, we are currently looking to grow the team by recruiting for several further opportunities as Vianet continuously strive for success.
For further information on what it is like to work at Vianet or if you’re interested in any vacancies we currently have available, please contact recruitment@vianetplc.com or contact us page.
As work places are gradually re-opening with secure COVID-19 measures in place, Caffia collaborated with Vianet looking for a solution for their customers to assist them in providing a safe and hygienic contactless payment solution for their coffee machines, minimising machine contact as much as possible to reduce risk.
The decline of cash as a payment method was steadily progressing in the current climate due to the advancement of technologies and digital payment methods. With the addition of COVID–19, the risk to public health has dramatically altered the workplace and consumerism, accelerating the decline of cash at a much quicker rate. Concerned about the spread of the virus, people try to avoid using cash and there is a recognition that businesses must adapt and transform with these changes with a long–term view. This means getting ahead of the curve, and reducing the amount of physical contact with machines and mon
ey wherever possible, as this will ultimately change the face of consumerism indefinitely.
Caffia are a family-run coffee business who provides restaurants, offices, coffee shops and hotels with a wide range of coffee equipment, from a variety of coffee and bean-to-cup machines to coffee grinders. They were keen to partner with a contactless provider who could offer them an all-in-one solution, so Vianet were the perfect match offering a dedicated support team and giving insight into their machine performance with SmartMetrics telemetry, as well as a more sustainable payment method – SmartContact.
SmartContact is our contactless payment solution, protected with high level PCI accredited security. It is supported by CreditCall and Elavon, regularly updated to increase functionality and it includes Apple and Samsung payment. Through using SmartContact on self–service machines, the client will receive money into their bank account within 48 hours, with low transaction fees of 1.4% on average. 
The Vianet Customer Experience team is always on hand to help resolve any issues with your machine or devices. Vianet also have their own helpdesk website offering customers 24-hour access to installation and troubleshooting guides, FAQs and ‘how to’ videos, to assist engineers to troubleshoot out of hours, so are perfectly placed to work with clients across multiple workplaces. The customer experience team are also committed to overcome any language barriers and work with Caffia on an International level across Europe.
George Hardwick, Caffia’s Sales Director, has made the following statement about their partnership with Vianet:
“Here at Caffia Coffee Group the Vianet system has allowed our customers access to an industry-leading contactless payment system with the added benefits of telemetry. Telemetry gives our customers remote visibility into all the data they require including the current status of their coffee equipment. All this in an affordable and technologically advanced package!”
If you’d like to find out more about Vianet’s end-to-end solution and SmartContact payment method, you can contact us at info@vianetplc.com or visit our website at www.vianetplc.com
At Vianet Group we are great believers in ‘growing our own’. We’ve partnered with QA Apprenticeships, and their account manager Taylor Burgen. Taylor has played an integral role in helping us secure the right apprenticeships for our growing business, and taking the time to really understand who we are and our ethos.
Vianet welcomes new Data Operations Apprentices
April 2020 we have welcomed Danny Liu & Ashley Haymen to the Data Operations Team under the supervision of Maret Ward, Learning and Development specialist, and Kieran Alden, Lead Data Scientist. Whilst 2020 has brought it’s own challenges to the organisation we have still been able to commit to the grow within vision and invest £30,000 funding towards their Level 4 Data Analyst apprenticeships with QA apprenticeships.
Maret Ward said “Our apprenticeship programme is now an integral part of our business and we are excited at the prospect of further investing into the future with an IT apprenticeships and beyond.
By growing our own talent, and being committed to keeping it. We will have employees uniquely placed to fulfil all our requirements, who we know will embrace further apprenticeships as they become appropriate and will reward us with loyalty and add to our ‘corporate memory’.”
Encouraging growth and development throughout the business
Apprenticeships are not just about taking on new employees, they are about maximising the potential of our existing employees. Whatever their age, whatever their previous learning, the apprenticeship programme is about giving anyone the chance to develop and grow.
The company has previously taken on apprentices and its incredibly rewarding for everyone involved. To see employees go on to grow and progress a successful career off the back of it is fantastic, whether that’s been within Vianet or onto pastures new.
We are proud of Danny and Ashley and everything they have achieved. A great example of how apprenticeships not only give knowledge and skills on how to, but also proof that learning helps to inspire others who witness it. We cannot wait to see how their career unfolds and we look forward to helping support you with your future aspirations.
Not only have we taken on new apprentices, but as Vianet grows as a business, there is opportunities arising for students and graduates too. We are currently recruiting for a Marketing Intern to join our brand new marketing team through Teesside Universities’ Student Futures programme. Applications are still open for this position, so if you’re a Teesside University student and interested in applying, be quick. The deadline for this is Friday 7th August 2020. This position can be found at https://studentfutures.tees.ac.uk