Partner Article

App launched by entrepreneur following father's inspiration

A Coventry technology entrepreneur is launching a new app, which makes busy people’s lives easier when trying to find local businesses, after being inspired by his father and supported by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

Phil Mattu gave up his job selling software to help look after his father, who had suffered at the hands of several strokes and was later diagnosed with vascular dementia.

Phil’s time became even more precious and he found tracking down the businesses he needed for certain services was becoming too cumbersome and that he was using various forms of communications to stay in touch so he wanted to devise a solution using technology.

The new app – CastGrab – has been created to offer a quick and easy route to businesses and professional tradespeople for users who require any service, either personally or professionally.

He has been given support by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce through the Coventry & Warwickshire Business Support Programme which is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to get the free app out to market.

He received free mentoring from Chamber adviser Margaret Bull and also attended events and workshops, which proved invaluable in helping to lay the foundations for launching the business.

“There were lots of things to sort out. I found I was repeating myself in terms of ‘what I needed’, using all forms of communications, email, phone, web forms, social media, it was getting difficult to track who was coming back to me, who was available and who could do the work,” he said.

“I know from talking to so many people that it’s a problem they face too and we believe we have a great, easy-to-use app with huge potential.

“I thought it would be so much easier if there was one place that would allow me to confidently request all type of services I needed and for people or businesses to come back to me privately, using one platform.

“CastGrab offers all of this and more. We have also built a seamless chat live service which businesses can download onto their website which keeps them connected to customers at any time through the app.”

Phil added: “The support from the Chamber has been incredible. My business mentor, Margaret Bull, has been a great sounding board for me and sometimes you just need someone to be able to bounce ideas off.

“The app was inspired by my father and family situation and I want it to be a success for him as well as helping to solve problems people face in their everyday lives.”

Chamber adviser Margaret Bull said: “It’s a great concept and it has been really good to work with Phil and to see his journey thus far in creating an app that can be used by anyone who needs services.

“We are here to help people when they want to establish a new business and need advice and support on the various aspects of what goes into that.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Matt Joyce .