Kent Science Park based company UKNetMonitor has developed a revolutionary new website and smartphone app that could potentially save its users thousands of pounds. iMember.co.uk is free of charge, and encourages people to be aware of all the discounts and vouchers they are entitled to through being customers or members of organisations. Registered users can use the site to access reward offers and membership benefits for more than 5,000 places, venues and retailers across the UK and 60,000 deals on the website.
UKNetMonitor was one of the first companies in the UK to carry out social media monitoring and continues to be a market leader with an enviable portfolio of customers. The company provides sentiment analysis as well as crisis management across the world and in 26 different languages. With a high degree of human intervention, UKNetMonitor can provide their customers with the most in-depth monitoring available by accessing blogs and discussion forums as well as huge social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Weibo and VK. The collected data is then categorised and produces less ambiguous results for clients worldwide.
Richard Brown, Managing Director of UKNetMonitor and Founder of iMember, developed the company from its outset seven years ago. iMember is a relatively new project for Richard and was launched in July this year. He began to work on the innovative online service after realising that people were completely unaware of benefits available to them. Young people are likely to benefit most from the site, with the iMember survey revealing that 63% of 18-24 year olds don’t know what organisations they belong to and the benefits surrounding them.
Richard said: “Only after paying for tickets and attending an exhibition at the Royal Academy, I found out that as a Barclays Premier customer I could have got in for free. As a member of so many organisations, I realised that there was a whole world of benefits out there of which I had little or no knowledge at all”.
iMember aims to change the way users maximise memberships of clubs, societies, unions, professional bodies, banks and many more. An estimated 10+ million of us in the UK belong to clubs and organisations and could make potential savings of over £100 a year but are unsure what is available.
The iMember app uses location to remind users if there are any offers nearby and make the most of subscriptions. Richard commented: “It was a natural progression for iMember to combine the benefits of membership with the growing capabilities of smartphones with over 24 million smartphones in the UK. Using GPS technology, it shows the user all current discounts and promotions in their location-whether they are at home, on holiday, local high street or on the train to work”.
James Speck, Site Director at Kent Science Park said: “Richard Brown has a brilliant, innovative idea that he has taken to market. It will affect most people as there are so many organisations it considers. We hope that with the assistance of the facilities available at Kent Science Park, Richard and UKNetMonitor can continue to develop and expand, bringing revolutionary propositions to people across the UK and beyond”.