As part of QikServe’s 10th anniversary celebrations, we take a closer look at some of the people that have made the company what it is today.
Nicola Wee joined QikServe in 2015 and is the company’s Marketing Manager.
What’s your background?
My background has always been in marketing, I sort of fell into it after university where I studied psychology. I started off as most people do, getting work experience, initially at a PR agency, then as a Junior Press Officer for Cancer Research UK where I could by my biology degree to partial use. Since then, I’ve managed the marketing for numerous tech start-ups in and around Edinburgh, eventually finding my way to QikServe in 2015!
What do you do at QikServe?
I deal with the day-to-day marketing which involves a whole variety of things including creating sales and marketing materials, managing social media accounts, organising events and webinars to maintaining the website, designing content, creating videos and so much more.
What do you love about working at QikServe?
The people, the flexibility and the variety of work. QikServe was a start-up when I first joined with only 12 people and it has managed to maintain its close knit, fun-loving culture and punchy, innovative attitude having since growing to a team of almost 70. I work with lots of different parts of the business and I’m continuously learning from my colleagues, who are great fun to work with – I’m looking forward to getting back into the office and seeing people’s faces again.
What did you want to be when you were ten years old?
A vet. Until I had to put a sparrow down using a needle the size of a chopstick during work experience. There was a lot of bird poo splattering and flapping. It was grim and a little traumatic.
Where were you ten years ago?
This time ten years ago I was sailing around Greece with a group of friends, soaking up the sunshine, the incredible food and it sparked a love of yachting that ended up with me getting my skipper license a few years later. I’m yet to put it to good use. Professionally, I was working for a US company called NCR travelling back and forth to Atlanta to enjoy their chicken waffles…it’s a thing there.
Why did you start/join QikServe? What have you been most proud of doing/project of being involved in the last ten years?
My daughter was just a few months old when I started at QikServe and it was one of very few companies at the time that gave me the freedom and flexibility to work, feel part of a team and let me do what I needed to do as a new parent without question. I remember after a particularly bad night of no sleep I was offered a nap on a bean bag in the office. I’m sure it was in jest, but I appreciated the gesture!
At the time, I loved that QikServe was a small, friendly and ambitious team that had a genuine passion to change the customer experience in hospitality for the better. Dan, our Founder and President, started QikServe because he had to leave his kids at a restaurant table to go to a counter to order and thought there must be a better way of doing this using your phone. With two young kids, it’s a challenge I, and I am sure many others, have faced too!
The thing I am most proud of doing whilst at QikServe is the cumulative support of marketing to grow the business over the past 6 years. When I started, we only had a handful of customers and now we have over 5,000 across more than 25 countries, ranging from big household names like TGI Fridays, Centre Parcs and Merlin Entertainments to an equally important base of independent operators.
Where will you and QikServe be in ten years’ time?
Given the sheer speed at which the hospitality industry (and consumers) embraced digital over the past 18 months, the next 10 years will certainly be an era defined by technology and I see QikServe playing a big part in that.
The growing ubiquity of voice and Ai-driven technologies paired with the availability of vast quantities of personal data will redefine the way we currently experience convenience and personalisation. QikServe is well positioned to not just enable the channels through which this new experience is delivered but to orchestrate all the back-end connections and activity to make this a practical reality for brands.
Tell us something that we don’t know about you?
How about I tell you a few things?
- When I was 4, I was on Hong Kong’s equivalent of Blue Peter
- I hate cooking but love eating
- I once made cocktails for The Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, Dido and Vin Diesel at the MTV Music Awards
- I once won schools sports day for shotput and javelin
