SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

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Yodel Mobile has appointed Igor Blinov as AI Innovation & ASO Director, a newly created role.

He has been promoted as app marketers contend with rising volumes of data and changes in how users discover apps through the Apple and Google stores. His brief is to turn fragmented platform information and industry research into clearer strategic direction for clients.

Blinov has worked at Yodel Mobile for nearly six years and has more than 10 years of experience in app growth and app store optimisation. In the new role, he will track changes across app stores, assess their effect on client strategy and help the agency adjust its approach within one to two weeks of market shifts.

The appointment reflects a broader shift in app marketing. Agencies and brands now have access to large amounts of data but still struggle to turn that information into practical decisions. The new role is intended to bridge technical data analysis and commercial action.

Three priorities

The agency has set out three main priorities for the role: market synthesis, focused on condensing research and platform updates into strategy; AI tooling, centred on internal frameworks and tools to speed up insight delivery; and strategic storytelling, aimed at positioning app store optimisation in broader brand and user perception terms rather than only technical adjustments.

The remit also extends to internal operations. The role will identify repeatable patterns across the business and turn them into systems that can be used at scale, with collaborative automation workflows designed to reduce time spent sorting through disparate information.

The move comes as agencies respond to a more fragmented app discovery market. Search behaviour, store updates and AI-led user experiences are changing quickly, while many tools still produce large quantities of raw data without offering a clear path to action.

The challenge has become more pronounced as app store optimisation evolves beyond keyword ranking and metadata changes into a broader discipline that also touches on positioning, creative presentation and how users interpret listings. The speed of these shifts has made it harder for marketers to wait for accepted industry norms before changing course.

In a statement, Blinov outlined his view of the market shift.

“The way users discover apps is evolving rapidly through AI-driven experiences, shifting platform behaviours, and increasingly fragmented signals. Collecting data isn’t the hard part anymore. The goal now is building the intelligence and systems that cut through the noise and turn that complexity into meaningful action. I’m focused on how Yodel Mobile interprets and applies those insights to ensure we stay ahead of where app growth is going,” said Igor Blinov, AI Innovation & ASO Director, Yodel Mobile.

Founded in 2007, Yodel Mobile says it has worked on more than 2,500 app launches and growth programmes. Its clients include Royal Horticultural Society, TUI, Zenni Optical, UKTV, Global Player and Hinge.

The agency operates as Yodel Mobile by NP Digital and focuses on app marketing services across user acquisition, retention, engagement, conversion rate optimisation, creative and app store optimisation. The appointment of a dedicated executive for AI innovation and ASO suggests those areas are becoming more central to both agency operations and client advisory work.

Ijah Miller, Managing Director of Yodel Mobile, said the role is intended to address the gap between the pace of market change and the speed at which marketers adapt.

“Too much of the industry is still approaching ASO the way they have always done it, despite the pace of change across AI, search and app ecosystems. That gap between change and execution is where performance is being lost. With nearly two decades of experience in app growth, we know that staying ahead requires more than access to data, it requires the ability to interpret it faster than the market. This role is about formalising that capability, so we’re not waiting for best practice to emerge, we’re defining it and ensuring our clients are already executing against what comes next,” said Miller.

Junction Hair & Beauty, the salon in Corn Street, Witney, has announced ‘with great sadness’ that the business will close on Saturday, August 15.

Samantha Smith, who has co-owned the business with her husband Neil Smith since 2018 after she started her career as an apprentice in the shop 35 years ago, said it’s been a difficult decision to shut down.

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After 46 ‘wonderful years’ of the business running in the Witney, she said: “It’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

“It’s very sad that we’re going after so long in the town.”

The building at 30 Corn Street was owned by the same landlady for many years who passed away last year, and her family has decided to sell the premises.

Corn Street, Witney (file photo) (Image: Paul Shreeve / Wikimedia Commons)

Mrs Smith said everything was ending ‘on good terms’ and they understood the decision, but the costs associated with setting up in a new premises were prohibitive.

The co-owner added: “Obviously we could look to relocate the business, but in the current market the cost of fitting out a new shop, electrics plumbing, and everything we would need to do, it’s just not financially viable.”

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However, all of the stylists and beauty therapists, including Mrs Smith, will continue working locally, with clients to be informed of their new bases as and when they set up.

A statement released by the salon added: “We would like to sincerely thank all of our lovely clients for your loyalty, support and friendship over the years.

“It has truly been a privilege to be part of this community and share so many special moments with you.”

Liquidators have been appointed for Precision Sim Engineering Limited, a business that creates off-the-shelf and custom controls for sim racers around the world.

Sim racing is a specialized form of virtual motorsport that uses software and hardware to accurately replicate the experience of driving real race cars.

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The description on the organisation’s website said: “We work with professional drivers and passionate players to provide immersive motorsport experiences.”

Based in Stacey Bushes in Milton Keynes and Banbury in Oxfordshire, the business was first set up in 2012 and by 2015 the company was working with professional racing drivers, sim centres and manufacturers.

Precision Sim Engineering is based in Banbury and Milton Keynes (Image: Google Maps)

The website said: “This led to collaborations with championship-winning sim racing teams and custom orders from Formula 1 drivers.

“Precision Sim Engineering has continued these professional partnerships whilst expanding its off-the-shelf product range.”

However, despite this, on May 5 an extraordinary resolution to wind up the company voluntarily was passed and signed by chair and founder Simon Hodgson.

Subsequently Hayley Simmons of North Insolvency in Oxford was appointed as a liquidator.

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In its latest accounts, dated to the year to August 31, 2024, it recorded creditors falling within a year of £110,438 and creditors falling after a year of £84,345.

This included obligations under finance lease and hire purchase contracts of £56,793.

The average monthly number of employees, including directors, during the year was two.