Business & Technology
Webtrends Optimize launches charity grant for CRO platform
Webtrends Optimize has launched a charity grant scheme that will give one charity a 12-month licence to its conversion rate optimisation platform.
The programme is open to registered charities in the UK and overseas, including organisations that already use its services.
Called Conversion For Good, the initiative is the first grant of its kind from the business. It covers a one-year licence for the software platform, but does not include support hours beyond the initial onboarding and implementation stage.
Webtrends Optimize sells website optimisation tools designed to help organisations improve online sales, donations and other conversions. Its clients include commercial brands such as Odeon, Halfords and National Rail, as well as charities including RSPB, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Trussell, Mind, WaterAid and Dogs Trust.
Applicants will go through an internal judging process. Only one application per charity will be accepted, and the scheme excludes sole traders, profit-making entities, political campaign groups and organisations that promote specific religions.
Charity focus
The launch comes as many charities face pressure on fundraising and supporter recruitment, with digital channels playing a larger role in attracting donations and communicating with the public. A charity website’s design, messaging and user journey can directly affect whether visitors choose to donate, sign up or engage further.
Webtrends Optimize has operated since 2000 and describes itself as a global British business. It is B Corp certified and gives 2% of annual revenue to charitable causes. It also offers a 25% discount to charities and non-profits, and supports fundraising through staff volunteering and gifts in kind.
Its software includes A/B testing, personalisation, social proof, product recommendations and on-site surveys. These tools are commonly used by online retailers and non-profits to test changes to web pages and measure whether those changes affect user behaviour.
Conversion rate optimisation tools are often bought by businesses seeking to increase transactions or reduce customer drop-off during online journeys. For charities, the same techniques can be adapted to improve donation completion rates, campaign sign-ups and volunteer recruitment.
“We know how tough it is right now to run a charity and how important it is to have an effective website that converts people into becoming supporters. As a B Corp business, we’ve always been passionate about helping others and doing as much as we can to give back to those who need it most, so we wanted to lend a hand and provide our CRO platform for free for a year to a charity,” said Matt Smith, chief executive officer of Webtrends Optimize.
Digital pressure
The announcement also reflects a wider trend in the charity sector, where organisations are seeking to improve digital fundraising without incurring major new technology costs. Many non-profits have expanded online campaigns in recent years, but budgets for specialist software and optimisation work remain tight.
For software providers, grant schemes and discounted access can widen use of commercial tools in the non-profit market. They can also create case studies if recipient organisations deliver stronger fundraising results after adopting the software.
Webtrends Optimize offers its platform on an all-inclusive licence model that scales according to website traffic. It works with customers and partners worldwide and recorded a 41% increase in new accounts last year, alongside 44 product updates and the launch of a new user interface.
The successful charity will receive the licence for 12 months. As a condition of the award, the recipient must agree to the partnership being announced using the charity’s name and logo.
Scorching temperatures mean Charlotte Manser is unable to fire the kilns because the computers cut off when the room becomes too hot.
The 31-year-old said she has been operating at one fifth of her capacity since May due to the prolonged heat.
With temperatures inside the workshop hitting over 40 degrees in recent weeks, this has meant she is only able to fire one kiln at a time.
Now, Charlotte Manser Ceramics which is based in a barn near Wantage, is struggling with added costs, reduced hours and a huge backlog.
Ms Manser said: “There are quite a few challenges when you are firing five different kilns and they turn off when the room gets too hot.
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“Since the middle of May really we have been at really low capacity with our firing. It significantly lowers the amount of stock we produce.
“The room is hot and we are also unloading a kiln which is hot.
“It is too uncomfortable and we are just not prepared for this weather as a country and as a business.”
Ms Manser, who started her business six years ago, said she has tried to fix the issue with air con units and extractor fans but the barn is still too hot.
She has looked at getting more ventilation for the room to draw the hot air out, but they were quoted £10,000 for this to be installed.
The potter has been working early hours from 6am to try and avoid the peak of the heat, but sending her five staff members home early is costing her even more money.
It is also costing her double to fire the kilns, due to the price of re-heating them after they had turned off.
She added: “It is quite a significant cost for a small business.
“We have had to send staff home early which is then an expense for me because I still have to pay them but they are not producing.
“It is my responsibility to make sure my employees are in a safe place. When people are getting so hot that they are getting headaches then that is not a safe environment.”
The business is also making much less money, as they have been producing less stock and have needed to cancel pottery classes due to the conditions.
The company would normally fire around 2,000 products a week, but are now making closer to 500.
At this time of year, which is usually a quieter season, they would be preparing for their peak time of Christmas, but they have been unable to due to the backlog.
The delay has also meant Ms Manser was unable to take on a wholesale order for September – costing tens of thousands of pounds alone.
She said it is time consuming sending emails to customers to inform them that their products are being delayed.
Ms Manser said: “This is the third month of it being just unbearable. It is just creating such a backlog.
“Our turnover can increase three times in the months over Christmas. We just haven’t got the kiln capacity at the moment to be able to prepare.
“It is very nice for your social life when the weather is sunny but as a business it is a bit stressful.”
The business has faced weeks of this issue in previous years, but never as long as three months.
Despite the troubles, the businesswoman is not worried about the future, as she says she knows how to adapt.
The art lover started making pottery on a broken pottery wheel in her grandad’s shed, and adapted her business to be online during the pandemic.
She added: “I know that we are really adaptable. That is a skill you have to develop when you are running a small business.”
SE-Solicitors, which has an office in Summertown, Oxford, earned the 2026 accreditation as a Great Place to Work Certified organisation following an independent and anonymous employee survey.
Seventy-one per cent of staff said it was a ‘great place to work,’ compared to the UK average of 54 per cent.
Great Place To Work is the global authority on workplace culture and employee experience.
Carole Carbery, HR director at SE-Solicitors, said: “I would like to thank everyone who took the time to participate in the survey and share their honest feedback.
“Achieving this certification is fantastic recognition of the supportive, collaborative and inclusive culture we continue to build at SE-Solicitors.”
Nine out of 10 employees said they felt welcomed when joining the company and agreed that colleagues are treated fairly regardless of gender, sexual orientation or race.
Patrick Mulcare, managing director at SE-Solicitors, said: “We are incredibly proud to be recognised as a Great Place To Work on the back of staff comments.
“This achievement belongs to every member of our team and reflects the culture they help create every day.
“Our people are at the heart of everything we do, and we remain committed to providing an environment where everyone feels welcomed, supported and able to succeed.”
The firm says it will use feedback from the survey to guide future workplace improvements.
SE-Solicitors is a leading regional law firm with offices in Banbury, Bicester, Brackley, Bourne End and Oxford.
It is recognised as a top-tier practice in the Legal 500 and specialises in private wealth, property, and commercial law.
While the riverside town has lots of popular cafes in and around the market place, and plenty of thriving pubs and barbers, some businesses have closed, with others set to shut.
It emerged earlier this month that American coffee chain Starbucks is expected to shut its branch in the market place in September, and the British Heart Foundation shop in Bury Street precinct is due to close in December.
READ MORE: US coffee chain pulls out of town market place
Some shops have already shut – Lottie’s Bakeaway selling cupcakes and drinks in Stert Street closed earlier this month, alongside gifts and accessories shop The Finishing Touch.
Pablo Lounge, a cafe and bar on the corner of Bury Street next to the market place, closed a year ago and has not been replaced.
And the T&G Jones chain, formerly WH Smith, is in financial difficulties, which could place the town’s branch in the precinct under threat of closure.
The former Peacock’s clothes shop, also in the precinct, closed in 2021.
Ian Collett, who runs The Bookstore in the precinct, said when retail units in the town close, they could stay empty for a long time.
He added: “It’s not a particularly attractive financial climate for new businesses right now.
“High street retail is tough – my business rates have more than doubled in the past year.
“Hospitality venues have been given a reduction in business rates, but so far there’s nothing for shops.
“We have also had to face a rise in national insurance and an increase in utility bills.
“The fact that we are seeing a growing number of empty units reflects how difficult it is out there, particularly for independent businesses.”
Mr Collett added: “A town like Abingdon relies on having a good mix of independent shops but perhaps we are not getting enough support.
“Other towns have longer free parking in their council car parks – we only have an hour and if it was longer it would encourage more people to come here to shop and stay for a cup of coffee.”
It is not only shops and cafes in the town which have closed – the NatWest bank branch shut last year, and the building in the market place has remained empty ever since.
Price’s Stationers, a family-run business traded in Stert Street for 31 years until it shut in 2021 and has remained unused.
The former Abingdon Sports shop in High Street, which became a grocery store for a short time, is expected to become a nursery business.
There have been a number of business success stories as well as closures – Jill Carver’s Added Ingredients deli returned to Stert Street last year following a break, and the Cay Khe Vietnamese cafe and noodle bar, has also proved popular.
Staff at Missing Bean, an independent cafe in Stert Street, recently celebrated its fifth birthday.
And Brown’s Traditional Butchers has opened in Bath Street, attracting queues of customers.
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