Interview: Leah Hutcheon on setting up Appointedd

Hi Leah, could you tell us a bit about your story? What led you to set up Appointedd?

“I started Appointedd back in 2011 when I was made redundant. I was previously a magazine editor and I had a fabulous career in the arts and journalism. Unfortunately, after the financial crash, I was made redundant and it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I don’t think I would have taken the jump to leave a stable career that I loved to go out on my own and do something brave and ambitious. But when given the opportunity, I thought “Well , if I’m not going to do it now, when am I going to do it?”

I’d had the idea for Appointedd whilst traveling. I’d quite often be in a new place and want to be able to book a salon appointment or other services and it was just impossible to find independent businesses where you could make a guaranteed booking. So that was the nugget of the idea. We’ve learned a lot over the years and we’ve definitely started to solve bigger problems than even I could have thought about in those early days.

There was, and still is, quite a big problem in how businesses connect in a meaningful way with their customers, their prospects, or their stakeholders, and really drive a kind of meaningful conversion, whatever else that might be. Sometimes businesses are looking for something that is really short, sharp and quick. And sometimes businesses want to dig deeper and have a better understanding of their costumes. It’s been an absolute privilege as we’ve developed Appointedd out to be able to spot bigger and more impactful problems to solve.”

Could you tell us about your journey with Appointedd so far? What have you learned from your customers?

“The journey thus far in building Appointedd has been amazing. I’ve been so lucky to work with so many really inspiring people and we have an amazing team based here in Edinburgh. Everyone is so passionate and driven. I think it comes down to the fact that we are all problem solvers. We all are really passionate about making a difference and we really believe that Appointedd tools can do that, and that is what keeps us motivated. We get so many amazing words of appraise and thanks from our customers where they’re saying sometimes that they just wouldn’t be in business if it wasn’t for Appointedd. 

Appointedd is particularly important for businesses, especially through challenging times with the pandemic and then now coming into a recession. Appointedd is a value creation tool. It drives sales, it increases the average basket value, if in retail. But Appointedd can also save money for businesses. This is something that, especially in challenging economic times, we’re seeing more and more. 

Businesses really need to drive a return on investment for all of the work that they’re doing to attract their customer and connect with prospects, and Appointedd can be there wherever that customer lands, whether it’s on their website or on their app. We can really convert that audience into a meaningful appointment or a sale or whatever is that they want to drive. 

That has given us so much pride that we can really make a meaningful difference to the businesses we work with, and I don’t think any of us would work as hard if we didn’t make that impact, so that’s been huge for us.”

Thank you, Leah.

Find out more about how Appointedd helps businesses drive efficiency, loyalty and revenue >>