Yapster

Yapster provides a mobile communication platform tailored for organizations with a large base of deskless workers, primarily in the retail and hospitality sectors. The company was founded in London in 2015 by Rob Liddiard (CEO), Craig McMillan (CTO), and Nicci Setchell (CFO/COO).

The founders identified a critical gap in corporate communications, noticing that a significant portion of the workforce, particularly those in frontline roles without corporate email addresses, were often excluded from company-wide updates and ran unofficially on consumer messaging apps. Liddiard and McMillan's experience in a prior business highlighted this disconnect, leading to the creation of Yapster, initially incorporated as 'Employee Republic Ltd'. The platform was designed from the outset to be a secure and GDPR-compliant instant messaging service. Following initial pilots, the team recognized that clients preferred a solution that could integrate with their existing business software, which shaped Yapster’s strategy to become an integration-focused mobile platform. A key milestone was the platform's use for real-time Q&A with the executive leadership of a global retailer, demonstrating the power of connecting frontline staff directly with senior management.

The core of Yapster's offering is a mobile application that facilitates one-to-one and group messaging, a social-style newsfeed for company announcements, and flash polls. A notable feature is KPI Gamification, which transforms commercial data into competitive games between different locations to encourage friendly competition and boost performance. The platform serves as a centralized hub, integrating with existing HR and operational systems to streamline administration and provide employees with access to various company applications. The business model is based on providing this technology as a service to companies. Its client roster has included well-known brands such as BrewDog, Caffè Nero, Krispy Kreme, and Next. In January 2023, Yapster was acquired by Sona, a workforce management platform, in a move to combine their respective strengths and accelerate Sona's expansion.

Keywords: frontline worker communication, deskless workforce, employee engagement, internal communications platform, mobile messaging, retail technology, hospitality technology, KPI gamification, team collaboration, workforce management, employee app, social newsfeed, corporate communications, staff retention, operational efficiency, Rob Liddiard, Craig McMillan, Sona, employee directory, secure messaging, HR integration