About.

// 02 — our story

Our story

This started with noticing a gap. Birmingham has a real tech industry, and it sits inside communities that the industry rarely builds for. The tools that community groups rely on were designed for someone else, and accessibility, when it comes up at all, usually means “we’ll think about that later”.

A small group of us got tired of later. We decided to start something properly: community-rooted, accessible from the first line of code, and honest about being early. This is that.

// 03 — who's behind this

Who’s behind this

Shyam Mistry — Founder

Shyam has worked in software at Lloyds Banking Group and Atlas Copco, and is currently at Xero. He grew up in Birmingham and started this because the city deserves a community-rooted tech organisation that takes accessibility seriously from day one.

// 04 — what we believe

What we believe

• Accessibility isn’t a feature. It’s the baseline.
• Plain language is a form of respect.
• Communities know what they need. Our job is to listen and then build.
• Open source by default. The work should be verifiable.
• Early stage means say so.

// 05 — what a CIC is, plainly

What a CIC is, plainly

A Community Interest Company is a UK company structure for not-for-profit organisations. It means our assets and profits are locked into our community purpose by law — they cannot be paid out to private owners. If we ever wind up, what’s left goes to another organisation with similar aims. It is a way of saying: this isn’t ours to sell.