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Sunshine, smiles, and great food could only mean one thing: it was time for Govtech's annual summer BBQ 2026. Returning to Ingleside House in Cirencester, the team, along with some of our Netcall colleagues, enjoyed a fantastic afternoon catching up, celebrating successes, and making more great memories together away from the day-to-day demands of work.
There was a time when automation in local government was viewed as a future ambition – a useful enhancement that could improve efficiency if budgets and priorities allowed. Fast forward five years, and the conversation has completely changed.
Today, automation is no longer considered a luxury. It has become an essential part of the team.
People are used to doing everything online – from shopping and banking to booking holidays. They expect things to be quick, easy and just work. That expectation applies to council services too.
Revenues & Benefits teams are under increasing pressure to manage rising workloads, improve customer experience and deliver more with limited resources. Automation is helping councils meet these challenges head-on by removing repetitive manual processes, reducing backlogs and creating more resilient, efficient services.
Automation has been on the local government agenda for years. Most councils are familiar with the term, and many believe they already understand what it means. But automation doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone – and that’s where expectations, ambition and outcomes can start to drift apart.
At Govtech, automation isn’t a destination or a one-off project. It’s a journey. One that progresses over time, deepens through partnership, and delivers more value as automation is continually refined and expanded.
Like many of you, we’ve not long returned from the IRRV Annual Conference and Exhibition 2025 and, once again, the event proved invaluable. As always, it’s the perfect opportunity to catch-up with so many of our customers, as well as meet new faces, and share automation stories about the real benefits and value our solutions are providing for councils all over the country.
Revenues and Benefits teams are facing constant pressure. Workload is rising while budgets tighten and the pressure to do more with less is relentless. The challenge is clear: how can Services break this cycle?
The answer is automation. Our customers have shown how automating routine processes creates valuable space for reallocating resources to higher-priority collection and intervention work.
The summer holidays are in full swing. And although my toddler is happily playing away at nursery throughout the week, I know from other parents, the summer holidays currently feel like a second job. It comes as no surprise that there’s a growing debate in the news about shortening the school summer break – six weeks is a long time to juggle childcare, work deadlines, and the guilt that comes with feeling like you’re never quite giving enough to either. The question is, how do you strike a balance without burning out? Work-life balance is key, and here at Govtech, I’m fortunate to have just that. (Plus, I have two more years before I need to comprehend the six-weeks holiday!)
The sun was shining, the drinks flowing and the BBQ sizzling as we all came together for Govtech’s annual summer get-together; even more special this year as we reflect on and celebrate our 20-year history. Joined by some of our Netcall colleagues, we returned to Ingleside House in Cirencester to mark the monumental occasion, toasting to the incredible success, growth and long-standing customer partnerships we’ve formed over the years – and there’s been quite a few!
Having not long returned from the IRRV Annual Conference 2024, always a firm favourite, it’s true when they say everything happens at once. Settle in there’s a lot to share, including: our highlights from the IRRV, welcoming SIX new customers to the webCAPTURE community, and celebrating our long-standing customers.
Amongst our busy schedules, it was great to get (most of) the team together for our annual summer event at The Corinium Hotel in Cirencester. The sun was on our side (result), as we spent the afternoon sharing team successes, getting to know the newest members of the Govtech family, celebrating work anniversaries, and of course, participating in Alan’s infamous quiz!
We’ve recently returned from the IRRV Spring Conference 2024 in Milton Keynes and the aptly named theme, 'Facing the Future: Planning for Change', created quite a buzz. We shared many conversations about what’s currently happening within the industry and how the need to be digitally inclusive is more important than ever. Workloads are increasing as budgets tighten, and the pressure to do more with what you have is relentless. But what can be done to break this cycle? Well, we were on hand to share how our customers have used automation to create ‘space’ for a reallocation of resources to their collection and intervention priorities.