PATRICK GARRY
Patrick Garry heads up LoyLap, which specialises in digital payments and customer engagement software. Its technology is used by Bannatyne Group, one of the UK’s largest operators of health clubs and spas.
R ealistically, for many businesses there will be no return to ‘normal’ as we know it. The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have forced many to embrace digitalisation in a way that they might never have envisioned previously.
At LoyLap, our business has evolved considerably over the last two years, as we worked to help Irish retailers enhance their online capabilities through offering digital gift cards, cashless payment solutions, and integrated application services. In response to this growth in demand, we doubled the size of our sales and support team.
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, our software engineers were working from locations in the Netherlands, Dublin, Meath, Hungary and Brazil. The lockdowns forced us to replicate this distributed working model across our sales and support team, and we aim to have two face-to-face days with each employee every month.
I’m an optimist, so I think 2022 will be positive for most businesses. At LoyLap, our technology enables businesses with a predominantly physical presence to digitalise their operations and elevate their online offering. If anything, the pandemic has only strengthened my motivation to grow and develop LoyLap further.
I did take some holidays in 2021. As soon as restrictions eased in July, my wife and I took a ‘mini-moon’ to the Greek Islands for 10 days after our wedding. Several of our friends gifted us staycations, so we also did a week in Connemara and another in County Clare, at my grandparents’ house. I am currently trying to convince my wife to take an actual honeymoon to Thailand in 2022, which is a work in progress!