A tech entrepreneur who founded a service to connect charities, the NHS and schools with the UK’s available stock of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the COPVID-19 pandemic has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Years honours list for services to charity. Manoj Varsani, founder and CEO of the fintech/proptech company Hammock said he has ‘always believed that technology is an enabler for good’.
Varsani is the chairman of the charity Harrow Carers and learned first-hand the difficulties small organisations had in sourcing PPE, so spent a weekend in March building a platform called SOS Supplies (sos-supplies.com) to connect suppliers that had available stock in the UK with those in greatest need.
Within a matter of weeks Varsani had built a team of more than 20 volunteers and a service which connected more than 250 charities, hospitals and other organisations with affordable, available PPE in the UK. The team ran SOS Supplies alongside their day jobs.
He said: “We were all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the lockdown measures and found that volunteering for SOS Supplies – while it made our day-to-day more demanding – gave us a sense and focus. It helped to keep the anxiety in check.”
“I am grateful to the Hammock team and volunteers who have joined us from day one and worked tirelessly to protect key workers during the first wave of the pandemic. Most importantly, the NHS, organisations and charities we have supported have been a constant source of inspiration and motivation for us and I am delighted that SOS Supplies could be of help during their time of need.”
Hammock was born within the Founders Factory venture studio, and helps landlords and property managers save time and money in the management of their property finances. Alongside launching SOS Supplies, Varsani has steered Hammock through an eventful 12 months that included significant funding rounds and the launch of game-changing new services including rent collection, bookkeeping, current account and data analysis services for the property sector.
