MyVoucherCodes' parent company announces strategic partnership with mobile location discount specialists

The parent company of UK discount websites, Markco Media, which had sales across the group exceeding £500 million in 2009, saving users more than £50m, has entered a working partnership with VouChaCha, an innovative mobile location based services company. 

www.VouChaCha.com was founded in February 2009 with the aim of bringing the immediacy of the web to the High Street, enabling retailers and consumers to connect through the use of location targeted mobile discounts. It was recently named one of the top 10 technology companies to watch in 2010 by the Daily Telegraph.

Social media discounting skills

Markco Media, owned by discount retail specialist Mark Pearson, runs the popular UK discount voucher code website, www.MyVoucherCodes.co.uk.

Prior to VouChaCha, chief executive Ben Brown managed Innovation, Research & Development at Lloyds Banking Group. In addition to strategy and mobile technology roles within the financial services sector, Brown was part of the Business Development team at Affiliate Window, the UK’s largest affiliate network.

Julian Polzella, chief technology officer at VouChaCha has worked with social networking, location-based mobile development and database-driven web services at a commercial level. Polzella was recognised early in his career by the London Development Agency, who awarded him the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award in 2008. Prior to VouChaCha, he worked at Bell Systems, AH Web Design Studios and Palantir.

Mark Pearson, chairman of Markco Media, said: “Ben’s technology industry experience at the highest level and marketing background within the affiliate sector made deciding to explore the possibilities of a working relationship an easy decision to make for Markco Media – while Julian’s sheer technical ability and applied experience complements this perfectly.

Delivering highly targeting services

“We’re excited about the prospect of delivering highly targeted consumer services in conjunction with VouChaCha, drawing on the success of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, which is used by more than 11 million people every single month.”

He continued: “MyVoucherCodes has become synonymous with the discount sector – we have no doubts that were we to move forward with development, a combined offering would quickly dominate the mobile discount sector too.”

Ben Brown, VouChaCha chief executive, added: “To be able to announce a strategic partnership with Markco Media is fantastic, it comes just after VouChaCha was named one of the top 10 technology companies to watch in 2010 by The Daily Telegraph.

“Markco Media’s credentials speak for themselves. They are the ideal partner for our development platform, given their strong market position in the discount arena as sector leaders. The success of MyVoucherCodes and the other UK and international discount ventures lends itself well to VouChaCha’s innovative ability to deliver high quality mobile services. I am extremely excited about the possibilities that lay ahead.”