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      Had so much potential but lost its way - Anonymous employee NewsNow Employee Review

      1.0
      4 Oct 2022
      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      Fully remote as standard, fairly regular pay reviews, annual bonus, not very high pressure work (not many deadlines, and the ones which do get set don't really matter much).

      Cons

      It used to be great but has really lost its way in recent times. There's been a huge hemorrhage of developers in the last 12 months (about 10 resignations, the entire department is a different set of faces now). As a result there's not much banter anymore and morale is extremely low. Further to this, the management has gone very downhill. It used to feel like a very collaborative environment but now there's far more of a blame culture and very little accountability from management. There is also little trust, and the requirement for strict time tracking from all employees. Add to this the outdated tech stack and legacy code, it makes it quite an undesirable place to work compared to others. Simply put it has fallen behind the rest of the industry and has no real tangible benefits compared to anywhere else.

      avatar
      NewsNow Response
      3y
      Thanks for sharing your opinion of NewsNow. I’m sorry at how disappointed you sound about your experience at NewsNow. It’s really hard for everyone in an organisation when staff leave. NewsNow was by no means unusual in experiencing a loss of developers - though only 5 not 10 - there having been a serious nationwide shortage of developers (and salespeople and lawyers among other roles). We tried really hard to keep everybody - but, in the end, after being cooped up by the pandemic for so long (including some who joined us at the start of lockdown) it seemed like some needed a change and moved on. Naturally, when a number of people in a department have left, it changes the dynamic for those remaining who feel they have lost friends and colleagues, which will hit morale and it is not uncommon for there to be a domino effect, which is what we experienced. We certainly don’t begrudge anyone - including some who’d been with us for 5-11 years - for moving on in these circumstances, albeit with some regret and great appreciation for what they contributed during their years with us. That said, no member of our dev team raised any concerns with me along the lines raised here, and if they had I would have welcomed the opportunity to address their concerns. Any sizeable operation with a 25-year heritage like NewsNow is going to have some legacy tech and code. Most of our development efforts are centred on our modern tech stack and code, and of course we do have projects to improve, and in some cases reimplement, legacy systems in more modern tech too. Our development team is now back up to strength and morale is good. We want to keep it this way and recently introduced flexible working for developers to provide a better work/life balance. Let me thank you once again for your contribution to NewsNow, and wish you all the best in your future career. Kind regards, Struan Bartlett Founder & CEO

      Explore other reviews about NewsNow

      5.0
      27 Dec 2019
      Creative tech lead
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      NewsNow is a really unique place to work; it's a small company with an amazingly skilled team, exciting tech, a great product with a strong social purpose and a huge user base. It's also not a startup - it's a stable, well-established business, with mature processes and revenue streams, meaning that while it embraces the positive aspects of startup culture, such as small teams, remote working, technical innovation, and office culture, it is not subject to the financial constraints or time pressure of a typical tech startup. The business hierarchy is relatively flat, and everyone is able to interact directly with senior management to impact decisions within the business. Communication is effortless and the overall culture is deeply collaborative. Staff members are appreciated and credited for their achievements and career progression is encouraged and facilitated.

      Cons

      The codebase is somewhat unconventional (though very well written), and requires more time than most to become familiar with. However, it is about to undergo a significant upgrade to more contemporary, industry-standard technologies. Sometimes it can take a while for lower-priority projects to be approved or signed off. This is somewhat natural, especially for small companies, but I would love to see if we can improve this process a bit.

      1
      5.0
      30 Nov 2021
      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business outlook

      Pros

      1. Working for a company with excellent values and a clearly defined mission and purpose. 2. Opportunities to learn and develop new skills in both an editorial and tech environment. 3. A small yet collaborative and communicative workforce. I feel like my voice is heard and considered on projects of all sizes. 4. Flexibility to work from anywhere in the UK and beyond due to remote working. 5. Highly interesting work which challenges you to think critically and weigh up differing points of view.

      Cons

      No significant cons but one downside to remote working is the obvious limitations in being able to work and socialise with colleagues, face-to-face. However, since the end of lockdown the company has organised days in shared office spaces, as well as social meet-ups.

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