Scape-what?
On the mornings of Thursday 9th April 2026 and Friday 10th April 2026, in bright and sunny Liverpool, the Harker and Jamescape teams descended onto CENTRAL TECH for the fifth instalment of our annual company conference, Scapegoat!
Scapegoat is our two day conference, jam-packed full of technical discussions and workshops on everything from web accessibility, to task management methodology, to pitch practice and LinkedIn post writing. Working in a fast-paced start-up can sometimes mean that we focus so much on building and growing quickly that we forget to zoom out and take stock together and participate in valuable discussions, skill-building workshops, and team-building exercises.
Whilst we are a Liverpool-based team, we are a hybrid company and some of our staff work remotely, so it’s incredible to get all staff from both companies together, collectively travelling a total of over 1000 miles to reach Liverpool!
With so much going on during Scapegoat it can quickly get overwhelming, but James Barber (Chief Executive) created the Scapegoat 2026 mobile app, which featured the session schedule, general conference information, and the Vincent Vanguard: the daily conference newspaper re-capping highlights from each day.
Lightning Rounds
Lighting Rounds have quickly became a Scapegoat staple after being introduced at Scapegoat 2024. These are three-minute talks given by every staff member on something that interests them (and, in some way, must link back to their job role). This year, we heard talks on topics ranging from the limitations of AI, to social media branding, to cold calling Instagram reels, to Beyoncé. Lightning Rounds are a great way to hear from the entire team, especially those who normally wouldn’t be leading a session or talk, and finding out what interests them personally beyond day-to-day work. Congratulations to Ollie Cockell (Software Developer at Harker) for winning the staff vote for Best Lightning Round for his talk on the impact of the discontinuation of Flash on the South African government.
Jamescape re-vamp
For Jamescape, the past year has been one of renewal - we’ve re-vamped our branding and expanded our services into three distinct offerings. We’ve shifted from just a tech consultancy into a tech, inclusivity, and events company who are transforming the world of work through technology. It was great to align all staff on these changes and our ambitious for Jamescape during my talk at Scapegoat 2026. You’ll also soon see these changes reflected on our company website, which is receiving a much-needed makeover thanks to our Software Developer Intern, Abdullah Naveed.
As part of our Jamescape Events offering, the team purchased a draught beer dispenser which got a rigorous test drive at our self-serve bar at Scapegoat, offering great local real ale!
The Scapies
At the end of the conference, we swapped the hoodies for formal wear as we enjoyed a delicious evening meal catered by Root to Flower. It was great to be joined by some of our previous staff members and friends of the company to celebrate the past year of Harker and Jamescape. This was followed by The Scapies 2026, our infamous staff awards show where we celebrate serious and unserious achievements alike, including Slack Message of the Year, Most PRs Merged, Most Work Hours Spent Watching Reels, and Most Likely to Strip in an Interview!
Scapegoat 2027
This time last year, we welcomed a team of fifteen to Scapegoat 2025, which was double the team size of Scapegoat 2024, which was a huge logistical challenge for us, and we were unsure how we’d pull it off again but Scapegoat 2026 was even more jam-packed and valuable! Thanks to all of our staff, partners, partners, and suppliers who made Scapegoat 2026 a huge success. Things really have changed since our humble first conference in 2022 and now Scapegoat is the most hectic, enjoyable, and productive time in the company calendar. Both teams are now more aligned, stronger, and bigger than ever, ready to achieve their respective missions through fit-for-purpose software.
Until the next one.