DEMAND for virtual quizzes during lockdown has led a York-based tech company to enjoy its strongest 30-day trading period since the start of the pandemic.

SpeedQuizzing's success has been buoyed by its recently launched virtual quiz hosting platform and app.

The company’s quizzing software is currently being used to host an average of 860 venue-based and virtual events a week.

Although that figure is lower than the 1,500 weekly events recorded by the company prior to lockdown, it represents a marked contrast to mid-March, when all events were cancelled due to the enforced closure of pubs and bars.

At that point, the team recognised there there would be no demand for its existing software, which was designed for use in venues, so they created a new app and hosting platform that enabled users to remotely host and play virtual quizzes, in accordance with the lockdown restrictions.

Two weeks later, SpeedQuizzing Live was launched, to provide a stopgap way for the company to continue running quizzes and generate income while pubs and bars were closed.

Six months on, the company is continuing to experience impressive demand for its virtual quiz platform and app, with SpeedQuizzing Live activations accounting for about half of all of its current activation sales.

The company is also experiencing increasing demand for its venue-based product, SpeedQuizzing Pro, as pubs and bars return to hosting quiz nights in a Covid-secure environment.

Alan Leach, co-founder of SpeedQuizzing, said: “We didn’t initially create SpeedQuizzing Live with sales in mind. It was created to provide the hundreds of hosts who used our Pro product in pubs and bars, with a way to host quizzes remotely and generate some income while pubs and bars were closed.

“Once pubs and bars reopened, we expected demand to drop off dramatically, but so far, we’re not seeing that, with SpeedQuizzing Live still accounting for a big chunk of our overall sales.

“We think SpeedQuizzing Live is helping to introduce a whole new audience to the fun and drama of quizzing, due to the fact that it makes hosting and playing fast-paced virtual pub quizzes so quick and easy.

“The main thing is that it’s helping to grow the size of the quizzing community and encourage more people to get involved, whether that’s down the pub or at home."

New software includes a grouping feature which enables players in different locations to play as part of the same team.