STIRLING technology firm Dogfi:sh Mobile has secured an investment from Barclays worth tens of thousands of pounds which it will use to develop a community-based app for businesses.

The firm, whose clients include Network Rail, Legoland and NHS Now, designs what co-founder Ross Tuffee described as “habit-forming or behaviour-changing technologies”.

For Network Rail, for example, it created an app that allows level crossing managers to use data to assess, manage and control risk across 6,300 level crossings. The Legoland app, meanwhile, allows visitors to the Windsor themepark to plan their visit around their personal preferences.

Mr Tuffee said the Barclays cash is funding the design of an app that is being piloted by business advocacy group London First before being released to the market in July.

“London First is concerned about business resilience and how businesses could recover if there was a problem like a terrorist attack,” Mr Tuffee said.

“You need businesses to think about the ‘what ifs’. You can do that by using situational alerts – news feeds that say ‘if this happens to me what should I do?’.

“We’re trying to tap into a multitude of sources of best practice that come in snack-sized chunks that people can engage with.”

Last year Dogfi:sh won the Best Mobile App award at the Scottish Digital Business Awards for the Sugar Smart app it designed for Public Health England.

The app monitors and visualises sugar intake in every-day products to encourage healthier choices.

The business, which was set up five years ago, currently employs 35 people across offices in Stirling and Mumbai.

Mr Tuffee said that as Stirling is in line to receive a multi-million pound City Deal package from the UK Government it will be able to attract further investment to become Scotland’s next technology hub.

“The foundations are already in place in terms of access to good transport links, talent and infrastructure connectivity, and in time this will only heighten the number of progressive tech companies coming out of the region,” he said.