BATLEY-born tycoon Lawrence Tomlinson has been ringing the changes.

The chairman of construction-to care home business LNT Group has signed the UK’s biggest i-phone deal with O2 – and bought every member of staff a new Apple iPhone handset.

The Leeds-based company has bought 1,700 phones – in what has been called one of the most innovative and exciting deals in mobile networks – to improve internal communications and boost business.

Mr Tomlinson drove the deal through – seeing it as a chance to future-proof communications around the group. He said the move had been driven by his passion to harness technology yet retain a family business feel in touch with everyone.

To make the iPhones relevant and effective, the group has developed its own iLNT App to send messages to every member of the team or specific groups within businesses.

Staff will be able to use them to check their hours and holidays as well as get important corporate communications.

Announcing the three-year tie up with O2, Mr Tomlinson said he felt certain the investment would reap dividends.

“Some of the team don’t have internet or mobile phone access,” he said. “Digital communication is faster and more efficient. It’s a fast, efficient and a user-friendly way of communicating with so many people. We can send out one message, such as the company newsletter, to everyone or target specific groups.

“That will be particularly useful when we need to communicate with team members in sensitive areas of the business such as care homes where it can be critical we get messages out promptly,” he said. “This deal is all about commitment; to our staff, who will get free texts and calls as part of the deal, to O2 and to Apple. It empowers our team to have access to a lot of information and do a lot of things with the iPhones.”

Ben Kitto, business development manager for O2 at the White Rose Business Centre in Leeds, said the deal marked a new era for all corporate mobile phones deals.

“LNT were determined to use the technology to benefit the business not just keep in touch with staff,” he said.