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Keeping up with Tech Track 100
The Slough company Innovise, founded in 2004 by former investment analyst Mike Taylor to acquire IT companies, was the leading Thames Valley entry in the latest Tech Track 100 table which ranks Britain’s private tech (TMT) companies with the fastest-growing sales over the latest three years.
The company, which delisted from the stock market in July, saw sales rise 96% a year from £2.3 million in 2007 to £17.1m in 2010, putting it in 18th place in the national league table.
It has made 13 acquisitions in seven years and now has two divisions employing nearly 150 staff. One helps facilities management companies such as Securitas and Interserve manage large workforces, while the other is focused on the management of complex IT systems for global clients.
Innovise now has an office in Mumbai and is expanding its sales force in the Middle East and Africa.
Three other companies from this region made the top 50. Milton Park-based Kaspersky Lab (41) is the world’s third-largest vendor of consumer IT security software. Its product protects 300 million individuals and businesses worldwide against IT security threats.
Cryptologist Eugene Kaspersky founded the business in Moscow 14 years ago, but in 2007 the holding company was registered in Britain to help with plans for international expansion. With offices in 29 countries, its sales rose 69% a year from £62.5m in 2007 to £299.1m in 2010.
Reigate-based Updata Infrastructure (46) connects schools and offices to the Internet, particularly in rural areas, through
lines that it leases from the government’s telephone exchanges.
Updata works only with the public sector and has helped to link up 800 doctors’ surgeries in Wales. Originally based in Denmark, the company expanded its model to Britain where it was bought out by directors Richard Bennett and Victor Baldorino in 2009. The deal had the backing of LMS Capital, which provided £6.2m in return for a 46% stake. Sales grew 63% a year from £4.6m in 2007 to £19.7m in 2010.
QiComm (47), based at Hampton, Middlesex, recently formed a partnership with the Chinese telecoms firm ZTE. The company offers a broad range of services, from helping to set up wireless networks in Britain and the Middle East to providing data hosting facilities.
In January it launched Vizz Mobile, a prepaid international Sim card that the company claims is gaining 10,000 customers a month. Sales increased 61% a year from £22.2m in 2007 to £93.2m in 2010.
Just outside the top 50 was JAOtech (51), based at Redhill, Surrey. It develops and manufactures smart terminals, mainly for use in hospitals by patients, and Is launching an improved cheaper version in November. Doctors and nurses can use the same terminals to see patient records, details of medication and x-rays.
The company was founded in 2006 by Graham Grover, Warren Kressinger-Dunn and Philip Corri and they have overseen sales growth of 57% a year from £2.3m in 2007 to £9m in 2010.
Marlow-based Wireless Logic (54) was the subject of a £35m management buyout from Peter
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Jones last month, backed by ECI Partners. Sales grew 56% a year from £3.1m in 2008 to £11.6m in 2011, and it plans to open offices in France and Spain within six months following its recent launch in Munich.
Managing director Oliver Tucker and sales director Phil Cole founded this company in 1999 with funding from business angels. Clients use its specialised Sim cards to remotely monitor devices such as vending machines and supermarket fridges, reducing the need for on-site visits.
Other companies that had the satisfaction of making the lower reaches of the top 100 were ViewSat (55) of Guildford, which works primarily with Middle Eastern and African broadcasters and grew sales 55%; Feltham- based GroundScope (60), which
specialises in software that allows clients to make transport bookings, growing 51% a year; Dytecna (72) of Weybridge, Surrey, which makes equipment for military vehicles and flight simulators and grew sales 45% a year; Marlborough Communications (73) of Horley, Surrey, which supplies equipment to Nato forces in Afghanistan and also saw growth of 45% a year; Powwownow (82) of Richmond, Surrey, which connects conference call services and grew 42%; VOSS (92) of Reading, which specialises in management software for the telecoms industry and grew 38%; and Adeptra (97) of Reading, which designs mobile banking apps for smartphones and grew 37%.
The 11th annual Tech Track 100 was sponsored by Microsoft, compiled by Oxford-based Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times.
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for lit environmental photography whatever your talent may be 07831 673945 THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2011
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