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business success in association with
Bright future ahead as Redwood celebrates milestone move
Earlier this year, Bracknell-based Redwood Technologies celebrated its 20th anniversary by moving in to prestigious new UK headquarters in the town
In just two decades, the group has reached a highly-successful £20 million turnover and, according to co-founder and Redwood Group director Sean Taylor, aims to achieve upwards of £3-400m turnover within the next five to seven years.
Redwood specialises in the development of software used in areas such as cloud communications, Unified Communications and contact centres. It has offices in the Netherlands (The Hague), USA (San Jose) and a presence in Germany (Berlin) and Malaysia (KL).
Its IT and telecoms solutions include mission critical command and control systems for top government officials at home and abroad, as well as communications systems for a wide range of sectors, including banking and telecommunications, where clients include Vodafone and 02.
The story began when Taylor was in his 20s and working in America’s Silicon Valley. He realised he could bring his expertise back to the UK and chose the Thames Valley to launch his new venture as a software re-seller.
“This is Europe’s equivalent to Silicon Valley, not only because of its transport links but also the significant number of US companies based in the region. It’s a fantastic location to do business and it’s really important we defend our position and hold on to that crown,“ he said.
To that end, he is an avid supporter of both the Thames Valley SME Action Group (part of the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership) and the Berkshire Community Foundation.
Taylor acknowledges he was “very naive“ when he started out, but that didn’t stop him and younger brother and co-founder Martin, setting a £1m turnover target within the first 12 months. While they didn’t quite achieve their goal, they did reach the £900,000 mark – enough to set them on the road for future success.
“There is absolutely no way I would start up a business like that today, I was young and naive
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but it worked and from there we were able to build the business we have now,“ he said.
“We were very careful, we invested the money back into the business, we didn’t hire unless we were confident we had long-term jobs for those people. We didn’t want to be heavily in debt and have always held a strong cash position. We’ve always had a healthy relationship with our bank.“
Somewhat unusually in today’s marketplace, Barclays has been a constant in the Redwood story since 1994. As well as providing day- to-day banking facilities, Barclays was there to provide support when, in the mid-2000s, Taylor and his team launched sister company Content Guru, which provides cloud-based communications integration services to large enterprise and public sector organisations, including well-known brands such as Rightmove, Auto Trader, National Rail Enquiries and UK Power Networks.
“Market conditions were more challenging after the
dot.com downturn. Starting Cloud Guru gave us a boost because the two companies have a very symbiotic relationship,“ said Taylor.
“Redwood had a good track record with Barclays so we were able to talk to them about our plans and they set up the banking facilities very quickly. There is a lot to be said for being loyal to a particular business and if you respect a relationship the whole process will be much more efficient and enjoyable.“
The launch of Content Guru perfectly caught the market’s appetite for cloud computing and today the business is around three to four times the size of Redwood. Together, the two companies employ some 100 staff and it was to meet demand for future expansion that Taylor turned to Barclays to support the purchase of Radius Court in the centre of Bracknell.
James Crew, Barclays’ relationship director for Basingstoke and Reading, said: “Sean approached us in early 2013 when they were looking to move. The business is exceptionally well run and well managed and they do a very
Sean Taylor
good job so we were only too happy to help. For us, they are a real Thames Valley success story.“
Taylor calls the new building an “important step change“ as the group plans for its third decade of UK operations and, while he is proud of what has been achieved, he is certainly not complacent.
“I often say it’s a balance; we need to be proud of what we have done, we have an excellent team who have worked very hard to get us where we are today, but we need to stay ambitious and to push towards greater success,“ he said.
And, as the lines become ever more blurred between mobiles, laptops and fixed computers, Taylor believes the secret of that future success will come in the form of a more unified future as multi-channel communications merges with cloud technology. Watch this space.
Details:
Sean Taylor 01344-304344
sst@redwoodtech.com www.redwoodtech.com
James Crew 07775-552661
james.crew@
barclays.com www.barclays.com/corporatebanking
The views expressed in this article are the views of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Barclays Bank PLC Group nor should they be taken as statements of policy or intent of the Barclays Bank PLC Group. The Barclays Bank PLC Group takes no responsibility for the veracity of information contained in the third part guides or articles and no warranties or undertakings of any kind, whether express or implied, regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information given. The Barclays Bank PLC Group takes no liability for the impact of any decisions made based on information contained and views expressed.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2013
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