SOUTHERN TECH 100
TM Awards recognise outstanding performances
The Business Magazine’s annual awards dinner for Southern Tech 100 companies highlighted the region’s strength and depth in the tech sector
More than 50 guests attended the dinner and networking evening at Oakley Hall, Basingstoke, in March, to celebrate top performers in the Southern Tech 100. The annual tech company listing is compiled by The Business Magazine.
The Southern Tech 100 is sponsored by Barclays, BDO, Roc Search, and Shoosmiths, who judged 21 finalists across five categories.
The evening’s host, Nick Morse from The Business Magazine, said: “Tech is key in the south. And that’s why we and our sponsors like to recognise some of the successful businesses that have grown up around here and which contribute so much to our economy.”
Guest speaker Kevin Dady, CEO of IRIS Software Group, revealed the three main performance areas he relentlessly pursues to achieve constant growth for the UK’s largest privately-owned software company. “First, where next? Second, ensuring our people flourish. Third, only worrying about tomorrow – you can’t change yesterday.”
He explained how the business had grown to the point where IRIS products are used to submit over three million tax returns to HMRC – nearly one-third of all UK returns.
Over one million online statutory documents are sent to Companies House using its software and over 2.3m employees rely on IRIS for their paychecks. Recent areas of business expansion include running back-office systems for 11,000 education organisations.
Dady described his desire to continually “change the paradigm” giving the example of IRIS’ introduction of cashless payments for school lunches. “This reduces schools’ administration costs, reduces incidents of bullying to obtain money from pupils, and provides data for parents about what their children are buying to encourage healthier eating,” he said.
IRIS has a workforce of 1,100 at around 16 locations and has grown in every one of its 40 years. Rapid expansion has seen the company acquire 13 businesses in the past three to five years. Looking to the future, Dady said: “The challenge for us is to maintain our values as we grow.
sponsors From left: Nigel Honor of BDO and Jason Kingsley of Rebellion
What the judges said: This passionate and dedicated leader is always looking to evolve and explore new ventures, such as a film studio in Didcot. There is a strong relationship with the staff, with fantastic use of an open-door policy, and with the local community where the company continues to inspire future generations. It was evidently clear that the business was not viewed as work but as a family.
Business THE TM MAGAZINE 16
businessmag.co.uk
Other finalists: Arun Bala – CEO of Invenio Business Solutions Heddwyn Davies – CEO of Symetrica Simon Hansford – co-founder and CEO of UKCloud Rafi Razzak – founder and owner of Centerprise International
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – MAY/JUNE 2019 Winners
Business Leader of the Year Jason Kingsley, co-founder of Rebellion
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