Member Article

Andy Walton of Nine Works talks saving time to bdaily

While bespoke coding agency Nine was only set up in June of this year, Andy Walton and his business partner David Frame have big plans for the business.

“We decided to create Nine because our joint ambitions fitted well, and we had similar ideas for the business.

“We are not a web IT agency, nor a web branding agency. We develop unique coded software for clients who can’t find the product they require on the shelf. While we want to make our mark, we aren’t looking to compete with othersworking in the IT sector, rather we try to compliment their services.”

The name ‘Nine’ seems an unusual choice for a company set up by only two individuals, but for Andy, it neatly sums up the ethos of the business: “The name ‘Nine’ came from the proverb; ‘A stitch in time saves nine’. We aim to understand the needs of our clients, and in turn provide them with a smart, slick solution to save them time.”

Saving time is a topic that Andy returns to frequently throughout our conversation. When asked about the perils of setting up a business in the midst of a recession, Andy explains why it is actually an incredibly prudent business decision:

“In the current economic climate, many of our clients are looking to reduce time and increase efficiency. Therefore alot are keen to implement mobile apps to allow their customers easier access to their product.

“Increasing numbers of businesses in the region are realising the need to innovate to stay ahead of their competitors, which is where we can come in.”

Nine works with a range of clients, from big businesses to entrepreneurs. When asked which he prefers to work with, Andy diplomatically refuses to answer.

“It really depends. Entrepreneurs tend to come in with great ideas, and because they know their industry so well, it really gets the team fired up. Equally when we work with larger companies we sometimes get to do cool things which would typically be constrained to the internal development department.”

Nine have also launched a service called Nine Labs, whereby the company hopes to work in a commercial partnership withotherindividuals orbusinesses in the region to develop ideas which could change their particular sector.

“The people we want to work with know their industry and how it could evolve. While the region has many fantastic individuals, they are not all software developers, which is where we can come in to commercialise their ideas.”

The company has already begun to build up a strong client base, and is now looking to execute further plans for growth.

“Prior to the launch of Nine we were lucky enough to build upaan extremely strong order book, and we are now hoping to build on this early promise.

“Eventually we will also bring in additional resources,and further individuals to add to our team of world class software developers to ensure we can continue to fulfil the requirements of our clients.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .