Member Article

Test Factory celebrates £435,000 investment

A North East assessment and survey business is expanding following an investment if £435,000 from the Finance for Business North East Technology Fund.

The investment will now help The Test Factory to enhance its product portfolio, with the hope of enabling the firm to take advantage of opportunities in key growth areas including Asia and Australasia.

Established in Summer 2008, the firm specialises in creating bespoke, online assessments for a number of high-profile clients including Microsoft, HSBC and the BBC. From its base near Sunderland, The Test Factory now delivers online tests in more than 20 languages to users in over 150 countries each month.

In the past 12 months alone, the firms revenue has grown by more than 400%, and has also recruited 12 new staff, taking the total workforce to 28.

The investment comprises a £250,000 debt arrangement and £185,000 of equity.

Kevin Beales, managing director and founder of the Test Factory is now confident that the investment will help the firm to accelerate growth and propel the business to the next level.

Commenting on the investment, he said: “We have positioned the business at the forefront of a relatively niche but fast-growing market and are in a position to look at the next phase of our development. As well as this, we are able to drive forward with bringing out an increased range of assessment products.

“In terms of geographic growth, Asia is an exciting area for us - places like India are popular with
the outsourced industry, so the need to provide assessments to demonstrate skills is particularly important.

“There is also a real appetite for learning in a lot of these environments and things like health and safety are gaining in importance - there are real opportunities for us.”

Ian Wilson, investment manager with IP Group Plc in Newcastle, said: “The Test Factory has already established a global reputation in its sector and we are pleased to be able to support that further with this investment. It is a real asset to the North East that businesses such as this are based here.

“Its client portfolio and rapid organic growth are testament to how strong The Test Factory and
its products are, and the business is certainly well placed to capitalise on future opportunities for
growth.”

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