North East IT firm aiming higher with £80k NEL investment

A North East technology provider is targeting bigger contracts with larger companies after securing £80,000 new investment.

Bowe Digital, of Kingston Park, Newcastle, has received the investment from the Finance For Business North East Growth Fund, administered by NEL Fund Managers, to drive the business’s planned expansion.

The new capital is having an immediate impact on the firm’s operations, with discussions already taking place with a number of new potential customers.

Founded in 1992, Bowe is a Sage-accredited developer which specialises in the provision and installation of accounting and manufacturing software, and providing effective IT solutions which are tailored to clients’ individuals needs.

The firm supplies, supports and installs any hardware, software and peripheral equipment that business customers require, from a simple PC workstation to complex Wide Area Networks, and has a network of clients both within and outside the North East.

Around a quarter of Bowe’s customers operate in the bakery and food manufacturing industries, a sector in which it is now looking to further enhance its presence, particularly through the Bakery and Production System (BaPs) software that it has developed.

A Web ordering module has now been released in BaPS, allowing the bakery customers to maintain their own orders online.

The manufacturing sector is another of the firm’s key area for growth, via implementation of the Swan Manufacturing ERP Software, for which the firm has an exclusive licence in the UK.

Two new recruits have recently been added to the firm’s eight-strong team, and more jobs are expected to be created as the firm’s expansion plans are executed.

Managing director Karen Bowe, who took over the business in June 2011, says: “The company has grown successfully by creating and installing technology solutions which greatly improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of clients’ operations, and we reached a point where we felt we wanted to quicken the pace of our development.

“Bigger companies tend to require more from their suppliers in terms of resource, reporting and service guarantees, and we knew that addressing the sorts of opportunities that they offer would require us to enhance the capacity we have to meet their needs.

“The expansion we’ve enjoyed in recent years has very much been organic, but the new systems and resources we now have in place will help accelerate this growth by targeting the commercial opportunities that we know are there for us.

“NEL offered the most suitable sort of finance provision for our particular needs, and we’re already seeing an enhanced flow of new business openings coming our way as a result of the resource investments we’ve made.”

Jane Siddle, investment executive at NEL Fund Managers, adds: “Bowe Digital’s management team have a clear vision for how they want the company to develop, and it’s pleasing to see the immediate impact that our investment is making on their operations.”

Aimed at regional businesses which are at a development and growth stage, the Growth Fund forms part of the wider Finance for Business North East Fund.

Managed by North East Finance, it will see £125m of investment capital injected into the region by the European Investment Bank and the European Regional Development Fund 2007-13 over a five year period.

NEL is looking to make around 130 investments over the five-year life span of the Growth Fund, and is actively looking to speak to ambitious north east companies with robust business plans.

The ERDF 2007-13 programme is bringing over £300m into North East England to support innovation, enterprise and business support. It will help create and safeguard 28,000 new jobs, start 3,000 new businesses and increase the region’s productivity by £1.1bn per annum.

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