Member Article

Middlesbrough IT firm celebrates six-figure investment

A Teesside IT firm has received a six-figure investment package which is expected to lead to the creation of new jobs.

The investment will enable Agile Group, of Stockton, to expand its workforce, develop and move to new premises, and enter into two new business areas - the creation of a data centre and the provision of a managed Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service to businesses.

The group want to expand into new markets also, and further develop their offering of broadband and telecoms provision to mobile platforms, such as ships.

The investment is from Northstar Ventures, Lloyds TSB and shareholders - investment supported by Let’s Grow, the £30 million Regional Growth Fund programme.

Simon Scotchbrook, CEO of Agile, said: “The funding that Agile has been able to secure from Northstar, Lloyds TSB and the Let’s Grow fund is a real credit to Agile and our team’s performance since we set up.

“All of the Agile team are really excited to have secured the growth funds as these resources will allow Agile to develop and deliver the next generation of IT & Communications solutions to our customers, which will assist Agile with our ambitious growth plans which include increasing turnover to £10 million by 2016.”

Agile Group, which was set up in 2009, is a collection of businesses that are designed to assist and support businesses to function. It works with some large partners, including BT Open reach, O2, T Mobile, Vodafone, Virgin Media, Cisco, Microsoft and other IT & Communications tier one suppliers.

The company’s core business is the provision of ICT services to SMEs in the North East, but it has targeted mobile platforms for growth - there is an increasing need for high speed broadband in this market.

The investment received comes from Northstar Ventures’ Finance for Business North East Accelerator Fund, an Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan from Lloyds TSB and a grant from the Let’s Grow campaign. Tees Valley Unlimited helped to put together Agile’s application for the Let’s Grow grant, and was instrumental in supporting the business with its growth plan.

Richard Charnley, investment manager at Northstar, said: “Simon Scotchbrook is an impressive individual with a good team behind him. When he and the team at Agile presented their plans to us we were struck by their commitment, focus and drive to making Agile a success.

“The growth the company has seen in the last three years – almost doubling turnover and profitability each year – provided us with significant confidence that they would be able to deliver against their plans, and we are looking forward to working with the team to do this.”

The Accelerator Fund is backed by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Investment Bank.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Graham Vincent .