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Newcastle tech firm attracts three leading North East investors

Three prominent North East business figures are putting their financial muscle behind CRM technology business ION.

The Gosforth-headquartered company has secured major private investment from Neil Stephenson, former CEO of Onyx Group and chairman of Redu Group, Alistair Waite, CEO of Altec Engineering and Fiona Cruickshank OBE, founder of The Specials Laboratory and Gabriel Investors.

Launched in August 2016 by Rob Mathieson, ION is a registered Salesforce consulting partner which delivers business transformation services to companies, designed to increase sales and boost growth.

The firm works with management teams at a strategic level to provide full implementation of Salesforce cloud solutions, staff training and technical support. Its key markets include the manufacturing, engineering and pharmaceutical sectors.

The new investment will help ION expand its team of developers and Salesforce specialists, extending its reach into new markets.

Rob Mathieson, managing director of ION, commented: “The systems we implement help firms significantly increase sales by enabling them to sell faster and smarter. Since launching ION, we have delivered Salesforce across multiple markets in the North East.

“This new investment in ION will support us in realising our growth objectives and allow us to boost our staff levels further, providing services to a wider range of clients.

“We are actively recruiting for developers and cloud consultants to join our team and we’re excited to be accelerating our growth with the support of three of the North East’s most experienced and forward-thinking business figures.”

Neil Stephenson said: “I’m delighted to be supporting ION, which has shown in a comparatively short time the substantial impact it can have on its clients’ operations and growth.

“ION is a visionary company that is helping to drive business success in the North East and one that again demonstrates the wealth of talent we have within the region’s technology sector. I believe that ION has a very exciting future and look forward to seeing it develop further in the coming years.”

Alastair Waite said: “ION can bring a great deal of support to the engineering and manufacturing sectors.

“Rob and the team are embedding innovative systems and solutions into the North East’s industrial landscape and are helping today’s businesses become more efficient and effective.”

Fiona Cruickshank added: “I believe that ION can really make a difference to North East businesses and help them to thrive.

“ION already has a very strong team in place, one that blends technical know-how with an innate understanding of companies in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, engineering and manufacturing and this new investment will ensure that it has a platform for further expansion.”

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