Young entrepreneur's North East IT firm triples turnover to £440k

A Stockton-on-Tees cloud computing business has announced it has tripled turnover in just 12 months.

Launched 2014 from Teesside University’s startup incubator Launchpad, Circle Cloud specialises in implementing, migrating and managing client’s IT infrastructures in Microsoft Azure and Office 365.

Over the course of the last year, the firm has increased turnover from £120k to £440k.

Led by 26-year-old entrepreneur Tomas Roberton and his business partner Michael Povey, Circle Cloud has grown its team by three and moved into specialist office space in Stockton’s Fusion Hive.

Tomas, who met Michael when they both worked at Darlington plc Northgate Vehicle Hire, explained: “This year has been our year of gaining traction on work completed in previous years.

“Part of our strategy this year was to bring more large companies into our portfolio. Fusion Hive has enabled us to attract these clients with the modern, purpose built facilities here.

“We’ve continued to work with clients such as the North East England Chamber of Commerce and brought new clients on such as NWH Group, a large waste and construction services company based in Edinburgh, as well as expanding our customer base of local Credit Unions as far as Ipswich.

“There is so much on offer in Stockton, from fantastic facilities like Fusion Hive, where we get access to superfast broadband, to the skills coming out of Teesside University and the funding available from organisations like Tees Valley Business Compass.”

Microsoft approached Circle Cloud to become one of its managed cloud partners, an accreditation awarded to companies who have proved themselves extensively with the Microsoft Cloud products.

The status means the team will host talks in Fusion Hive by cloud specialists, have the opportunity to attend Microsoft’s Tech Summit in Washington DC, and sit regular tests to ensure their cloud knowledge is up to date.

Tomas added: “With the Microsoft Cloud Partner status behind us, and the range of opportunities in the Tees Valley, we’re really confident of being able to grow Circle Cloud further.

“Doing business from Stockton – and particularly Fusion Hive – has been a key ingredient in our success so far.”

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