The new chief executive of Tyneside tech firm Technology Services Group has outlined plans for growth after the company took hits to its revenues and headcount.
Rory McKeand has taken the helm at the software company as it emerges from the pandemic with a new structure and 海角视频 offices plan, while also seeking to bring the next generation of talented young software workers on board.
Mr McKeand, who first joined Technology Services Group (TSG) four years ago, was appointed to the top job in Spring, while David Stonehouse - formerly chairman and CEO - will maintain his role as chairman of the company, launched and owned by North East entrepreneur and philanthropist Graham Wylie.
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Mr McKeand said: “When David asked me to join TSG in 2017 as head of projects, I saw then that it had enormous potential. Since then the business has developed well and shown resilience during the pandemic.
“I am delighted and grateful for the opportunity to lead the business towards a bright future; focusing on a customer first transition to Cloud platforms. We will achieve this through our national team of experts forming meaningful partnerships with our customers.”
His comments come as the Quorum Park business publishes accounts for the year ended March 31, in which it saw turnover decline 16% from £35.7m to £30.02m.
Despite the fall in revenue, it chalked up a rise in adjusted Ebitda from £2.8m to £3.5m, and monthly recurring revenues accounted for 70% of revenue, up from 64%. Profit for the financial year was also up, from £205,000 to £632,000.
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The accounts report details how revenues were affected by a £2m fall in project services revenue and a £2.4m drop in sales of end user devices and software. The fall was, however, mitigated by the high proportion of revenue from recurring income streams, giving it a resilient platform to deliver performance targets.
During the pandemic the shift to homeworking led to the decision to introduce hybrid office working post-pandemic, which led to the closure or mothballing of four of its six offices.
Looking ahead, it will have three hybrid working offices, and significant investment is being made into a new North East head office on the Team Valley.
Mr McKeand said: “Our teams showed that we could be more productive working from home for the most part as long as they had access to spaces where collaboration and discussion can happen face to face. Whilst the right balance has brought about great health and wellbeing benefits to our team, we need to continue to be mindful of the unseen challenges that this style of working can bring upon individuals.
“Going forward we will have hub offices in Glasgow, Tyneside and London specifically designed to maximise the collaboration and social interaction time with customers and teams. Our completely re-configured office on Team Valley will showcase this and be operational from November; the others will follow in 2022.
“We will also continue with ‘hub days’, creating temporary offices for a day or week each month to support teams and projects in Birmingham and Manchester. This level of flexibility requires a high degree of trust, first rate technology and highly skilled managers.”
The firm used lockdown to implement structural changes and “to adapt to a new, more agile and efficient approach to support and project delivery” leading to around 50 redundancies in operations and administrative functions during the first half of the year. Employee numbers are now set to rise once more.
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Mr McKeand said: ‘We started the year with just over 250 team members, we are 280 today and tracking to 300 by the end of the year. Our people growth comes from a strong cloud sales performance and our investment in young technologists through our revamped apprenticeship scheme and TSG Academy.”
Chairman David Stonehouse added: “The response our people made to the pandemic and the resultant performance in terms of customer satisfaction, staff engagement and financially has been outstanding. This has given the board confidence that now is a sensible time for me to hand over operational leadership to Rory McKeand, who succeeded me as CEO from April this year.
“I shall remain as chairman to support Rory and his team as they build upon the solid platform we have created. Rory and the team have plenty of good ideas to help take the business forward. Sir Graham Wylie and I have every confidence in them and wish them every success.”
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