Data analysts hoping turnover will rise to £35m
Mar 5 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal
ROCKETING sales of a data management company’s new product are expected to double the size of its workforce and propel its turnover from £2.5m to £35m within two years.
The i-snapshot tool which analyses data which is texted by sales people back to their company’s base earned £481,000 for Middlesbrough-based data analysts Rocket Science last year.
The business expects that to rise to £2.5m this year and £17m in 2009 and £35m in 2010.
The i-snapshot technology is in demand because it can help retail firms save money by cutting the time sales executives spend reporting their deals.
The system is now being used by 35 clients including Sony, Nestlé, JT Dove and Jewson across the UK, the US, Europe, Australia and South America.
Chief scientist Alan Timothy, who led a management buy-out at Rocket Science in 1992, said: “It is the only reporting system of its kind and is proving invaluable to management by providing data that can help increase the company’s sales and ultimately profits.
“If in the UK we can get 450 interested, the UK will do £4m. The numbers might be big but the number of customers you need to get there isn’t that big.
“It’s going to be massive. It’s going to be the next Sage, but this time based in Middlesbrough.”
The business has raised £1m from investors to fund the expansion.
Rocket Science employs 50 staff at offices in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Germany set up to market i-snapshot and is looking to double that figure as it grows.
Rocket Science, which provides data analysis for brands including Jack Daniels and Famous Grouse whisky, originally approached regional development agency One NorthEast for research and development funding to investigate the i-snapshot idea.
A team of three full-time developers, with input from clients and universities in the US and Germany, started work on the system in 2005 aided by a £30,000 grant from ONE.
ONE business finance specialist advisor Gary Roe said: “It is fantastic to see that the grant support allocated last has made such a positive impact on the business.
“Rocket Science is an example of an innovative firm using new ideas and technology to expand and is an inspiration to other growing business across the region.”
