IMR is expecting sales of £10m
Sep 23 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal
A COMPANY that produces medical reports for the legal and insurance sectors expects to see its sales jump 35% to around £10m by the end of the year after setting up two new businesses.
Insurance Medical Reporting (IMR) in Durham produces reports for those acting on behalf of clients who wish to pursue compensation claims and has seen its sales rocket after taking on cases from other firms and launching its own physiotherapy service.
The 12-year-old firm has grown strongly since a management buy-out three years ago and has already seen its workforce grow from 23 staff to 101.
Bosses have been expanding its range of policies and believe its launch of Nationwide Claim Solutions and Physio-link Services, which speeds customers’ access to a physiotherapist, will increase this by another 50 over the next three years.
The business, which handles around 3,000 reports each month and was initially launched in 1997, said that it had not been affected by the recession but had been able to grow organically.
Although it does not expect to launch any other services by the end of the year, the firm did say that the success of its newest ventures may lead to the creation of additional businesses in the future and said that it was well backed by Lloyds Bank to help it to expand in the future. Chief executive Brian Irving said that Physio-link was currently hiring more staff and that the service had proved popular among those seeking a rapid response service.
“Sales from the new businesses have just started to feed into our overall turnover and the early signs are extremely pleasing,” said Mr Irving.
“We now have enough resources to provide medical reports on behalf of other companies, which has provided us with a lucrative income stream.”
The firm now believes it can go on to grow its sales further over the coming years after investing in the new businesses and expanding its offices at Belmont Business Park.
Mr Irving said: “We have not been affected by the recession and expect to continue growing the group organically over the coming months.
“The fact is that people will not stop having accidents and we are specialists in our field.
“We now have a range of complementary services, which we intend to grow in Durham. It’s all about providing support services to the insurance and legal sectors as well as the individual involved in the case.”
