Local expertise lures Indian software firm
Oct 28 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal
AN Indian business software company is moving to Sunderland to take advantage of the North East’s software expertise.
5th Generation Technologies produces business intelligence tools for companies in areas that include manufacturing and retail.
The Chennai-based firm will employ up to 25 people and decided to set up in Sunderland after being contacted during a campaign by One North East’s Inward Investment team to promote Sunderland Software City to Indian software firms.
The firm will receive a £200,000 GBI grant from One North East to support the development of new products in the North East.
The company, who have been named as one of 50 Indian technology firms to watch by technology group Nasscom, plan to use Sunderland’s Evolve software business centre as their European base and are keen to export the software they develop in the North East into new markets across the continent as the business grows.
Despite the recession, the worldwide appetite for business intelligence platforms, analytical applications and performance management software in 2008 increased 21.7% on the previous year, from £4.4bn to £5.4bn.
Sunderland Software City was created to encourage the growth of the region’s software industry and provides firms with support for marketing, business development and sales as well as access to HR, legal and accountancy services.
“We are extremely excited about our investment in the North East”, said Dr. Ananth Seshan, chairman and managing director of 5G. “When One North East contacted us it was quite timely in that we were looking at various options to start our operations in the UK to expand our European footprint.
“Being an intellectual property focussed organisation, we were attracted to the native talent pool that was available in the North East from five top-class engineering schools, a world-class infrastructure that was second to none, and the overall lower cost of operations in comparison to the other places we had short-listed.
“We were pleasantly surprised by the speed at which we were able to set up our operations, which would not have been possible without the tremendous support of One North East.”
