Durham webcasting firm expected to treble in size

Nov 9 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

A WEBCASTING firm expects to treble in size after receiving £850,000 of investment to develop software it believes will become the future of video conferencing.

The WorkCast Corporation, based in Durham, has received almost £500,000 from NorthStar Equity Investors (NSEI) in Newcastle to develop its Webcast Manager product, and expects to hit a turnover of £1m in its first year as a result.

The firm is headed by Gerard Callaghan, brother of North East entrepreneur Paul Callaghan. He aims to grow his 10-strong workforce to around 30 over the next year and roll out a marketing programme with the help of the investment.

The product, which has been in development for over a year, allows firms to produce comprehensive webcasts without the need for advanced IT knowledge and allows users to create, edit and distribute everything from online meetings to powerpoint presentations at a far lower cost.

Firms investing in webcasting tools have traditionally paid high installation fees, but will now be able to use Webcast Manager remotely through the company’s website.

The investment, which is also made up of funding from Paul Callaghan as well as a number of private individuals, is also being used to adapt the software for a variety of sectors, which the firm believes will see its sales grow to £3m by 2011. The firm has targeted the recruitment industry, which will see candidates posting video presentations as part of their application.