Networking proves key to Scott Logic's success

Feb 17 2010 by Karen Dent, The Journal

AN IT company has more than doubled its staff numbers and turnover in the year after the collapse of its biggest client Lehman Brothers.

Newcastle firm Scott Logic, which specialises in bespoke software systems for financial clients, has boosted staff numbers from a low of 18 to 45 and is aiming to double its turnover to around the £3m mark.

Managing director Gary Scott spent 11 years working for Lehman Brothers in London before returning to his native North East to set up the business in 2005. But when the US-based investment bank became perhaps the biggest victim of the financial crisis in September 2008, his company faced dire straights.

“We pulled out of that,” said Mr Scott. “We were fighting for survival but have almost doubled in size in 2009. We have doubled our personnel to 45 from 18 and we are looking to double our turnover to circa £3m.

“We’ve diversified our client base though we are still working with investment banks. We’ve been very aggressive in our sales campaigns.”

However, the thousands of job losses in the financial sector as a result of the recession and the associated movement of people between different employers has benefited Scott Logic, which has offices in London and Edinburgh. Mr Scott said: “In the City, a lot of people scattered everywhere and that helped us get more clients. That is going to be good for us in the future. Word of mouth has been our main weapon. It has been a lot of recommendations from other investment banks.”

The business is at the forefront of developing new products. Scott Logic’s technical architect Colin Eberhardt, who designs and writes software packages, is an acknowledged expert in the new emerging Silverlight technology which is predicted to revolutionise the internet.

“He has been nominated as a most valuable player by Microsoft on that technology,” said Mr Scott. “It’s a new technology that people are starting to use to make internet applications feel a lot more like desktop applications.

“We have also written our own products in the Silverlight and HTML5 technologies. We have written a product in Silverlight which we will be launching soon and creating a business around those products.”

:: For news on a Scott Logic staff member who has won a top technology prize, see nebusiness’ Science and Technology supplement tomorrow.