Sunderland company 4Projects reaching out to the world
Mar 18 2010 by Chris Knox, The Journal
A PROJECT management software firm has extended its global reach by setting up offices in the Middle East and the US and is now hoping to grow its sales after expanding into new markets.
Sunderland-based 4Projects said its sales growth had been hit by the downturn in the UK’s construction sector, where its software is widely used, but said that it was still hoping to increase its profits as a result of its worldwide expansion.
The company has just announced the launch of offices in Bahrain and said that it was hoping to provide its software to a number of offshore oil and gas and renewable energy projects in the region.
The firm, which employs 60 staff in Sunderland and another three in London, has also added an office in Washington D.C, which is its third site in the US.
The company’s software is usually used on large-scale construction and energy projects which can involve a number of different businesses, and allows different parties to share important documents as well managing various processes.
The firm, which can count Scottish Power and e.on among its clients, has made a number of upgrades to its software over the last year as well as adapted it for different markets, including product development.
The collaboration and information management tool has proven popular among companies that want to achieve complete transparency when working with partners on large projects, as well as those looking to make project management more efficient, while cutting out time and money wastage.
This has helped 4Projects to increase its turnover from £3.1m in 2007 to £5.5m last year, as well as increase its impressive profits from £1.3m to £2.1m during the same period.
However, the firm said that it was anticipating only minimal growth in sales this year, while still retaining its profit margins.
Chief finance officer Steve Nelson said: “Although we have been hit by the downturn in construction, we have been able to maintain our profits by making changes to the software to suit some of the more emerging markets.
“Although we expect minimal growth this year, we have seen some green shoots in the UK’s construction market and are very excited about the new markets that we are now involved in.”
The company, which sells its software worldwide in 15 languages and also has an office in Canada.
It is now looking to add another 10 staff to its workforce in Sunderland to handle the expected extra work.
