Fast-growing company set to double revenue and staff

A Newcastle based software firm has generated £700,000 in under a year and say they will double turnover by the end of 2013.

Business software specialist, Opencast was established in May 2012 with four members of staff and has now built up to a team of 23.

The rapidly-growing company, based in Hoults Yards in Walker, also expects to generate £4m worth of revenue by the end of 2013.

Opencast specialises in Enterprise Software Services for global businesses and plans to expand operations into the US from its New York office.

By turning its attention the burgeoning US market over the next 12 months, Opencast hopes to extend its contracts with current clients and continue to invest in new staff.

The company will also invest in creating a new business consultancy and Quality Assurance division from its headquarters in Newcastle.

IT services and business consultancy expert Mike O’Brien said Opencast has already exceeded its sales targets for the year and expects to make at least £1.5m worth of new contracts in 2014 and will employ 40 people.

Mr O’Brien, formerly of the world-wide firm Capgemini, says demand will continue for its services throughout 2014.

He said: “I left my job with Capgemini on a Friday last year and on the following Monday I walked into the Kiln building at Hoults Yard armed only with a laptop and my phone.

“Some people would killed for the job I had but I wanted to do things my own way and set up a company in Newcastle.

“I had been responsible for heading up Capgemini’s global relationship with Deutsche Bank and other investment banking clients such as Credit Suisse.

“My family were worried that I was leaving such a high profile job but I knew there was a big demand for our services and I knew some extremely talented people from the North East who were out of work after their employers fell on hard economic times.

“The larger Enterprise Software Service companies out there can’t react as quickly as we do and their business models need you to commit to very long term and rigid contracts - we’re far more flexible.”

“We’re a genuine partnership organisation which understands what a company’s problem is and we work very closely with them to resolve the issue.

“We fix broken projects and don’t rely on cheaper overseas workers or young graduates to get the job done.”

Opencast delivers project and programme management and currently runs projects with major players in the insurance, banking and health sectors.

Its team of software specialist all come from the region and the organisation has developed a strong reputation for managing and optimising enterprise systems, operating models and outsource agreements.

Mr O’Brien said: “Hoults is an extremely creative environment.

“There is a definite buzz here and it’s good to work alongside other businesses who match our work ethic and pride themselves on working with high profile international clients.

“We live in harsh economic times but business here is thriving and it’s a pleasure to be part of it and see it develop.

“Being here inspires my staff to do achieve more and to raise the bar. It’s an attractive place to be and our clients love the tours we give them.

“Charlie Hoult is actually a partner in Opencast and co-founded the company.

“He brings a strong entrepreneurial perspective to our operations here and takes pride in seeing businesses in the yard develop and flourish.”