Member Article

Expansion drives move to new offices for Seriös Group

HUGE expansion and the introduction of a new hybrid model of working have led to a successful data analytics, integration and testing consultancy moving to a new workspace.

Seriös Group, a Newcastle-based consultancy was established in February 2020, just before the first Covid lockdown, and works across a range of sectors.

The company started with a team of five, took on its first permanent hire in April 2021, now employees 42 people – and is still looking for new recruits.

“We’ve seen quite spectacular growth and earlier this year realised we needed more space. At the same time, we recognised that a more hybrid way of working would be more appropriate for the way we work,” explained Seriös Group’s Operations Director and co-founder Paul Davison.

“We’ve also added two new directors to our growing team - Sales Director Chris Stavers and Service Delivery Director Mark Fishwick – so the time seemed right to move and introduce a new way of working,” he added.

The company chose Hoults Yard as its new home, where it will introduce a fresh, more flexible and collaborative way of working helped by Robin software which plans workspace usage.

“We can’t wait to get into our new studio space and to see the effects of introducing our new hybrid model of working. We wanted to make it easier for our teams to collaborate so the model is based on teams coming into work together, rather than just on an ad hoc basis.

“We chose Hoults Yard as it had everything we were looking for – a great workspace, lots of parking and the flexibility for us to grow further. The yard also fits with our image as a boutique consultancy and we wanted somewhere a bit different which had a bit of history,” said Paul.

Seriös Group was co-founded by three friends – Paul, CEO Lee Rorison and Service Delivery Director David Milnes.

“We met while working as freelance contractors on a project in 2005, kept in touch and became friends. Lee came up with the concept and we realised how well we worked together – David and I have backgrounds in testing and test management while Lee’s background is in data – so we’re a good fit,” explained Paul.

Success and business growth quickly followed – in Seriös Group’s second year it recorded turnover of £1.42m, double that of its first year. Turnover is expected to double again in 2022/23.

“Clients like the way we work – our name reflects the fact that we take our work very seriously, we’re reputable and reliable, but we also like to enjoy what we do and I think our clients appreciate that too,” said Paul.

“They appreciate our ability to deliver bespoke, innovative and quality solutions and the way in which we can integrate, analyse and present IoT and enterprise data,” he added.

All three co-founders have experience delivering projects for blue-chip companies and the company counts large facilities management, real estate and technology companies among its corporate clients. It is also working with sports brands, including SAFC and Newcastle Eagles.

The majority of clients are based in the UK, although the company works on projects for global corporations around the world. As well as its Tyneside HQ, Seriös Group also has a flexible working presence in Glasgow.

Despite its recent growth, Paul said the company’s recruitment drive is continuing: “We have a talented team of senior consultants, consultants, product owners, graduates and apprentices and we’re still on the look out for the right people to join us.

“We’re expecting our headcount to be close to 80 by the end of next year,” he added.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hoults Yard .