After 30 years in business and 18 months on from a management buyout, Bath IT services business IPL wants to shake off its ‘best kept secret in software’ tag. Christian Annesley met chief executive Shaun Davey.
Not so long ago IT wasn’t concerned with the security threat posed by phishing or by staff wielding memory sticks; its currency was not data centres, laptops and iPhones; and nobody had heard of the worldwide web or the IBM-compatible PC. Technology marched to a different beat: punch cards and paper tape were still in service and the Commodore PET was the last word in personal computing.
And when was this technological stone age? 1979, no less. The year that Margaret Thatcher entered Number 10 armed with a bristling new broom; and the year that IPL, the Bath IT services business, got going.
Shaun Davey, IPL’s chief executive, is proud the business has survived and thrived in the cauldron of technological change, but is more concerned these days with the future.
“It’s only a year-and-a-half since the company completed a management buyout, and we are busy delivering on some big targets that were identified before the deal,” he says.
Chief among these, says Davey, is to grow the business in areas where some of its larger competitors have a track record. “We have always been a consultancy, but more of a technical than a business one. It might sound a subtle distinction but it’s an important one,” he says. “Our business consulting practice offers services such as business analysis and process modelling, and specialises in tackling information management in the broadest sense, focusing on data lineage, governance and quality issues.
“In other words, it’s about thought leadership: us understanding the relationship between the organisation, its data and its priorities to be able to deliver a future plan. That’s a different approach to delivering on a specific technical project.”
Having said that, IPL’s projects are usually big. Clients include central government agencies (half of its work comes from the public sector) and multinationals including BP, EADS and Sony. Its software controls in real-time the pre-pay balances of more than five million subscribers to a UK mobile operator and looks after the safetycritical aspects of in-flight refuelling systems in use by several air forces. It has also developed a corporate data warehouse and management information system covering 130 countries and 31 manufacturing sites for a global manufacturer.
Davey, though, says the business can’t rest on its laurels at a time when many customers are proceeding more cautiously with IT programmes. It means that IPL needs to grow its small pool of satisfied customers and develop new relationships.
“We’ve been known at times as the best-kept secret in the software industry because of our small client base. But we are trying to spread ourselves further,” says Davey. “The bigger the spread of businesses we serve, the smaller the risk to us if any single customer scales back their plans.”
With its headquarters and a second office in Bath, Davey says IPL’s expansion probably needs a new office nearer to London to give it easier access to the big businesses and government operations in the capital.
“The majority of our work is within a 100-mile radius of Bath,” he says. “Covering London better makes a lot of sense and we are looking at it.”
But growing the company should not come at any cost: “There is pressure on price in all businesses, but it’s important that we win business at the right price. We won’t ever take on work for the sake of it.”
Above all else, Davey is aware that the profitability and success of IPL derives from the expertise it offers customers. “IPL is a people business. We have no real assets other than our staff, and it’s a truism that the value in IPL walks out through the door at 5pm every day – or later.
“We have 260-odd working for us. Most of them have been trained extensively within the business. Our junior recruitment comes from the excellent universities in Bath and Bristol, as well as those further afield with strengths in computer science, systems engineering and maths, such as the University of Warwick.”
IPL takes on between 15 and 20 graduates every year, and Davey says a strong staff development culture ensures that a high proportion of that intake stays. “IT has often had high staff turnover, but for us holding on to our people is a priority – less than 10 per cent leaving annually is the norm,” he says. “We know how important it is to the success of the business.”
But what about Bath? If IPL were to open in or near London, would that drive too much change in a business that draws so much strength from continuity? “I don’t believe so. And IPL is totally committed to Bath and to the West. It’s communications are good, with the M4 near and a good rail link to London. It has always been a good draw when recruiting,” says Davey.
His words are backed up by IPL’s recent deeds, too. It has signed up as the sponsor of Bath Rugby for the 2009/10 season. He says: “The biggest barrier to growing the business is getting in front of people,” says Davey. “Sponsoring Bath Rugby is a great way for IPL to raise its profile locally and nationally, and to give something back to the community. It’s not an act of altruism: as an investment, it is a excellent, cost-effective means of spreading the word.”
It sounds suspiciously like IPL plans to be around in another 30 years, whatever technologies are waiting around the corner.
Also in: December 2009
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