Member News
SECURE cloud expert Howell Technology Group (HTG) is on the expansion trail, doubling the size of its premises in a move that will allow it to create at least 20 new jobs in the next year, and accelerate the firm’s bid to reach a £30m turnover in the next five years.
Headquartered on Monkton Business Park in Hebburn and with bases in London, Edinburgh and Belfast, HTG holds Advanced Specialist Gold level partnerships with leading industry names including Microsoft, Citrix and VMware. Its UK client base includes global high profile names such as Goldman Sachs, as well as a range of public and private sector organisations with staff numbers ranging from SME level to 150,000 seats.
HTG will move across from its existing HQ to a two-storey, 5,000 sq ft building, following a full refit. The new premises will see HTG build the region’s first Microsoft Centre of Excellence, designed to attract and develop local talent to its workforce, and support its in-house apprenticeship and graduate schemes.
HTG’s move to new premises was supported by the Growth Fund, a £4.5m programme of investment, part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, and managed by North East business support organisation UMi. Its aim is to support businesses looking to expand or establish new operations in Gateshead, South Tyneside or Sunderland.
Jill Ross, part of the team of project advisers at UMI said: “Here at UMi we are committed to helping businesses expand and thrive, and we are delighted to support HTG via the Growth Fund, which will help them to accelerate growth and create new jobs across the region.”
CEO Kevin Howell said: “This move to a much bigger location comes on the back of a series of contract wins across the UK, thanks to our ability to apply the latest innovative cloud technology to solve business problems for clients in any sector and of any size, all backed up by great customer service.
“Organisations right across the board continue to shift more of their infrastructure to cloud, thanks to its proven ability to support digital business transformation that boosts productivity and improves customer service, and enable the secure remote working that has now become the norm.
“IT has moved from being a business support, to being the essential cornerstone on which every organisation stands, and the global cloud market is expected to be worth $474billion this year. Our top level partnerships with Microsoft and other leading vendors give us a major advantage over our competitors, and we are confident we will achieve our £30m turnover and create a team of 150 staff in line with our business plan.
“We have already made some key appointments to our senior leadership team to help achieve our goals, and our new HQ provides us with the perfect base from which to expand the business, create more jobs here in our heartland, and support our customers in their digital journeys.
“We aim to build on our successful track record, and become the leading cloud provider across a number of sectors. This is a big move and an exciting time in our history.”
