TWO Scottish tech companies based in Glasgow and Edinburgh have joined forces, creating a new £2 million turnover business.
Glasgow-based SwarmOnline, which makes mobile apps for clients including E.on, ScottishPower and Aberdeen-based satellite positioning specialist Veripos, has acquired Edinburgh-based Open Platform, which was set up in 1996 and builds websites and digital tools for clients including Shell and Scottish Widows.
“The rationale is that Open Platform have Shell as their number one customer and we want to expand into the oil and gas market,” explained SwarmOnline founder and managing director Andrew Duncan. “They also work a lot in the financial services industry with companies like Aegon, Standard Life and Scottish Widows – and we want to expand in that market because it’s something that Swarm doesn’t do a lot of currently.”
The enlarged business will have 21 staff, a number it hopes to increase to 25 over the next year. Mr Duncan, who was winner of The Herald’s 2015 Digital Professional of the Year, said the two teams had similar but slightly different skills, so would be able to offer clients complementary services.
“For example, Open Platform don’t do mobile apps, so now we can offer their clients mobile apps aswell.”
The two companies were introduced by a mutual business colleague, and saw the deal as a way to bring new skills into their businesses without having to hire staff.
Mr Duncan said demand from clients was very high.
“We can’t supply all our customers with all the needs they have at the moment and it’s growing,” he said.
The move was announced during a visit to the company by Keith Brown MSP, cabinet secretary for infrastructure, investment and cities.
He said: “Scotland’s digital economy is growing fast, with huge opportunities available to innovative for ambitious technology companies such as SwarmOnline.”
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