IN this week’s SME Focus we hear from a veteran of the Royal Navy who has found the risks he took in starting his own business in civilian life have paid off.

Name:

Tom Morton.

Age:

52.

What is your business called?

Communicare247.

Where is it based?

Our head office is in central Glasgow and our alarm receiving centre operates 24 hours from Sandbank near Dunoon, Argyll.

What does it produce, what services does it offer?

Intelligent digital systems that use a mixture of software, smartphone apps and GPS devices to safeguard victims of crime, reassure and manage lone mobile workers, and support individuals receiving care at home.

These systems safeguard some of the most vulnerable members of our society and support those owing a duty of care to them.

They are built around a secure multi-media platform called Archangel that shares information across multiple devices and systems to provide the basis for integrated health and care services.

To whom does it sell?

The company has customers in both the public and private sectors with a mix of service providers and charities across the UK. These include the police, O2, Capita, Rethink and Marie Curie. We have around 180 customers with 20,000 end users.

What is its turnover?

Around £1 million per year from a mix of short and long term contracts.

How many employees?

14 across the two locations.

When was it formed?

1998.

Why did you take the plunge?

After a visit to a telecare monitoring station I felt I saw an opportunity to apply the knowledge and experience I gained within the space and defence sectors to provide a robust and efficient personal security service for people in potentially vulnerable situations.

I believed digital home care systems could offer more capacity and flexibility than those that relied on traditional analogue telephone communications networks.

Initially I partnered with a 24 hour contact centre and a software vendor to develop the solution, and I supplied a lone worker service to some existing NHS customers. Gradually, with a growing customer base, I began to build my own team and to develop software in-house. I developed my own 24 hour alarm monitoring centre in 2009.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I served as an electronics engineer in the Royal Navy. My job in electronic warfare was to maintain the equipment used for finding other ships and potential threats, and to ensure the secure transfer of accurate information between multiple ships and decision makers. So I knew that the reliable transfer of information was essential to help keep people safe.

People receiving care at home rely on the provider’s ability to share information with others, including other providers, next of kin and health professionals.

After leaving the Navy, I worked within the space industry on a European Space Agency project, ERS_1. This required me to commission the UK space sector ground station at West Freugh in Galloway.

I then entered the mobile phone industry, so I have a good understanding of digital technologies and their capability to improve lives.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

The company is completely self-funded and has no outside investors. However, it has gratefully received significant grant and loan finance along the way. A £250,000 small firms’ loan in 2004 enabled us to upgrade our servers to cope with scale. A £1,500,000 package of land, professional services, and loans from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Argyll and Bute Council helped facilitate the construction and commissioning of our Alarm Receiving Centre in 2009.

What was your biggest break?

I have enjoyed several significant moments, including winning large scale contracts with Capita and signing partnership agreements with Telefonica. But I still think the biggest break was when my wife gave me her confidence to start the company! Taking a huge gamble with your family’s future should never be underestimated.

What was your worst moment?

After investing £1.5m into the construction of a state-of-the-art digital Alarm Receiving Centre to service a potential contract, I can still recall the moment when we lost out to a competitor. A few short months later we entered the longest economic slump in UK history.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

I love developing technology to solve real-world problems and the fact that we make a positive difference to people’s lives.

What do you least enjoy?

Paperwork and bureaucracy!

What are your ambitions for the firm?

I would like to see Communicare247 become the backbone for digitally-driven integrated care, where our technology and products are helping people live more independent lives.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

Governments need to recognise that the real innovations are in the majority driven by entrepreneurial SMEs. They need to accept a responsibility to nurture and grow these businesses to ensure that there is a constantly refreshed source of innovative ideas from which to drive economic and social development.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

One man is not an island. A business needs to build a trusted team if it is to grow.

How do you relax?

I like to do distance walking with my dog, and I sing. I've walked Hadrian’s Wall, the Great Glen, and Glencoe is my favourite climb. I’m always out with my chocolate labrador 'Tilly' around the local Cowal hills. I am also a tenor and sing a mix of opera, jazz and west end musicals. If anyone hears somebody singing Donizetti, Matt Monro or Buble while out around the glens they should say hello!