TECHNOLOGICAL solutions company Academia is celebrating after being named as one of the
fastest-growing firms in the country.
The leading supplier of software, hardware and training to the education, non-profit and commercial
sectors has been nominated for The Sunday Times Fast Track 100 – a league table which ranks
Britain’s fastest-growing private companies, based on sales growth over three years.The boost
comes after the Enfield-based company announced a record annual turnover in excess of
£10m – smashing its growth target by three years.
Managing Director Mike Bacon said: “We have grown 62% since we set up in 2003. Our target then was to hit £10m turnover in 10 years, but we’ve achieved that goal three years early.”
The company, which recently landed a £1.4m four-year deal to supply Apple products to the University of Nottingham, hit the £10m milestone on May 26. To mark the achievement, the company is taking every member of staff on a break to Barcelona.
But, despite being three years ahead of schedule, there will be no let-up as Academia looks to continue growing by taking on more staff and potentially moving to a bigger site next year.
Mike said: “We forecast growth year on year and next year hope to grow by 30% - we’ve never failed to smash a growth target.
“Our next big one will be to turnover £20m, we hope to do that within four years. I don’t want to sound blasé because it’s still a massive target but one that I believe is achievable.
“We got here with enthusiasm, energy and hard work and that’s what we need to keep on growing.”
The nomination is the latest achievement for Academia after it celebrated a hat-trick of successes at the Adobe awards in March, scooping the Adobe Channel Partner of the Year, Adobe Education Reseller of the Year and Adobe Creative Suite Reseller of the Year.
Mike puts the firm’s success down to a customer-focused approach to business.
He said: “We’ve got a great, proactive management team at Academia. We’re the new kids on the block in the educational sector and are up against some very established competitors who have been winning contracts for more than 20 years.
“I think we’ve upset the apple cart in many ways, but our biggest strength is that we go out and see our customers to demonstrate the products, answer their questions and advise them on their exact needs.
“We enjoy a lot of repeat business because of our high level of customer service. We look after our customers and are always competitively priced. We don’t get greedy because we want to build long-term relationships with schools and colleges.”