NEWS
Transoft Solutions Completes Acquisition of Keysoft Solutions
Written by: Keysoft Solutions
Transoft Solutions Inc., a global leader in transportation engineering design and analysis software, has just announced the completion of its acquisition of Keysoft Solutions Ltd.
Keysoft Solutions, developers of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software for traffic management and landscape planning and design, has been a close partner and reseller of Transoft Solutions products in the UK since 2005. Keysoft Solutions will continue to operate, manage and support key operations and customers from its head office in Warwickshire, UK. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Keysoft Solutions was formed in 1998 and has since been a major developer of specialised BIM application software including industry standard products such as KeySIGN, KeyLINES, KeySIGNALS and KeySCAPE. Keysoft Solutions’ wide portfolio of products are used daily by traffic, road safety, street lighting, highways maintenance engineering and landscape professionals worldwide.
“Keysoft Solutions has been Transoft Solutions’ UK partner for close to 15 years.” said Milton Carrasco, Transoft Solutions President and CEO. “I am very pleased to welcome, Jeremy Ellis, and all of Keysoft Solutions’ staff to the Transoft family. This acquisition will reinforce our presence in the UK and additionally, give Keysoft Solutions’ customers further access and support to our extensive suite of products. We are committed to ensuring that customer experience and support remains a top priority.”
“Having been so closely associated with Transoft Solutions for over a decade, this announcement represents a strategic fit for both parties, strengthening our shared vision of being a global leader in our field” said Dr Jeremy Ellis, Managing Director of Keysoft Solutions “With a similar culture within our organizations this is a natural fit that allows Keysoft Solutions to be better placed to serve and support our expanding customer base in the future, both in the UK and Worldwide.”
This acquisition is consistent with Transoft Solutions’ global business goals. As well, the new acquisition facilitates Transoft’s mission of providing our combined customers, with access to new innovations that help get their design projects done quickly and confidently.
INCOPRO RAISES $21M FROM HIGHLAND EUROPE TO SCALE ITS IP PROTECTION PLATFORM
London startup INCOPRO has raised $21m from growth equity investor Highland Europe to scale its online brand and IP protection platform.
The company is now looking to expand its team of engineers in China, Wales and London from 20 to 40 and also double headcount across the rest of the business.
Its beefed up engineering team will work on accelerating the development of its Talisman brand protection platform, which uses web crawlers to trawl thousands of sites for copyright infringements.
“The internet revolution has created a massive challenge for businesses seeking to protect their products and brands from counterfeiting and other forms of brand abuse online,” said INCOPRO’s co-founder and CEO Simon Baggs. “Until now, brands have not been offered the tools to effectively deal with this threat.”
The firm lists NBC Universal, BBC Studios and Harley Davidson as clients, and claims it can remove identified infringements within 24 hours and with a 99 per cent success rate.
In addition to its Talisman brand protection platform, the company has also developed an intelligence tool that tracks 17,000 websites, as well as a service that helps brands avoid placing ads beside undesirable content.
As part of the deal, Sam Brooks and Gajan Rajanathan from Highland Europe are joining the Incopro board. The firm has also hired OVH’s Chris Hardy as chief revenue officer. Hardy was previously senior director of EMEA vCloud Air for the cloud provider.
The news came as a Tech Nation report revealed that investment in the UK tech sector was continuing to boom despite the looming threat of Brexit. British firms raised £4.5bn last year, nearly twice as much as the year before, the report showed.
Brooks said he was not concerned about the impact of Brexit on trading, but that it presented recruitment problems. Like many London-based tech firms, INCOPRO has an international staff, including developers from China and multi-lingual analysts. “I think there are some issues around Brexit for talent hiring, but from the business’s point of view in terms of trading I don’t think there is a problem.”
Commenting on the deal, Highland’s Sam Books said in a statement that he believes the scale of the challenge for brand and IP owners is “enormous and growing in complexity”. “We have been impressed by the deep domain expertise that Simon, Bret, Helen and the INCOPRO team have leveraged to build such a compelling platform, protecting the interests of some of the best-known brands globally.”
Tyler grange picks up two prizes
Environmental consultant Tyler Grange has had success recently in two business awards.
In the North East Cheshire Business Awards, the practice’s Wilmslow office won Business of the Year in the category for firms with a turnover of less than £5 million.The judges picked out the enthusiasm and care shown for the practice’s staff, clients and local community.
Then the Stroud office completed the double by taking the Business of the Year prize in the Believe in Gloucester Awards.
Managing partner Simon Ursell said, ‘We’re absolutely delighted to win both awards. It’s wonderful to get the recognition for all the hard work that the partners and our great team put in day after day. We are committed to providing our clients with a great service, our employees with a great place to work, and we strive to make a positive impact on the communities around us. I think that this is why we are being recognised in this way.’
The four partners founded Tyler Grange six years ago, and it now has nearly 50 consultants, working in five offices across the UK.
ELONEX RANKED AS ONE OF BRITAIN’S FASTEST GROWING COMPANIES
Published on Sunday 2nd December 2018, the Fast Track 100 league table ranked Britain’s fastest-growing private companies, based on sales over the last three years.
Elonex is ranked at number 75 in the Fast Track 100, after recording an annual rise in sales of 51.83% over the last three years, with sales hitting £6.7m last year.
Its inclusion in the Fast Track 100 comes after a sustained period of expansion at Elonex, with the DOOH media owner and visual display hardware manufacturer now operating more than 3000 digital advertising screens across the UK and delivering digital display technology to numerous major sports stadiums, entertainment destinations and exhibition venues.
Since its launch 22 years ago, the Fast Track 100 has become the definitive barometer of private company growth in the UK, and this year, as well as Elonex, includes brands such as such as burger restaurant chain Five Guys, brewer BrewDog, sportswear retailer Gymshark and beauty products retailer Charlotte Tilbury Beauty.
The Sunday Times described the companies making the 2018 Fast Track 100 as “resolute, resourceful and ready for anything” and highlighted how those included are “making plans to thrive, not just survive, whatever happens next year (in a reference to Brexit)”.
Sir Richard Branson, founder of Fast Track 100 sponsors Virgin Atlantic, commented in the Sunday Times: “Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of UK business and have always been the beating heart of positive change. In a climate of uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to recognise those entrepreneurs, like those of this year’s Fast Track 100, who are making the world a better place for everybody.”
Nick Smith CEO of Elonex said: “From where we’ve come from, our inclusion in the Fast Track 100 really is big deal for us and reflects the hard work put in by all the team and high level growth we’ve achieved recently. We started out in 2012 with just one digital billboard, and whilst the market we operate in has been flooded with venture capital, as a privately-owned firm we’ve grown organically to rapidly become an out of home media owner of substance. Right now it seems the DOOH sector is continuing to consolidate, but at Elonex we feel we’ve only just got started and have an even more aggressive expansion plan in place for 2019 that will see even greater growth and new opportunities for advertisers.”
To view the full 2018 Fast Track 100 league table, please visit www.fasttrack.co.uk/league-tables/fast-track-100/league-table/
NEW ROLE FOR LORD DIGBY JONES
Former director general of the CBI and government minister Lord Digby Jones has been appointed as the chairman of a Birmingham-based digital display technology firm.
Lord Jones will work with Elonex’s senior management team as the firm continues to strengthen market share in the digital out of home advertising and hardware markets as well as looks to accelerate future expansion plans.
He served as minister of state for UK trade and investment and has held many senior corporate advisory positions at global companies including British Airways, HSBC, Jaguar and BP.
In addition to his new role at Elonex, Lord Jones is currently the non-executive chairman of Triumph Motorcycles, Thatcher’s Cider, ProBuild 360 and On Logistics, chairs the Advisory Board of Argentex and is a non-executive director of Leicester Tigers.
Lord Jones said: “I am thrilled. Elonex CEO Nick Smith’s ideas, achievements and plans really excite me and we share a vision of what success will look like over the next five to 10 years.
“We’re very much on tomorrow’s page where digital display technology is concerned, and growing and developing from a base in Birmingham at the hub of the UK whilst championing businesses large and small.”
Smith added: “It’s a real coup to secure the services of someone with such status in the business arena.
“Digby brings with him a wealth of experience and is well known right across the world of trade and commerce.
“An inspiring figure, Digby joins us at a time of massive expansion and I’m sure he will play a crucial role in shaping the successful future of Elonex.”
COVID 19 – Jhoots Pharmacy Akshay Parikh
Over the last few weeks we have seen an unprecedented change in the way we do business as a result of the COVID-19. Jhoots Pharmacies have been working incredibly hard to serve our communities during this difficult and challenging time, and we will continue to do so in the weeks and months ahead.
This week, as a result of an erroneous internal pricing communication, prices of some items were increased in a small number of our branches. This was rectified immediately in all branches.
We are deeply sorry for this error and recognise that during this difficult period and beyond, the communinty should always have access to the family medicines they need at the correct prices. Our branches are at the heart of the community and have been serving them loyally for decades. We take our responsibilities to our customers and neighbours seriously and can reassure everyone this will never happen again.
Customers who have already purchased an item which has been mis-priced can claim a full refund, and those who are unwell or self-isolating can also contact their local branch to arrange for medicines and other essential items to be delivered to their homes free of charge.
All members of the Jhoots Pharmacy team will continue working closely with the community and our local partners in the weeks ahead and support in any way we can.
Montserrat Corominas Speaks at Eurosforum
Montserrat is a tech entrepreneur, investor, board member and passionate about disruptive cross-segment innovation. She is the founder and CEO of international advisory firm Intergroup Partners, which grows companies through innovation across five key sectors: energy, healthcare, mobility, IoT and industry, and security.
Montserrat’s specialities are developing and growing solutions and businesses, leading complex negotiations and coaching CEOs.
She holds two different advisory board member roles for start-ups in the areas of IoT energy and augmented device wearables for retail, in addition to a role as board member for CEO Collaborative Forum’s (CEO-pan European network) DACH region.
She is a columnist for Inc. Magazine on topics of high tech entrepreneurship and an inspiring keynote speaker at openings contributing to strategies.
Her professional path started in Germany and she has also lived in Asia and Europe working at international sales and business development positions at Bain & Company, Siemens and Nokia Networks.
