Pure Data eyes acquisitions in aim to double turnover

AN IT reseller is preparing for further growth, having reached more than £14m turnover in just seven years.
Stephen O'Brien, chief executive, Pure DataStephen O'Brien, chief executive, Pure Data
Stephen O'Brien, chief executive, Pure Data

Pure Data, based in Farsley, is expected to record turnover of around £20m in its current financial year after acquiring IT services provider Servatech in July 2014.

The firm initially launched as a IT reseller in 2007, focusing on supplying equipment.

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With the addition of Wakefield-based Servatech, which had turnover of £3.5m, Pure Data has expanded its offering to include managed services and doubled its headcount.

The business is now looking for further opportunities to grow as part of its strategy to reach £30m.

Chief executive Stephen O’Brien told The Yorkshire Post that the business hopes to expand further by adding another acquisition within the year.

He said: “This business is continually evolving: every day, every week, every month, every year.

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“What we look like today, we’ll look completely different in a couple of months’ time.

“It’s exciting to think of where we’ll be in a year’s time. I would have thought we’d have another acquisition under our belt by then.”

Despite being only a year old when the financial crisis of 2008 hit, Pure Data continued to grow, thanks to its diversified business model.

In its first three years, it rose to £4.2m turnover, despite a turbulent economic environment.

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Mr O’Brien said: “We set this company up mid-2007, within a year the world went pop. It was 2008, when nobody had any money and everybody was cutting back on everything. But we never experienced that.

“When I set the company up, it was always about not exposing ourselves to one particular marketplace.

“We’ve got a client list that is across many sectors, across many markets - public sector and private sector - so we’re not vulnerable and exposed to any particular market. We were selling to lots of different organisations of lots of different shapes and sizes.”

Pure Data primarily sells into medium to large-sized organisations in both the private and public sector across the UK.

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Expanding into managed services is a response to the direction of customers and the industry, Mr O’Brien said.

“It has been obvious where this world has been going for a long time, it’s to a more service, contractual-led business,” he said.

Adding Servatech to the business was key to acquiring the skills and expertise needed to offer managed services and cloud technology to customers.

Pure Data has also expanded its executive capability and brought in sales directors to target c-suite level customers within the last six months.

People are key to the company’s success, Mr O’Brien said.

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“We have a loyal, dedicated workforce that have been with us for a long time,” he said.

“We have some really strong values in the business which we set from day one. We created this environment and culture that’s a sense of family, not just within the business but externally with customers as well.”

Transparency and collective responsibility is central to the business’ ethos, as is rewarding good work and injecting some fun into an industry that is often thought of as “not very exciting”.

As a result of this approach, the business has high levels of retention in both its staff - nicknamed “the Purists”.

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The business is now focusing on investment in technology and people as it looks to grow further.

“We have set our stall out to put some solid foundations down for Pure Data.

“We’ll then reinvest in infrastructure and people and anything we need to get this business to £30m,” Mr O’Brien added.

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