EDDIE Chance is clearly a man who relishes a challenge. The former Scottish head of US software giant Oracle is only just in the door at IT services provider Adventi and already he is talking about doubling the size of the business.
Chance took up the post of chief executive at the Bellshill-based business at the start of July. It was a surprise in which he replaced John McAleenan, who joined Adventi in 2005 when it acquired Apple supplier Scotsys, where McAleenan had been manag
ing director.
Since that deal, Adventi has hit the acquisition trail again, restructured the Scotsys operation by pulling out of the high street – it closed its Glasgow Apple store and sold on its Edinburgh outlet – and, most recently, unveiled a new management structure.
Founder and strategy director Graham Bucknall has stepped down from his executive position on the board (he stays on in a non-executive capacity), and William Edwards, a former financial controller at the UK arm of US tech outfit Saic, has been named chief financial officer.
So it is "all change" at a business that last year turned over £17 million and has more than 60 staff.
Chance admits that times are testing as credit-crunched companies rein in spending on IT.
Revenues are likely to be pretty static in the current financial year, but Adventi's new chief exec is pleased at the progress since his arrival.
"There is a clear focus to improve our margin," he says. "In the last couple of months we've seen five to seven points of margin improvement on the types of work we are doing."
While the board, which is chaired by investment angel Peter Shakeshaft, is busy finalising the business plan for the year ahead, Chance already has an ambitious remit.
"The goal I've agreed with the board is to at least double the revenue and double the profits within the next three years.
"We also have clear aspirations to branch out of Scotland and already have some people in England and Ireland.
"One question at the back of my mind is how transportable the Scotsys brand is if you're trying to do business outside of Scotland."
With a branding organisation on board running the rule over every facet of the business, it appears possible that a name change is in the offing.
Chance will not be drawn on whether the Adventi group name will be ditched or not, arguing that it is important to understand the "equity value" of each of the trading brands.
"Clearly there is a Scotsys recognition, there is some Adventi recognition and some people know us from our Integral Arm element," he says.
That last name fell under the Adventi fold last year, following several months of takeover talks. The undisclosed cash and shares acquisition signalled the Lanarkshire group's commitment to expanding its UK-wide coverage and boosted capability in delivering major projects across both public and private sectors. Integral Arm provides support and consulting services and has partnered with the likes of Microsoft, Cisco Systems and O2.
Chance, 41, highlights professional services as a key growth side of the business, allowing the firm to establish its own intellectual property (IP).
The company manages the IT infrastructor for "about 500 clients", Chance says. "This can go right up to companies who effectively outsource their entire IT system. The firm is already managing infrastructure for some clients that are not in the UK. My aspiration is to take the business into the upper-mid size and the enterprise space in terms of providing these services.
"We are in the process of developing our own IP, but will continue to resell."
Despite Scotsys pulling back from the retail side of Apple, the operation still enjoys a "strong relationship" with the iconic US computer maker, pitching its wares at the corporate and educational markets.
Parent Adventi also has a "very supportive shareholder base" through Archangel, the Edinburgh investment syndicate, and the private equity funds that have come into the business.
Chance may consider a move to raise fresh finance as the company embarks on its three-year growth plan.
"It's not something we are ruling out," he says. "The business is pretty small at the moment but we've clear aspirations to be much bigger.
"We have gone through a couple of acquisitions and need to get that lot integrated and have a clear focus on where that business is heading."
The former Oracle "country leader" feels he is well qualified to move Adventi onto the next level, although he confesses his new appointment is "a little bit of a change from the world that I was in before".
Chance, who is married with two children, effectively wore two hats at his former employer – one marked country leader Scotland and the other area vice-president, technology sales business unit, Scotland and north of England (pause for breath).
He worked his way up to such dizzy heights through a near 20-year career at Oracle.
"When the opportunity came along at Adventi it was absolutely right for me," reflects Chance, who is also a council member of CBI Scotland and chair of industry body ScotlandIS.
"At one stage I used to run a major part of Oracle's financial services business unit. I did the weekly commute from Edinburgh to London for about three years and during that time went back to university and did a diploma in international business, then followed that up with an executive MBA.
"Having the opportunity to take all of that learning and apply it to a role where I was acting as the chief executive was a tremendous challenge for me, and one I'm already enjoying greatly."
PROFILE• CHIEF executive of Bellshill-based IT hardware and services provider Adventi Group
• Previously head of Scotland for US software giant Oracle, a firm he joined in 1989.
&149 Born 1967; Aged 41
• Married with two children – one girl, one boy
&149 Qualifications: BSc Information Systems, Glasgow Caledonian University; Post-graduate Diploma in international business, University of Edinburgh school of management; Executive MBA, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees.
• Non-exec directorships: Chairman of industry body ScotlandIS, council member, CBI Scotland.
The full article contains 1044 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
