ECom eyes expansion on back of software deal with Scottish Water

Published on Sunday 13 April 2008 21:14

A FIFE-based e-learning specialist is confident that it can quadruple its turnover to £2 million over the next two to three years as it taps into the water and power utilities market.

ECom Scotland has been working with colleges, universities and qualification bodies since it was set up 12 years ago as a spin-out company from Lauder College in Dunfermline.

Now, the firm is launching an assault on the corporate online learning market, having struck a deal with the utility Scottish Water.

Initially deployed as a pilot scheme, ECom's Skills Locker has been rolled out across thousands of employees.

The software allows Scottish Water to assess the skills of teams and individuals, ranging from apprentices to management.

Staff can chart and manage their own skills and complete assessments from their workstations.

Linda Steedman, ECom's managing director, said the company, which has a turnover of about 500,000, was keen to gain a foothold south of the Border where it already has interest from "big players" in the utilities sector.

She said: "What we had was useful for education, but utilities is a completely different market.

"In the last seven or eight months, we have been working with Scottish Water to fine-tune a skills-management system.

"The utilities market would give us an opportunity to grow quite dramatically and put into practice all of the research and development we have been doing over the years.

"We are looking to double (turnover] over the next year and then hopefully double again the following year."

The firm – a survivor of the dotcom slump – currently supports 15 people, including 12 full-time staff. That headcount is likely to rise to about 20 as the roll-out gathers pace.

Paul Campbell, skills development manager at Scottish Water, said: "Skills Locker enables Scottish Water to keep on top.

"As a manager, I can quickly check which team member is competent to work at a particular site and actually demonstrate this."