Dufrain to take on more staff as demand surges

Gilmartin: adding new clients from pharmaceutical, oil and gas sectors

The firm expects to hire 50 analysts, project managers and other high-end professionals within the next six months, adding to its existing staff of 85 in Edinburgh and London. New offices are planned in Manchester and Dublin.

Headed by co-founders Michael Gilmartin and Stephen Henry, Dufrain began trading in 2010 by helping banks merge data from disparate systems into a single port of call. About two-thirds of its business is generated from the financial sector, where increasing regulatory requirements are forcing better processing of data from multiple sources such as credit card, savings and loan histories.

Turnover during the 12 months to the end of May reached £4.2 million, and is expected to jump by more than 80 per cent in the current year to just shy of £8m. Gilmartin, the firm’s managing director, said banks still dominate the client roster, but Dufrain is also moving into new sectors.

“We have been adding clients from the pharmaceutical sector, oil and gas, and universities as well,” he said. “All of these organisations have loads of information, but are not able to use it effectively.”

Launched in the grip of the recession, Dufrain faced some “challenging moments” in its early days but also benefited from the ensuing clampdown by financial regulators.

Gilmartin said: “Regulatory requirements are increasing across all industries, and even smaller organisations need to ensure the information they are providing is complete and accurate.”

The company is on the verge of opening an office in Manchester, where it already employs eight people and expects to add a further 20 within the next year. An office in Dublin is due to follow.

Expansion to date has been organic, but acquisitions are a possibility in the future, said Gilmartin, adding: “It is all about growth. We started as two people with an idea and have quickly expanded into a profitable business from there.”