Access boss on doubling revenues in 18 months, plans for the future and attracting local talent
AMBITIONS ARE SET OUT AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF HQ
ONE of the men behind a tech unicorn valued at about £3 billion says he expects it to overtake Sage Group as the UK’s biggest software company within two years.
Access Group chief sales officer Jon Jorgensen said it was well on the way to becoming the biggest software company in the UK, having acquired 18 smaller businesses last year – and it is on track to take on a similar number this year.
The business is in the process of recruiting 500 more staff, and has seen revenues rise 50 per cent in the past year to about £500 million.
The term “unicorn” is used in the venture capital industry to describe a privately held start-up company with a value of over US $1 billion.
At the official opening of the group’s new global headquarters in Loughborough, Mr Jorgensen said they were already contemplating building a second block next door to make room for further growth.
He said: “We will soon be the biggest UK-headquartered software company, overtaking Sage by revenue. It is my ambition to do that within 18 months.
“We are basically doubling the size of our company every two years, and that includes organic growth of 20 per cent.
“If that’s the case you know you are doing the right thing with the acquisitions you’re making.
“We are now the UK’s largest provider of HR and payroll solutions. We were valued at £3 billion in October last year, compared to a value of £1 billion in 2018. We are high growth, high value.”
The biggest recent acquisition was of Sage Group’s local businesses in Australia and Asia, continuing Access’ focus on the Asia Pacific region as a centre of growth.
Founded in 1991, Access Group provides software services to mid-market businesses in sectors such as hospitality, not-for-profit, supply chain, recruitment, health and social care
In 2011, Mr Jorgensen was part of a management buy-out, which was followed by two rounds of private equity investment.
He now owns the second biggest private stake in the business after chief executive Chris Bayne, and said there are also around 2,000 shareholders from within the company’s own ranks.
Today the group employs 4,680 people – up from 850 in 2015 – and since June it has added another 108 graduates and apprentices to the payroll.
Mr Jorgensen – a finalist in the recent LeicestershireLive Business Executive of the Year Awards – said there were no plans to float the business because the current set-up fits the operation well.
He said: “We like being privately owned because we have a lot more control and can do the right thing for our customers.
“We’re not beholden to a three-monthly review with investors who might not be as aligned to our business as we’d like.
“The way we operate we can be more visionary and innovative and can be agile and quick about it. We don’t have to worry about the share price or the sentiments that hamper a lot of PLCs.
“When we first got involved with private equity investors in 2011 we were turning over £24 million and now it’s £500 million, and we are supporting more than 4,500 salaries and mortgages.”
‘ATTRACTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE’
The new HQ has brought together teams from offices in areas including Loughborough, the nearby village of Lockington, and Leicester.
The £20 million building was built by Leicestershire County Council in partnership with the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park, and it is believed to have been the biggest single-occupier deal in the county in a century.
Mr Jorgensen said the new base was perfectly situated to attract the brightest young recruits from the region and its universities.
He said: “It was down to the council and the university to work together to make the vision a reality.
“Through our lease we are putting something like £5 million a year back into the council to spend on frontline services.
“I think our coming here has been a shot in the arm for Loughborough because of the businesses that have come and gone over the years.
“The reason for having this office is to attract the right people to enable further growth. Our ambition now is to have another office next door. It’s been a five-year exercise to get this far, so that could take another five or 10 years.
“I would like to see it be a mirror image of what’s happened here, with a glass bridge between the two buildings – something like the Microsoft campus.
“We are trying to hook graduates, not just from Loughborough, but from universities in Derby, Nottingham and Birmingham.”
More than 300 graduates and apprentices have joined in the past two years.
“It’s about retaining talent in the East Midlands, and helping the region retaining its top talent, which in turn feeds the local economy,” he added.
“Loughborough itself is going to benefit from having people like us living here and spending our money in its pubs and restaurants.”
About a third of the Access Group’s workforce is overseas, in places such as Timisoara in Romania, as well as Australia and other parts of the Asia Pacific region.
The new 109,000 sq ft Loughborough headquarters is home to about 570 of the company’s global workforce, with room for another 400 as the business expands.
The reason for having this office is to attract the right people to enable further growth
Jon Jorgensen, Access group