‘Astonishing’ year for city tech firm

The boss of Dundee app developer Waracle has hailed an “astonishing” year for the company as its sales rocketed.

The business saw its sales increase by nearly £12 million despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Waracle works with some of the UK’s largest businesses across sectors including fintech, digital health and energy.

It supports cutting-edge technologies such as the internet of things, augmented reality and voice recognition.

Chief executive Chris Martin has been delighted with the firm’s success.

Last summer, he said Waracle was targeting an “epic” 12 months and wanted to bring in more than 100 staff.

That number has been surpassed, with about 130 new employees joining the business.

Newly published accounts show the firm’s turnover at £26.1m for the year to December 2021.

That’s an increase of £11.8m from its 2020 figure of £14.2m.

Mr Martin said: “It was just astonishing what we managed to do in the pandemic. The effort and commitment from people was unbelievable.

“It was difficult to start new business, so the boom in numbers was predominantly down to a growth in business with existing customers.”

Earlier this year, Waracle donated laptops to help Ukrainian children who fled to Poland continue to study.

He said the pandemic, while challenging, had given the firm some new opportunities.

“Covid was a challenge, but in some ways it has made things easier in terms of recruitment,” he said.

“Working from home helped us recruit from other cities.

“Up to the pandemic, the company had been strongly cultured around the Dundee office, but the equalisation of the playing field actually made the company better balanced.”

The accounts show the average monthly number of employees jumped to 160 last year, up from 110 in 2020. As a result, its wage bill rose by more than £3m to £8.5m for the reporting period.

More jobs are currently being advertised with the company.

Waracle, which also has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, also saw pre-tax profits increase to £3m from £1.8m in 2020.

Its headquarters are on Bash Street in Dundee, and employees have returned to a hybrid working model post-pandemic.

“We’re trying to work out what’s the right thing to do,” Mr Martin said.

“The developers and tech people seem less interested in having an office than the sales and marketing team.

“We think that is to be a remote-first company with as much in-person contact as you need.”

In his strategic report, published alongside the accounts, chairman Martin Burke said the firm will continue to invest.

“We enjoy a strong position in our existing markets and believe that our ambitions and objectives can be further accelerated through a sustainable growth strategy,” he said.

“This will see further investment across all areas of the business through 2022, as we seek to extend our client base and strengthen our geographic reach across the UK.”

DELIGHTED: Chris Martin, chief executive of Waracle which has seen its sales increase by nearly £12 million.