News / Highlander - Up from London for a better life in...
Highlander - Up from London for a better life in York!
Friday 27th May 2005
Award winning IT training and consultancy company Highlander Plc has chosen York for their new company headquarters, having recently moved to York Science Park. The 10 year old company decided to ditch their dockland office in central London to relocate to York.
Highlander, which has an annual turnover of £2 million boasts an impressive list of household names amongst its clients, including Lloyds Bank, Orange, Aggregate Industries, the BBC and BSkyB. The company currently has a team of over forty IT specialists providing IT solutions for businesses throughout the UK.
Talking about the relocation of Highlander from London to York, founder and MD Andy Gardiner said: "There are geographical as well as financial benefits in moving to York. Business rents and rates are cheaper, but we are also better placed to serve the Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester areas. York also has very good networking groups within the city, and good support for newcomers, particularly in IT,'' says Andy.
"We are planning to expand here within the next few months, and the calibre of applicants is looking very good.''
"On the personal side, York's a great place for families, the countryside is stunning, the schools are very good and there is less variation in the quality of good, affordable housing.''
Highlander has enjoyed considerable success in recent years. Last year the training branch of the company received a prestigious international award from U.S. company Macromedia for European Training Partner of the Year, 2004. Highlander also provides training in other software such as Adobe, Sun Microsystems, Web Trends, PHP and My SQL.
Expanding Business
According to Andy, one of the fastest growing areas for the company is currently in online marketing of company websites.
"When I recently asked a room full of IT and Digital companies in York whether they advertised on the internet, just a few hands went up. But when I asked how many people used the internet to source products, virtually the whole room put their hands up. This is just one example of the untapped potential that Highlander are finding in the world of Website Consultancy,'' said Andy.
"The fact is that on the internet, everyone's advertisement is pretty much the same size, so it's a great leveller - micro companies can gain as much profile as household names on the web.''
As part of their website management services Highlander helps keep company websites at the top of lists produced by search engines. In addition, the company offers a wide range of software solutions, including products from Adobe, Ipswitch, Macromedia, IMLogic, and Web Trends. They also offer solutions for online applications such as Customer Relationship Management.
"We are really pleased that Highlander decided to move their business to York from London" said Adam Purser, Marketing Director of york-england.com, the Inward Investment Agency for York and North Yorkshire. "They are just the sort of company that we are targeting. Its good to see people getting the message about the quality of life, skills availability, and lower costs relative to London that we can offer in North Yorkshire.''
Anna Rooke, Manager, Science City York commented: "We are delighted that a well-established company such as Highlander has chosen York as its base. They have quickly settled in and we glad to see they are benefiting from becoming a part of our growing IT & Digital community, as well as finding York is a great place to serve their northern customers."
Susanne Walker, Managing Director, York Science Park said: "We welcome Highlander to the IT Centre and look forward to the working with Andy and his team supporting them and their business in every way we can."
