Jobs boost as tech firm comes to Telford

London-based Global Minds Limited (GML) has moved its headquarters to Bishton Court in Telford, and is now planning to almost double its workforce to 70 people by the end of 2022.

A dozen jobs have already been created since the company moved to Telford, where GML has established a software centre of excellence for cloud computing. The executive director said Telford could rediscover the "spectacular glory" of its past as the "birthplace of manufacturing".

Telford & Wrekin Council’s inward investment team has worked closely with the company on its move, which coincides with the Tech Telford initiative launched this year to build on the borough’s growing reputation as a centre for hi-tech companies.

The Enterprise Telford Inward Investment team supported the process, providing guidance on funding, assisting in the search for premises, enabling the set-up of the lease for the Bishton Court offices and recruitment of apprentices, as well as maintaining communication and support during the Covid-19 pandemic.

GML has also been supported by the council’s team in its successful efforts to secure a Business Growth Programme (BGP) grant for a £100,000 project.

The company was set up in 2010 by Shashank Angadi and Sachin Jayashekhar after they quit their jobs in NASDAQ-listed software company Oracle. After steady growth to 15 staff by early 2018 the company has now expanded to33 permanent employees and a turnover of £5 million, with further plans to grow to 70 staff by the end of 2022.

Growth

Councillor David Wright, Telford & Wrekin’s cabinet member for economy, housing, transport and infrastructure, said: “We have a rapidly growing reputation for the quality of our digital and hi-tech infrastructure and for the innovative, pioneering work of many of our businesses. Our Tech Telford initiative will be showcasing Telford as a growth area for technology.

“We are delighted to add Global Minds to the mix and to have been able to offer them such a wide range of support through our Enterprise Telford business support team, who will continue to work with GML and support other tech companies across the borough.”

Hema Kumar, the executive director of the company, said: “We are extremely grateful to Enterprise Telford for all their guidance, support and for positively helping us throughout the process.

"The relocation event is a step-change in our company’s growth story. As a result we exceeded our targets in new job creation, created 12 new permanent high-skilled jobs in Telford in less than a year. There is also a 20 per cent increase in revenue, mostly due to signing new clients from the UK, Middle East and USA.

"Telford and Wrekin offers quality choices in housing, schools, universities, lifestyle and wellness, so we are able to easily attract much needed highly skilled and experienced specialist IT professionals to work for us.

"As we continue to grow, we will be creating more permanent jobs for the town not only in software development but also in allied administration functions such as sales, HR and procurement.We will also be offering apprenticeships for local university graduates.

"We all know this region is the birthplace of manufacturing; with exponential increase in demand for cloud computing and digital services, we believe the town can rediscover the spectacular glory of the past and become the digital technology hub of the UK, attracting IT companies and enabling their growth, in a similar way to Silicon Valley in the USA.”