Local firm First Derivatives has managed to actually grow by 2.5% during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has resumed graduate hiring.
The Northern Ireland tech industry has continued to grow despite the pandemic, with some businesses focused on digital transformation and e-commerce seeing a significant uptick in demand for their services. Newry-based tech firm First Derivatives is one of the companies that has reported an increase in sales during the pandemic.
First Derivatives saw its sales grow by 2.5% in the first half of 2020 despite the lockdown, describing its performance as "resilient." Sales rose from £116.7 million to £119.6 million throughout the six months to 31st August 2020, covering the period when COVID-19 first emerged and lockdowns were at their worst. The company also managed to halve its debt debt recently from £60.2m to £30.6m.
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Despite being a global company that employs 2,400 people worldwide across 15 offices, First Derivatives is headquartered in Newry in Northern Ireland. It attributes the strong first half of 2020 to a 12% rise in software licence growth and maintaining its managed services and consulting revenue at pre-COVID-19 levels. The recent launch of version 4.0 of its Kx streaming analytics technology has been a significant success for the company.
The firm initially stopped hiring in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but has started hiring rapidly again recently following encouraging performance. The company has picked up 41 new graduates over the past month and will continue to hire worldwide as it's in a strong financial position for future growth.
Donna Troy, Chair of First Derivatives said: "During the period we have demonstrated the Group’s resilience while continuing to focus on the considerable opportunity ahead. It is clear that the use of data, particularly streaming operational data, to drive decision-making will become critical for enterprises and COVID-19 will accelerate this trend uncertainty throughout the world."
Source: Newry Chamber
