Birmingham-based technology services firm Probrand has bucked the market trend for a third year, posting 2006 interim results which show turnover up 14 per cent year-on-year.
The company claims it is well placed to hit £20 million turnover by the close of the year.
For the first half of 2006, Probrand recorded strong sales at £8.5 million, building on a record 2005 close, which saw the company's online technologies push turnover to £15 million.
Probrand cited the track record of its award winning online IT procurement portal, theitindex.co.uk, as the future of reselling IT.
The system secured Probrand's position as one of six suppliers providing £2 billion ICT goods and services through the Government's Catalist framework. This has unlocked several new account wins from police forces to local authorities and educational establishments.
Last year theitindex.co.uk smashed all records, continuing its exponential growth rate of 144 per cent year-on-year. The system now contributes over £10 million to Probrand's turnover.
Theitindex.co.uk now daily lists over 100,000 product lines from 1,200 manufacturers by best price and availability. It is helping customers like Cheltenham Council save over a day a week in procurement time and 15 per cent on its IT budget.
But it is the innovative Mercato software which powers theitindex.co.uk that looks set to power Probrand's ongoing strategic growth.
Probrand managing director, Peter Robbins, said: "In business you have to innovate and this is what we have been doing since we introduced theitindex.co.uk some years ago. The Mercato technology that powers theitindex.co.uk continues to help us grow against a sector that still remains flat.
"Organisations are looking for best priced IT within the shortest possible time and we continue to deliver just that. It is our innovation that has seen the public sector switch on to the bottom line savings theitindex.co.uk can offer.
"Additionally, the ongoing development of our suite of online Mercato solutions that touch almost every aspect of commerce functionality, from sales to purchasing, continue to work hard for us as both private and public sector organisations look for efficiency savings to add value to the bottom line."
