A cutting-edge Tunbridge Wells company has announced a doubling in profits for the first half of the year having secured high-profile contracts and an international rollout of its product.
Crimson Tide may not be a household name but the firm has struck significant deals with a range of companies including the Metro newspaper, Marks & Spencer and Nestle.
The bedrock of the company is a service called mpro5.
The software, which works via an app and cloud computing, allows real time data-sharing on a massive scale in order to keep head offices well-in-formed.
Its versatility means clients, who typically sign up for three-year contracts, can track anything from newspaper circulation to the health and hygiene of a supermarket.
Service
Chairman Barrie Whipp explained what the service can do.
He said: “For the Metro, we provide real time data on circulation, so every batch of papers can be located and the number distributed recorded without the need for paperwork.
“This is very valuable for the company as they have evidence-backed data to give their advertisers which lends them credibility when trying to win new business.”
Smartphones
Mpro5 has since recorded the circulation of 670m Metro newspapers over the last four years.
Founded in 1996 by Mr Whipp, the company, which is located just off The Pantiles, moved from purely telecoms to data in 2004 when the first smartphones came on to the market.
It floated on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) two years later, but Mr Whipp admits some people may criticise the company for getting off to what may seem like a slow start.
He said: “Our stock has not moved much as opposed to many AIM-listed firms which tend to be like fireworks and shoot up in value in a very short period of time.
“But we have taken a cautious approach and I still own 23 per cent of the shares, which itself is unusual for an AIM-listed company.
“I can eat dinner with the remaining shareholders round one table, so that limits volatility.”
With up to 3,000 users subscribed to the service and 50 bigger names also signed up across the globe, the company is growing rapidly.
Pre-tax profits more than doubled in the first six months of the year to £60,000, compared to the same period in 2014, with revenues increasing from £614,000 to £673,000.
Mr Whipp added: “It has been a very pleasing period for the company and we are well placed to take advantage of recent significant contract wins.”
What is mpro5?
Released in January 2014, mpro5, aims to improve business ef? ciency through the removal of paperwork and via its job scheduling, alerting and reporting capabilities.
This ensures head office staff are continually updated with the job statuses and availability of their staff working in the field.
Clients are able to use the Microsoft Azure cloud-based job scheduling website via the app, upload photographic evidence of activities and use a smartphone camera to scan barcodes and signatures.
This is then relayed with back of? ce databases, reducing the need for additional people on the ground recoding activities and ensuring all data is up to date and stored on the cloud.
CASE STUDY:
Brennans Bread is one of the largest bakeries in Ireland. Mpro5 assists it in delivering 68,000 loaves per day.
Each delivery is scheduled via the Mpro5 web client and drivers use smartphones to enter delivery amounts against products, take photos, record signatures, and leave a receipt with each customer by using a Bluetooth printer.
Once the deliveries are completed, they are sent to the accounting system for immediate invoicing – reducing their invoicing timeframe from a month to a day.
Mpro5 has also been used by haemophilia patients to verify the safety of their medication before use by allowing them to record details of their infusion which securely synchronise back to the hospital where clinicians can view and monitor patient’s conditions in real time.
