UK software development opens on the West Coast of Cornwall

Cornwall is not a location necessarily associated with cutting edge software development; however, investment in the region’s data infrastructure appears to be reaping returns as a series of global brands look to move their software development work into the area.

HeadForwards, an outsourced development solutions company, has just signed NTT Europe, a subsidiary of NTT Communications the international and long distance arm of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) and is in negotiations with another two international brands, just a few months into the new venture.

NTT is one of the largest telecommunications companies, ranked 31st in the Fortune global 500 list of 2011, and the contract with NTT Europe has helped the company secure a position as one of the region’s fastest growing businesses.

John Salter, Director of Operation Support Systems, NTT Europe said: “We looked at various outsourcing options and locations around the world as well as the UK and found HeadForwards to be a very attractive new alternative. Being located in the UK they work in the same timezone, language and country as our internal team.

“We need high quality software developed with the agility to meet our changing business needs and HeadForwards has enabled us to do just that. They have seamlessly integrated the new outsourced team with our existing internal team.  This gives us every confidence that HeadForwards are the right outsourcing option for NTT Europe.”

HeadForwards employs the latest Agile project management methodologies designed to allow teams to work efficiently without impacting on the flexibility of the client’s requirements.

With businesses needing to adapt rapidly to change in the marketplace the Agile approach has provided international clients with an attractive solution for their ongoing technical development.

Director, Toby Parkins explains how the company has been able to attract the talent required to deliver the complex projects undertaken: “We have been able to attract some of the very best software developers working in the UK today as a result of our unique location. Not only do we have beaches on our doorstep, but a state of the art office with 100mbps internet speeds.”

HeadForwards is a partnership between directors Toby Parkins and Craig Girvan. Toby has been working in web development for 15 years and has been responsible for a number of world firsts in web development through his other company, UKNetWeb.

Craig comes directly from in-house teams at Logica and Tesco.com, bringing with him a wealth of industry experience at the sharp end of ecommerce web development.

The company has a clear vision for its future and will undoubtedly continue to attract attention from those interested in the industry. Speaking on HeadForwards’s business philosophy Craig says: “We have three core values, happy clients, quality developers and great software. This combination is key to our offering. There is an integral link between the three, achieving balance means a great outcome for all involved, and we wouldn’t accept anything less than that.”

HeadForwards is based within the Pool Innovation Centre, near Redruth. The state of the art complex benefits from fibre internet connectivity and was completed in 2010 with the help of the EU Convergence Fund. Without the internet speeds provided the company would not be able to prosper within the region.

ENDS

For further information please contact: Ellie Rymer or Richard Chapman at Grayling on 0117 929 2311 or via email: eleanor.rymer@grayling.com / richard.chapman@grayling.com  

Notes To Editors

This activity is being carried out by both UK Trade & Investment and Invest in Cornwall. InvestinCornwall is a project funded by the Convergence European Regional Development Fund and Cornwall Council. Invest in Cornwall is part of Cornwall Development Company (CDC) which operates as Cornwall Council’s economic development arm. On behalf of Cornwall Council, CDC promotes Cornwall to the world; the mission – “to achieve sustainable prosperity with opportunity for all” by helping to develop and deliver the economic strategies for the county.

About NTT Europe

NTT Europe is a wholly-owned subsidiary company of NTT Communications which is the global data and IP services arm of the Fortune Global 500 telecom leader, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation (NTT). NTT Europe is responsible for business in the EMEA market and provides a world-class Tier-1 Internet backbone, secure closed networks, security, system integration, network and application management, managed hosting and global content delivery services with partner companies globally. For additional information, please visit www.eu.ntt.com

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