Crime does pay for firm behind intelligence-gathering software
It sounds like every schoolboy's dream: working for a company that combines computers with intelligence gathering for the police and the military. For David Carrick, chief executive of East Kilbride-based software firm Memex, it's just another day at the office.
Carrick's company designs programs that manage information and intelligence for clients including the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and the US military.
But as hi-tech as such systems sound, the reality often differs from its glamorous portrayal in television drama series. Carrick says that his company's software is used in places such as the counter terrorist unit (CTU) seen in TV series 24. But he explains: "Not all of them are as hi-tech as the CTU on 24 – I've been in one or two that are like that, but I've also been in loads where paper notepads are still used. It's not all like CSI or 24."
But despite that side of it America has been the land of opportunity for Memex. Founded as a spin-out from Heriot-Watt University in 1979, the company's software is in demand from police forces across the US. As well as the LAPD, customers include the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Pennsylvania State Police, which has been a client for ten years.
Carrick joined Memex in 1990 as a software engineer, when the company had ten staff. He rose through the ranks, watching the firm being taken over by first MR Data and then an American company, Lason, under whom he was appointed chief executive.
When the American owners put Memex up for sale in 2001, Carrick led a management buy-out with other staff and the Strathclyde Investment Fund chipping in. "We've never looked back," says Carrick. "In 2001, we were turning over £2 million and were making a loss. We've been profitable every year since then and this year hope to turnover about £9m."
Memex now has about 80 staff – about 57 of whom work from its East Kilbride headquarters – and has hired ten people this year.
In the past, systems may have been used by individual police forces, but Carrick now sees Memex's technology being used in a more co-ordinated fashion.
"All forces have information, but it only becomes intelligence when they start piecing it together to find out something new," he explains. "We're putting systems into 'fusion centres' in the US, where we're working with the local police force, sheriffs' offices and the FBI.
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