Mobile message company ready to expand
Hay Systems (HSL), the Scottish mobile messaging specialist whose technology is used in Indonesia to send emergency tsunami alerts, has revealed expansion plans that will take its staff numbers to 45 and its turnover up to around £5.5 million over the next three years.
Mark Hay, the founder and chief executive of the 12-year-old Livingston-based company, said that the UK private sector has been slow to adopt SMS (Short Message Service) technology for businesses, but over the past year there has been a surge in demand.
What is notable about Mr Hay’s endeavour is that he is applying what is essentially earlier mobile-phone technology to the modern world and companies are increasingly finding it more useful than any of the latest high-tech smartphone technology.
Mr Hay, who has some ambitious plans for revitalising SMS in the private sector, said: “SMS isn’t sexy, but it’s very effective.
“Basically, it’s technology that can be used by companies to get messages out to their workforce very quickly, and it’s much more effective than emails or any smartphone technology. We’re getting more and more interest from emerging nations, particularly in the Middle East
“Nowadays, SMS is old technology. However, many companies are now realising just what a useful – and cost effective – tool it can be.”
He added: “We’re at the point where we anticipate our staff numbers will treble to 45 in three years and our turnover will grow 30%.”
Mr Hay said that HSL had taken on around 50 new clients since the beginning of the year.
The company currently has a customer base of more than 450 clients. Of these, 43% of are in the UK, 42% in Europe, 9% in the Middle East, Asia and Africa and 6% in the US and Canada.
He said: “It’s all about getting messages out quickly to large groups of people, and nothing has come that is more effective or faster than SMS.
“We’re getting more and more interest from emerging nations, particularly the Middle East, where often the coverage by mobile phone networks is far greater than the coverage by landlines.”
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