This was a year of good progress on several fronts; solid growth continued, with earnings advancing to £0.45m and revenue in SFW’s core consulting and application provision activities increasing by 30%. Turnover, as predicted was slightly down at £5.04m due to the decline in work carried out by sub-contractors using the UK government S-CAT framework agreement, which is now approaching the end of its term.
As well as maintaining long-term relationships with its clients, SFW also gained new business, winning major contracts in competitive tenders and acquiring new customers. Notable wins included a framework applications support agreement at ACAS, inclusion on the NHS ASCC framework for non clinical applications and, for DEFRA, a collaborative system for sharing information on all the major diseases affecting animals in the UK.
Investment in new technologies and methods of production continued, enabling SFW to offer further service, productivity and technological benefits. In January 2008 an SFW development facility was opened in Baroda, India to take advantage of global efficiencies and to access a highly skilled and talented workforce. The SharePoint business also became firmly established, with clients looking to harness the efficiencies that SharePoint intranet and collaboration systems bring.