Partner Article

Daisy eyes bright future for BNS

The new owner of Northumberland telecoms firm BNS has hinted at potential cutbacks in the region during the transitional period that comes with a change of ownership.

However national outfit Daisy Group, which acquired Prudhoe-based BNS last month for £10.5m, also says the takeover will ultimately be beneficial to both companies.

Gareth Kirkwood, Daisy’s chief operating officer, told bdaily that BNS would now be in a position of strength as the takeover exposes it to some exciting growth markets.

He said: “There may be certain overlapping functions [between the two companies] which may result in redundancies, but this is not the focus of the exercise.

“Daisy has a strong growth history in the telecoms market and is now one of the UK’s leading providers of integrated voice and data products to the business markets.”

Recent years have seen Daisy grow rapidly from five members of staff in one office in 2001, to an 850-strong workforce with offices throughout England.

This short yet successful transition has left CEO Matthew Riley positive for the future and he’s hopeful that the appointment of Chris Jagusz, the new interim MD at BNS, will allow for a smooth integration of the company into the Daisy Group.

He added: “Chris has many years of experience within the industry and he will be integral to ensuring the day-to-day running of BNS continues in Prudhoe.

“Daisy has been very successful integrating previous acquisitions and this will enable BNS to be part of a larger business with solid foundations in a very exciting and growing market.”

BNS is one of the region’s largest telecoms firms with 8,000 customers across 22,000 business sites, 42,000 fixed line connections and it currently handles over 30 million calls per month.

Daisy reported revenues of £30.9m and pre-tax losses of £2.1m in the nine months to September 2009 and lists over 30,000 businesses among its clients.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .