Partner Article

Technology firm secures rapid growth

A GROUNDBREAKING North Tyneside company is set to embark on a rapid expansion plan as it looks to grab its share of the flourishing UK security market.

IEvo, based in Killingworth, has recently developed a breakthrough biometric fingerprint scanner, and is ready to start producing the technology in the North East, thanks to a £150,000 cash injection into the company.

The security reader – the first of its kind – will first be offered to the UK market with plans to take on Europe and increase the company’s workforce later in the year.

IEvo managing director, Shaun Oakes, said: “There are 10,000 security companies in the UK and we’d like to be able to offer them our services first before we look to Europe.

“We do have plans in place for rapid expansion and we do hope to grow our workforce. Hopefully within 3 to 6 months we’ll be in a position to make this a reality.

“I’ve spent the last seven years of my life in the North East and this is a perfect climate to manufacture and we have no plans to do it anywhere else.”

The device, which is capable of scanning fingerprints at temperatures as low as -20 degrees and through latex gloves, is set to galvanise the UK security market after the Finance for Business North East Fund pumped the six-figure investment into the IEvo earlier in the year, thanks to finance specialist unw.

IEvo is the first Finance for Business North East Fund success for Newcastle-based unw, which is currently advising a further six North-East businesses on how to access the £125m pot.

Mr Oakes added: “We spent 18 months researching and developing our own biometric control reader which has far superior qualities than the three market leading ones manufactured by companies in the Far East.

“There are lots of biometric finger print readers around but they are unable to scan through dirt, dust and some types of latex gloves and ours can.”

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