Orchard Information Systems awarded techUK accolade

Newcastle-based Orchard Information Systems has been awarded techUK’s prestigious Business Professional Certificate.

The award was presented to Orchard’s finance director, Nick Lambert, by Newcastle Central MP and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Chi Onwurah at techUK’s Annual Dinner at the Dorchester in London.

The Business Professional Certificate accredits IT organisations which can demonstrate commitment to best practice in all relevant areas including Information Security, Business Continuity, Project Management, Risk Management, Customer Care, Corporate and Social Responsibility and Human Resources.

techUK, the UK’s technology trade association, represents more than 850 companies across the country. Collectively they employ more than 500,000 people, about half of all tech sector jobs in the UK. These companies range from leading FTSE 100 companies to new innovative start-ups, and includes a number of businesses in the North East.

When Nick was presented with the award, he took the opportunity to put the case for the region to a national audience of almost 500 people.

“Like many others, I had been disappointed by the very negative and one-sided article in a major national newspaper comparing the North East to Detroit. Contrary to the suggestions in this controversial piece, we believe that it is an excellent place to work.

“With Orchard, we have built a very successful technology business, providing our software to social housing organisations across the whole of the UK. We enjoy a significant share of our market – 27% according to a survey published last year. We have created almost 200 highly skilled jobs in the North East.

“We are delighted to be a founder member of Dynamo and part of the burgeoning tech sector in the region. I do not consider our region to be “remote” – we live in a small country - we are only three hours by train from London and ninety minutes from Edinburgh. The North East offers a great quality of life and we think that for our own business, and the tech sector in the region the best is yet to come.”