Member Article

Gateshead IT firm beats national competition to secure £1m Northern Education deal

The Northern Education Trust has awarded Aspire Technology Solutions with a five-year deal to install its connectivity systems across twenty schools in the North East and Yorkshire.

The contract, worth £1m to the North East IT firm, will also see Aspire deliver a package of ongoing support across all sites over the lifetime of the contract.

Employing 115 people with an annual turnover of £12m a year, the Gateshead firm reportedly beat nationwide competition to clinch the deal at a time where the business is aggressively pursuing plans to scale further.

Investing £1m to extend its Grade II 18th Century Heworth Hall headquarters, the firm will soon have the capacity to employ an extra 40 staff.

Paul Shill, Senior Account Manager at Aspire, explained the value of the contract to the company.

“This is a highly significant success for us, and shows that we are a national brand, attuned to meeting a variety of IT requirements across many sectors”, said Paul.

He continued: “The Northern Education Trust is a well-known and respected organisation, and I am delighted that we are now providing the cutting-edge IT support that will benefit its work in the years ahead.

“The systems we are delivering across these 20 sites provide the trust with the advanced and reliable internet connectivity, and improved overall IT services, that exactly meet its requirements.”

Ian Kershaw, chief executive of Northern Education Trust, added: “We are pleased to have appointed Aspire Technology Solutions as our IT partner and believe its team is perfectly suited to provide the kind of connectivity and comprehensive support we need between our 20 academies and our operational hubs.

“Digital technology plays a vital role in the fast-paced world of education and it is essential that we have first class internet connectivity and a rapid response if there is a problem.

“We are looking forward to developing our relationship with the Aspire team in our aim to provide a high quality teaching and learning environment for staff and students alike.”