Allies celebrates 30th year in business

By Brigette Currin 2 minute read
Norfolk-based software company Allies Computing today celebrated thirty successful years of providing data quality and validation technology to some of the UK’s largest organisations.Allies serves over 8,000 businesses and processes millions of address lookup transactions every week for ecommerce websites and CRM systems.Its board of four directors expects to report a turnover in excess of £1.8 million – its highest to date – for the latest financial year which ended in July. The figure represents an increase of 9% on last year’s turnover.Last month, Allies announced it had remained compliant with the international Quality Management System standard, ISO 9001, for eighteen consecutive years.

Allies employs a team of twenty people at its headquarters in the award-winning Manor Farm Barns business park in Framingham Pigot near Norwich. Over half of the employees have been with the company for more than five years, while a quarter of the team have joined in the last two years.

Allies was established in 1987 by co-founders Dr Peter Allies and Rev Dr Lorna Allies. One of their first projects involved developing software to help the James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth automatically check and correct patient addresses. The software later became a successful product in its own right and was sold widely to businesses during the 1990s.

Over the years, new products were developed and sold as technology evolved and new business requirements emerged. Today, most customers access the company’s cutting-edge data validation service through the cloud.

In 2015, Allies became a 100% employee-owned company by adopting the “John Lewis” business model. The move transferred ownership to the employees using a trust which now holds all of the shares on their behalf. The trust is overseen by three trustees, one of whom is an employee-elected representative.

Reflecting on the anniversary, Allies CEO Dan Cooper said: “The technology sector has changed immeasurably over the last 30 years. In contrast, the ethics and ethos of the company, defined in 1987 by Peter and Lorna, have remained consistent and relevant.”

“Our success and longevity is borne out of treating people with respect and fairness, of paying attention to the details and having the highest of expectations. Ultimately, these traits have helped us assemble a hugely talented team and build a significant customer base.”

“The Allies team, both past and present, can be very proud of their contribution to the company.”