Anti-piracy body the Business Software Alliance (BSA) has exposed and agreed settlements with three UK companies for the use of unlicensed software.

Settlements of more than £35,000 have been reached with the firms, which operate within the recycling services, design and manufacturing and property management sectors.

Recycling services firm GI Hadfield and Son, based in Droylsden, has agreed to settle with the BSA and purchase legal business-critical software.

Enforcement action was taken against the design manufacturing company Street CraneXpress. Based in Sheffield, the company was discovered using unlicensed copies of Autodesk and Microsoft software and has agreed to pay damages and rectify the situation by deleting unlicensed software and purchasing the necessary packages.

Finally, London-based property management firm Atlas Management Corporation was found to be under-licensed, operating with copies of Microsoft and Symantec software on 20 of its office PCs. The company has since resolved its licence shortfall.

Julie Strawson, chair of the BSA’s UK Country Committee, said: “Not only do settlements financially affect a business; they also send negative messages to staff and customers that these firms are willing to resort to unscrupulous measures to save money.

“In addition to the damage to reputation, which could be irreversible, these cases act as a further warning of the financial implications for those caught using unlicensed software.”

Software piracy currently stands at 26 per cent in the UK.