Datapoint hires again after layoffs

Bullish integrator is on the hunt for top talent among its rivals

Job opportunities: Data Integration is looking to add to its talent pool

Datapoint is looking to recruit heavy hitters from rival firms and claims a recent round of redundancies was part of its business restructure.

Around the turn of the year, staff numbers were trimmed from 222 to 190 – down 14 per cent. Paul Brewer, a recent appointment as technology solutions director, claimed most were hardware-focused roles left obsolete by the company’s move towards services.

Since March, 11 people have joined. Brewer claimed more recruitment is on the way, adding that the integrator has already snagged some “top people” from rivals.

“It is a sore point with some of our competitors,” he said. “We are bullish around our ambitions to become a services-led applications business.”

The restructure has seen the departures of high-profile figures Nick Roullier, Paul Lewis, Vim Vithaldas, Martin Hill-Wilson and Pravin Tailor during the last year.

Alongside Brewer, the new-look management structure includes Richard Wingfield and Meurig Jones, led by chief executive Jim Kent.

Datapoint has also regrouped around five practices: customer interaction and management, unified communications, workforce optimisation, voice self-service and Datapoint solutions.

The last of these is centred on a risk-management offering, developed in-house. This is a key focus for additional investment and headcount, said Brewer, as part of a wider plan to become services-centric.

“We want to double our services business in the next three years and are investing there,” he said.

But one rival claimed the redundancies had allowed it to nab talented people.

“We have picked up several,” said the source.