NTS moves to Fleet Street to "play with the big boys"

Security VAR aims to fulfil £15m turnover goal by using central London base to recruit cream of the industry

Security VAR Network Technology Solutions (NTS) is relocating its southern office to central London in a bid to poach the top talent necessary to break the £15m turnover barrier.

Managing director Jonathan Lassman said NTS' move to Fleet Street on 15 September would allow the Check Point and Juniper partner to "play with the big boys".

"We have come up through the leagues and are one of the last independents left, but to truly compete we need to be in excess of £15m within three years," he said.

"To do that, we need a higher number of professional people and we do not want any barriers to that. It is much easier to recruit in central London than outside and we pay the best commission in the industry."

Lassman claimed that NTS, which also has a northern office in Bradford, is causing pain to the UK's largest security integrators including HP Information Security (formerly Vistorm), Integralis and 2e2.

"They are now concentrating on larger customers and mid-sized customers are looking again towards the independents like us to get the respect and responsiveness they require," Lassman said. "We are consistently tracking over 20 new customers a quarter."

NTS posted revenue of £6.5m last year but sales for the current year are tracking almost 50 per cent ahead, said Lassman.

The VAR's southern office is currently based in Edgware. Lassman stressed that moving further towards the Thames was purely a business decision.

"It's a pain in the backside for me personally as it lengthens my commute from 15 minutes to an hour and a half," he said.

"We considered the M4 corridor but by moving to central London – which is the most expensive part of the UK – we are taking out all restrictions on UK personnel."