SBL joins £100m club after massive turnover hike

York-based VAR toasts 'highly successful year' after revenue pogoes by more than a quarter

Software Box Limited (SBL) has joined the exclusive club of VARs turning over more than £100m on the back of a 28 per cent annual sales hike.

The software licensing specialist, which recently retained a giant deal to supply Microsoft software to the Ministry of Defence, saw revenue soar from £88m to £112m year on year in the 12 months to 31 August.

The York-based VAR's bottom line expanded even more rapidly, with profit for the year powering up 33 per cent to £2.24m, while its net assets rose from £5.2m to £5.8m year on year.

Despite this, staff costs fell marginally to £3.8m as the average monthly number of employees rose from 93 to 94 year on year.

SBL described 2013 as a "highly successful year", stressing that the rise in sales and profits was achieved against "a backdrop of continuing pressure on customers' IT budgets and other competitive pressures".

"The renewals business continues to expand and the strong opening order book for 2014 highlights the progress that has been made in the year and reflects the increasing diversity of products and services now offered by the company," SBL added in its directors' report.

The filing also confirmed that – as reported by CRN– one of SBL's four directors, sales and marketing director Claire Gannon, resigned from the firm on 30 September.