It was a meeting of minds and expertise when Gavin Russell and Peter Sweetbaum joined forces to set up this provider of IT-managed services and solutions. “Gavin came out of AT&T and is the technical side. I was in the City, a corporate finance lawyer, doing technology deals,” says Sweetbaum. Wavex was set up in 1988 to serve small businesses’ IT needs, from day-to-day desktop level support, to infrastructure management and budget planning. Staff numbers have increased from seven to around 85, with an acquisition of a competitor – “which brought a few teething troubles but is now fine” – along the way. Turnover last year was £5.9m and compound growth a very respectable 57.9 per cent. Next year’s figures “are a moving feast,” comments Sweetbaum – but he is optimistic. “We are still a profitable cash-generative business and we have a very strong recurring revenue theme.” With a growing emphasis on high-quality attention, contracts are starting to come in from bigger companies disenchanted with larger providers.
