IT services firm Clarion Consulting is planning to double revenue to €6m and increase headcount to 60 over the next three years as part of a business expansion drive. The privately held firm is looking to a combination of organic growth and acquisition to achieve this.
Managing director Pat Millar said the firm was actively pursuing partnership and acquisition opportunities in Ireland and the UK. “We are successfully competing with the larger consultancies here and believe the application of our business model to the UK market can replicate that success. Finding the right strategic fit would have an accelerated effect on our stated growth targets and could bring our turnover closer to €10m by 2008, if successful.”
Clarion currently has 35 employees and is based in Blanchardstown, Dublin.
The company said recent revenue gains had been fuelled by a strong performance from its general consulting division, which has grown by 50pc year on year and added a number of large private and public sector customers. Millar said the firm intended to focus more on the financial services sector, particularly in the governance and compliance area.
Clarion is the Irish country partner for Nordic-based IFS, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software supplier and has done implementations at a number of large manufacturing sites including Batchelors, Wellman International and Gallaghers.
The organisation’s recruitment arm, forecast to grow by in excess of 60pc year on year, is also buoyant. It comprises a team of business and IT professionals placed with large organisations in a managed resource model. “Our approach of working with the client throughout the lifetime of the project to ensure consistent performance is a refreshing alternative to the services offered by traditional recruitment consultancies,” explained Ronan Foley, director of resourcing.
Foley is one of the recent senior appointments to Clarion’s management team. The others are John Kenefick, who joins from Accenture to head up the firm’s business in the Munster region, and Jack O’Keeffe, previously general manager, commercial business at First Active, who joins as a non-executive director.
Clarion was established in 1998 by three ex-Pyramid Consulting executives – Pat Millar, Lisa Gough and Arthur Griffin.
By Brian Skelly
