Getting culture right is the secret of success at Manchester tech firm

When Paul Kenyon and Mark Austin got together to launch Avecto the plan was simply to create the best business possible.

Ten years later their firm, which creates software to protect business and organisations from cyber attacks, is an international market leader.

It has grown from scratch to a business which has revenues of £23.5m and has a list of clients which includes many of the world’s biggest companies.

The firm has seen ten years of consecutive revenue growth since it was established in 2008.

And if all that wasn’t enough Avecto has just been bought by America firm Bomgar and is on the verge of launching the next phase of its incredible story.

In some quarters Avecto has even been described as a potential Unicorn – that mythical firm which has grown from a start up to a company with a $1bn turnover.

The deal with Bomgar means it will have a best in class Privileged Access Management portfolio. In other words it will be able to offer a complete package to clients looking to protect themselves from hacks and attacks.

Most hacks are caused by employees’ mistakes opening up doors for hackers to exploit.

Avecto offers a service which limits the access staff have to systems which in turn limits the risk.

Manchester born Paul is brutally honest about the success of his business and the road he has travelled to get to where he is today.

He said: “Me and Mark got together and spoke about launching a business. We new we wanted to work together but we did not know what we were going to do.

“The aim was always to create and build the best possible business.”

He added: “I remember we were sitting in my front room and we decided to set up a software company and went through a list of 17 different ideas.”

The duo started from scratch and began working life with just a handful of like-minded people.

The firm, which is based near the airport now employs 225 staff and has serious ambitions to grow even further.

It can be hard to get your head around what Avecto actually does and in the early days the challenge was explaining the concept to potential customers.

Paul said: “We used to go into see people and explain to them what we could offer.

“Most of them didn’t even realise they had a problem or needed our services until we explained it to them.”

Despite the technical nature of the business and the huge success Paul is far more interested in the culture he has created at Avecto.

He said: “For me it has always been about working with like-minded people on something that we enjoy doing.

“What gives me the greatest pleasure is seeing the way people have gone on a journey with us and learnt news skills.”

The ethos of Avecto is based on five guiding principles which are all about helping individuals to grow and develop.

Paul keeps returning to the same themes of hopes, dreams and fears and the importance of giving people the chance to shine.

He said: “I could sit here and pretend that we knew where we going from the start.

“We were learning along the way and we made plenty of mistakes. The key for me is the fact that I have worked with people who I can trust.

“We our honest with each other about where we have gone wrong and where we could have done things better.

“That honesty has helped us to grow the business and to keep moving forward.”

Paul insists the deal with Bomgar is right for both parties.

He said: “We have spent some time getting to know them and it feels right, it feels like a good fit.

“We are all looking forward to the working with them.

“It feels very exciting to be joining a company that genuinely cares as much as Avecto does about its employees, customers, and partners.”