IT firm chooses Derby as global headquarters

IT company Bam Boom Cloud is to establish its global headquarters in Derby after singing a deal for a 6,500 sq ft office in the city.

The firm, which was known as Cooper Parry IT until a buy-out by its management team earlier this year, employs 100 people, has operations in the US, Canada, India and Ireland and says it is looking for further growth in Germany and the UAE.

It has now signed a five-year lease on a three-storey Grade 2-listed building in Derby’s historic Wardwick.

Brett and Vicky Critchley are setting a course for growth

The firm’s UK-based team will use the office for meetings and creative sessions, alongside working from home.

The move, scheduled for the summer, has been assisted by Derby City Council, Marketing Derby and property group Staton Young, which owns the building.

Bam Boom Cloud chief executive Vicky Critchley said the company had entered an ambitious phase following the MBO and was targeting a trebling of its £9m turnover during the next three years.

Critchley said she was “delighted” to be able to bring the business to Derby from its previous base near East Midlands Airport.

“We are excited by Derby’s plans to rejuvenate its city centre, including the Becketwell development, with its performance venue, apartments, hotel and public square, close to our new home in the Wardwick. It’s an exciting time for us to make the move.

“We also think we will be good for Derby’s future and for the economy of the city centre. We are already a global technology business and we have ambitious plans for further growth and to recruit more staff.”

Executive chairman Brett Critchley said staff had originally favoured a move to a business park location but the team was excited by the “buzz of the city centre, the vision for the new offices and the ability to continue to work flexibly”.

“The team will be able to combine working from home with coming into the office to interact with colleagues. They will be able to choose arrival and departure times to avoid sitting in traffic,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on being different and that will be reflected in our offices. The ground floor will feel more like being in a restaurant and will have its own staff bar. We’ll also have chill-out zones, a pool table and a computer games area.

“Our people can – and do – work successfully from home but they have missed the creativity of being with the wider team. This solution will offer them the best of both worlds.”

The Critchleys paid tribute to Marketing Derby, which assisted the relocation effort, and to Derby City Council, which provided grant funding to assist with fit-out costs of the new offices.

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said he hoped other investors would now follow Bam Boom Cloud’s lead.

“Bam Boom Cloud are a talented team of market-leading innovators and we are really delighted to welcome them into the city centre. It’s an important vote of confidence for a city building back differently and a clear signal for others to join us in place-shaping a new Derby,” he said.

“The investment is a result of an intense collaboration between ourselves, Derby City Council and Staton Young and, as well as attracting almost 100 jobs, has the added bonus of refurbishing a beautiful building laid empty for many years”.

Gareth O’Donovan, Derby City Council; Lucy Wilde, Staton Young; Brett Critchley, Simpson, Derby City Council; Vicky Critchley; and John Forkin, Marketing Derby.