FI Group Plc, the Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire-based supplier of computer training and services, has seen pre-tax profits jump 62% to UKP2.1m on turnover up 49% to UKP41.5m, in its year to April 30. So good have been the results of the group, in its second year since the workforce buy-out, that the directors are to allocate funds to launch a new workforce profit-sharing scheme. Employees control 42% of the shares, but enjoy double voting rights on the board and have effective control of the company. Another 18.3% is held by a trust set up for the shareholders, the rest is controlled by financial institutions – Baronsmead Ltd has 8% and Schroeder 6.2% – and directors. According to Rosie Symons, corporate communications manager, the profit-sharing scheme will encourage employees to take greater interest in the group but will not affect the share ownership scheme, and has been applauded by the financial institutions. The company has no immediate intention of going public but regards it as a long-term possibility. FI Partners, the group’s newest business, has made a seven-year strategic partnership, worth UKP21.5m, with the Co-operative Bank Plc, where FI takes responsibility for all the Co-op’s computer banking systems and has taken on the 128 former Co-op employees. This is FI’s second partnership, the first was with Whitbread Plc, and so happy were Whitbread’s former employees that within a month over half had bought company shares. The core FI Systems won contracts during the year to supply maintenance and support to such luminaries as J Sainsbury Plc, SWElec Plc, Thames Water Plc and Barclays Bank Plc. Many of these run for three years and more, and the business has seen its order book double during the year.
