Grafton Database International, the Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey based, international database and systems performance consultant has restructured its operations to set up a holding company, Grafton International Holdings Ltd, creating three new subsidiaries underneath it. In total the new look operation now has five subsidiaries including Grafton Database Consultants and its erstwhile subsidiary Grafton Technology Ltd. The company said it has undertaken the reorganisation to lay the ground work – through acquisition and organic growth – for a main market flotation in April 1992. The new subsidiaries – software distributor Grafton Software Ltd, Grafton Education Ltd customer training arm, and aerospace specialist Grafton Technology Ltd cover vertical markets on which the compa ny intends to focus. This year the company is forecasting turnover of around UKP3.1m for this year: it did UKP430,000 pre-tax on turnover of UKP2.5m in l987. DB2, Adabas According to Grafton Holdings chairman and group managing director Stephen Bullas this year the company’s consultancy arm will generate about 35% of turnover offering services to blue chip users of IBM 3090 and 4081 mainframes and compatibles in MVS and VM environments. Customers include British Rail, British Telecom Plc and British Petroleum Plc. Grafton Technology Ltd will contribute about 25% doing consultancy work using CAD/CAM for aerospace design clients. The software arm will account for 20% of the company’s total business, selling capacity management and database performance measurement software. The company’s products include the CCTA’s Path; Insight/DB2 from the Database Utility Group, Seattle, Washington; and products from Tecsiel SpA, of Rome, Italy, which will supply a CICS productivity tool set, and DB-Edge, an artificial intelligence-based DB2 monitor later this year. The education subsidiary offers training and consultancy for users of IBM’s DB2 relational database and Software AG’s Adabas with MVS and CICS. Grafton Education will contribute about 5% to turnover, undertaking consultancy and training for around 70 clients using Adabas, DB2 and CICS. Grafton SE is focussing on offering blue chip companies systems support, capacity planning networking and conversion and migration to MVS/XA. For future growth, Grafton Holdings is eyeing knowledge-based relational database systems and networks for future growth. The company claims that exports have stabilised at about 60% of its business, of which about 50% stems from business in Switzerland, Iceland and Finland. Grafton is aiming to expand its operations in the rest of Scandinavia, Germany, Austria, Italy and France. As yet it has no plans to move into the US market. The group expects to turnover around UKP14m by 1992, with about 150 staff. Currently it employs 50 permanent staff and 15 contract workers and boasts that on average its consultants have been in the industry for at least 15 years. Come 1992 the company optimistically expects the market to value it at around UKP93m – against around UKP5m if the company were to join the Unlisted Securities Market now. Grafton International Ltd was established in 1983 as a management buyout of the UK subsidiary from its parent, Grafton GmbH of Munich, which had originally opened for business in London back in 1979.
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