PCL Computer Services Ltd, the Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire-based private computer services company, has invested UKP1m in the acquisition of UKP7m-a-year Alpha-Numeric (Maidenhead) Ltd. PCL began life in 1974 as a division of P&O Steam Navigation, from which it parted company in 1984 in a management buy-out. In 1988, Swiss Re Insurance took a 51% stake in the business, which was subsequently sold back to PCL a year ago (CI No 1,596). Now, except for a 16% stake held by 3i Plc venture capitalists (3i recently invested UKP500,000 in PCL for the purpose of growth by acquisition), PCL’s ownership is distributed among the company directors, a large portion held by chairman and managing director Trevor Clarke. Before the Alpha-Numeric buy, PCL’s main business was in mid-range facilities management, software, services and consultancy. The company’s computer bureau houses IBM ES/9000 machines and AS/400 systems, though the Croxley Green, Watford-based data centre has an installed capacity of only 30 MIPS. Challenged with the point that 30 MIPS isn’t much to be offering as a bureau service, Clarke said it was enough for the likes of Canon and Gallup, both customers of the service. We’re in the mid-range, he explained, citing Datasolv, Hoskyns, and SD-Scicon as was, as the company’s main competitors in the market. Alpha-Numeric started up in 1966 as a data preparation bureau – that is data capture, particularly key-to-disk. The company also brings telesales and database marketing software, as well as a laser printing bureau with a print capacity of 200m sheets a year. The combined company, to be called PCL Group, is being reorganised into six divisions – PCL Mainframe Services – accounting for 31% of total revenues; Alpha-Numeric Data Preparation – 26%; the Lasershop – 10%; PCL Business Systems – 16%; Alpha Direct – 11%, and Alpha-Numeric Recruitment – 7%. Fifteen staff have been shed, due to job duplication, leaving a total headcount of 350, 200 of which were already PCL employees. The newly-enlarged group, which Clarke places within the top 20 computer services companies in the UK – the third largest to be privately owned has over 300 clients and a combined turnover of some UKP14.5m. It has 14 locations in the UK, though these are largely focused in the South West, and two distribution outlets on the continent. These came with Alpha-Numeric and are located in Denmark and Spain.

Property Management

At first, they will be used as before to market Alpha-Numeric’s Tel-Athena telemarketing product, but later will be used as outlets for the group’s other products. PCL’s Business Systems division develops software for the ES/9000, AS/400, DEC VMS and Ultrix systems, and Data General’s proprietary MV systems. It also offers Pick as a database management system, DB2 and RMS databases, and Powerhouse, CICS Cobol and Business Basic among its development tools. British Gas and NatWest Bank are customers of PCL’s property management software, which is sold primarily for the DEC VMS environment; the Data General system users, Clarke says, are mainly house builders using the firm’s House Manager product. PCL Group doesn’t plan to support any further hardware environments, and may even rationalise the three it does support. The firm, which says it has noticed a significant increase in the number of businesses showing interest in facilities management during the recession, wants to be a leading player in the computer services market, and intends to grow by aggressive acquisition, particularly in the data preparation and laser printing areas. Acquisitions will also be a means of expanding the group’s customer base and of getting deeper into continental Europe. 3i, which supported the purchase of Alpha-Numeric, has pledged to back further acquisitions, and PCL also has the backing of Lloyds and Barclays banks for working capital and credit. PCL, which is projecting a trading profit of UKP800,000 for 1992, has aspirations to go public within the next five years, but is waiting until it is a little bit bigger and until the UK has come out of

the recession. However, Clarke does not sympathise with those who think that now is not a good time to float – PCL, he says, is the sort of company, having been owned by P&O and Swiss Re, that could sit quite well on the market. At the earliest, it will be 30 months to three years before it makes a move in that quarter.