Growing firm finds security at 'home'
A CYBER security specialist has expanded into new offices in Stratford-upon-Avon — and is already planning its next move in the new year.
Omni Cyber Security has moved into Venture House — Stratford District Council’s new state-of-the-art business centre on the Avenue Farm Industrial Estate.
The firm, which previously occupied a shared office in Solihull, is a leading specialist in IT defensive security, offensive security and compliance services.
It is run by business partners Philip Ridley and Andy Collins, who also both live in Stratford.
The two, who have known each other for a number of years, employ eight staff and are already looking for another move, having filled the space in the two offices they currently occupy.
They hope to remain in their hometown.
Philip said: “We’d been looking for office space in the area for quite some time.
“It’s no secret private commercial space which is affordable is quite hard to come by, so to find Venture House suited us perfectly.
“At our stage of development the centre works extremely well for us and will help us to take the company to the next level.
“We’ve been operating for two years now and have grown consistently during that time. We now have a team of eight and we have fairly ambitious plans to keep growing that way.
“In the near future we’ll probably outgrow the centre, which has always been the plan, so in many ways we’re a very good example of the type of company Venture House is keen to support.
“It is difficult to find commercial premises in Stratford, the quality is variable, most are converted town houses with small rooms and the custom-built ones like those in Timothy’s Bridge Road are always that well connected in terms of internet speeds.
“The nature of our business means that is crucial to us, and things like that are what brought us to Venture House.
“It’s nice to be in Stratford, it’s a great place to live and work, but more importantly there’s a great pool of talent in the area with good courses at Coventry and Warwick universities so we’re keen to remain in Stratford.”
Venture House opened in April in a redundant council building, which was refurbished using £450,000 of funding from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).
It is managed by Stratford District Council and provides 2,500 square feet of business space over two floors offering hot-desking, co-working space, self-contained offices, superfast broadband, free business support through the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP Growth Hub, along with conference, training and exhibition facilities.
Since opening the facilities have been used by 320 business from a range of sectors including advanced manufacturing, civil engineering, food and drink, PR and marketing, and automotive industries.
It is currently fully occupied and has helped to create ten jobs.
