Opening up shop

With support from UK Trade & Investment, Australian company Opengear has recently opened an office in Slough, enabling it to expand into the UK market and Europe

Australian company Opengear develops and supplies hardware and software products that allow businesses to remotely monitor and control their computer systems. Since it was set up in Brisbane in 2005, its revenue has grown by 50 per cent each year, and today it has 18 employees in offices in Australia, the US and now the UK.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is one of Opengear’s main customers, and through DFAT the company supplies products to Australian embassies, consulates and high commissions around the world. Opengear also services private sector customers who need to securely manage the servers and equipment in their remote sites.

“Our typical customer has an unstaffed medium-sized computer room or data centre,” says Bob Waldie, CEO and co-founder of Opengear. “Our products allow them to update applications, change passwords, monitor the environment, control the power, recover failed networks or check security, all from a distance. Our software is open source, so it’s free to be adapted by the customer to suit their specific needs. We provide systems maintenance support as well.”

Road to success

Around 80 per cent of Opengear’s business comes from outside Australia, mostly the US. In 2010, the company decided to invest in the UK, as a means of reaching a wider market and further develop its business. Bob had previous experience of investing overseas and recognised that, as well as being a promising market in itself, the UK is ideally placed for creating and maintaining links to customers in mainland Europe.

On the recommendation of his business associates, Bob contacted UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) for help and advice about the new venture. When Opengear’s co-founder Tony Merenda travelled to the UK in the spring of 2010 to look for a base and to do market research, UKTI advised on potential locations. The company chose to base its UK office in Slough, and UKTI helped it to open a bank account and find a local accountancy firm to work with. UKTI also helped the company to find an immigration lawyer to advise on relocating one of its engineers from Australia to man the Slough office.

“We started the process of setting up our UK office in September 2010, and by January 2011 we were open for business,” says Bob. “Setting up an overseas office can be a complex process, but the UKTI team knows where the hurdles and sticking points might be, and they guide you through them. They don’t babysit you, but they give you a road map and details you need to make informed decisions. Without UKTI, the process would have taken us much longer.”

Download and view the full success story here.

Setting up your company in the UK

Deciding where to locate your international business is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make and can be daunting. UK Trade & Investment helps businesses coming to the UK with every aspect of setting up their new operations.

As the UK Government’s inward investment agency, it’s our job to know the UK’s strengths and where investment opportunities exist.

This means we can help your company to do all the research you need to make an informed decision, and then get up and running as quickly as possible.