NTT deal signals growth success for Cornish software development team Headforwards

Headforwards, a software development outsourcing company, today announced it has signed a new deal with NTT Europe, a subsidiary of NTT Communications, the international and long-distance arm of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation). The deal means that Headforwards — which enjoys year-on-year growth and is also negotiating deals with other global organisations— will continue working as NTT Europe’s software development team on a number of projects.

The contract with NTT Europe has helped Headforwards secure its position as one of Cornwall’s fastest-growing businesses. NTT is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, ranked 32nd in the Fortune Global 500 list of 2013.

John Salter, Director of Operation Support Systems, NTT Europe, said, “We looked at various outsourcing options and locations around the world as well as the UK and found Headforwards to be a very attractive new alternative. Being located in the UK they work in the same timezone, language and country as our internal team. We needed high quality software developed with the agility to meet our changing business needs, and Headforwards have enabled us to do just that. They quickly and seamlessly integrated the outsourced team with our existing internal team, and over the last two years we have steadily increased our investment in the partnership. With a track-record of contributing to the delivery of key projects to our stakeholders, Headforwards are undoubtedly the right outsourcing option for NTT Europe."

Investment in Cornwall’s digital infrastructure has helped Headforwards attract the best software development talent in the UK, according to Toby Parkins, Director of Headforwards.

Parkins commented, “We have been able to attract some of the very best software developers working in the UK today as a result of our unique location. Not only do we have beaches on our doorstep, but a state-of-the-art office with 100mbps internet speeds.”

Headforwards is based within the Pool Innovation Centre, near Redruth, Cornwall. The state of the art complex benefits from fibre internet connectivity and was completed in 2010 with the help of the EU Convergence Fund. Without the internet speeds provided the company would not be able to prosper within the region.

Headforwards announced the NTT deal today at the Agile on the Beach conference in Falmouth, Cornwall — the perfect platform for the announcement, as the company employs the latest agile project management methodologies to allow teams to work efficiently without impacting the flexibility of the client’s requirements.

With businesses needing to adapt rapidly to change in the marketplace, the agile approach has provided international clients with an attractive solution for their ongoing technical development.

Headforwards is a partnership between directors Toby Parkins and Craig Girvan. Toby has been working in web development for 15 years and has been responsible for a number of world firsts in web development through his other company, UKNetWeb.

Girvan comes directly from in-house teams at Logica and Tesco.com, bringing with him a wealth of industry experience at the sharp end of ecommerce web development.

The company has a clear vision for its future and will undoubtedly continue to attract attention from those interested in the industry. Speaking on their business philosophy, Girvan says, “We have three core values: happy clients, quality developers and great software. This combination is key to our offering. There is an integral link between the three. Achieving balance means a great outcome for all involved, and we wouldn’t accept anything less than that.”