Acquired tech firm to remain in Rochdale

The founder of a Rochdale tech firm that’s been acquired in a private equity-backed deal has said the business will remain in the borough.

Steve White founded Lone Worker Solutions (LWS) in 2009 to provide BS8484 certified emergency alarm devices and apps for people working alone.

The company is used by 70,000 field-based workers and customers include Vodafone, United Utilities and the NHS. It was bought by Belfast-based software company Totalmobile for an undisclosed sum.

The lone worker protection solution provided by LWS will be rebranded as Totalmobile’s ‘Protect' product, with operations continuing to be based in Rochdale.

Mr White said: “Totalmobile approached us while in lockdown as they were looking for a lone worker protection company to enhance their leading Work Force Management software.

“The UK leads the world in lone worker solutions, so it was a great fit to be acquired by another UK leading software company.

“The ultimate plan is that our Rochdale office will be the new centre of excellence for Totalmobile’s Protect product. This is great news for us as we look to expand our team in the future, having access to a wealth of local support from the Rochdale Development Agency and outstanding young local talent from Rochdale Sixth Form College and Hopwood Hall College.”

Lone Worker Solutions employs 22 people, with 17 based in Rochdale and a sales team of five in London.

Explaining how he came up with the idea for Lone Worker Solutions Mr White said: “We were concerned about what would happen when people work alone. It could be district nurses, delivery drivers or utility workers.

“A lot of organisations were cutting costs by going from a two person to a one person team. We introduced a platform solution that integrated apps and devices to a single solution.”

LWS provides access to safety alerts, status updates and locational information to support staff who are operating in high risk environments or undertaking sensitive activities.

The software is also used to support employee wellbeing and provide compliance assurance across a diverse range of enterprise level customers.

Lone Worker Solutions had grown turnover to £3m at the time it was bought.

Totalmobile also acquired a second company - Software Enterprises, known as Global Rostering System (GRS).

Mark Rogerson, chair of Totalmobile, said: “Following a transformational 2019, which saw Totalmobile deliver 70 per cent revenue growth, the acquisitions of Lone Worker Solutions and Global Rostering System creates further scale, offers entry into new market verticals and brings new, market-leading technology to enhance Totalmobile’s market-leading FSM product suite.”

Jim Darragh, CEO of Totalmobile, said: “In LWS and GRS, we have acquired some of the most well-regarded solutions in the market with subject matter experts who have the experience of growing strong annual recurring revenues. We look forward to welcoming the staff and customers of both companies to the Totalmobile family.”