Long-established Edinburgh-based technology company Computer Application Services Ltd (CAS) which trades as Workpro, is set to further boost its growth trajectory after securing an additional £500,000 equity investment from both existing sources and new investors.
To capitalise on a year of organic growth which has seen revenues rise by a factor of 20 per cent, the employee-owned company plans a push to build on increasing market recognition of the value of its software offering.
The new investment will fuel more proactive initiatives to target audiences, with increased effort to raise awareness of how readily the task of juggling cases and causes can be streamlined and supported by UK-developed software.
It will further highlight the success of Workpro, the market-facing brand of CAS which has been providing case management solutions for business since the year 2000. The company was born in 1969 as a spin out from the technology transfer unit of Heriot-Watt University.
Ken Naismith, Chief Executive of CAS, said: “While CAS and Workpro are obviously good horses for investors to back, we do not take for granted the terrific support that has been made available to us when so many businesses are worried about the future.
“Consumer grievances and employee relations issues are only going to rise as organisations meet 2025’s challenges. Workpro makes light work of heavy caseload and provides essential insights into issues arising from customers and colleagues.
“Workpro also has all the right data security credentials to pass muster with government and corporate governance.”
New opportunities are arising for Workpro and CAS as the workload of HR departments – its main focus of activity – relentlessly increases. A report last month (November 2024) showed the difficulties organisations face in aligning business objectives and adopting innovative technologies.
Nearly half described how their teams feel “overwhelmed” by the sheer volume and complexity of HR responsibilities and more than half feel hampered by error-prone manual processes.
Mr Naismith said that, while effectively managing workload, Workpro ensures compliance with procedures which, if not observed, can easily lead to pain and penalties. Insightful reports let users see where they are “attracting trouble”, so that prevention of future issues becomes part of the package.
After beginning his career with Xerox before moving into international software sales, Mr Naismith joined Workpro in 2013 and was instrumental in taking the company down the employee-ownership route, which he said has also transformed practices and attitudes in recent years.
The new investment has come from Capital for Colleagues, a quoted company focused on advising, investing in and supporting the growth of businesses that are or want to become employee owned, as well as two new private investors.
The employee-owned company has increased its client portfolio by 400% over the past five years, including clients in national and local government, financial and legal institutions, as well as major retailers, while maintaining Workpro’s place in the support of Ombudsman services.
Growth has been catalysed also by the firm’s decision to make Workpro available as a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, a method of delivery and licensing in which software is accessed online via subscription, rather than bought and installed on individual computers.
