PDMS Turns 30 in Style

It’s 1993, phones are actually phones, Man United are crowned the first ever winners of the Premier League and PDMS opens a small office on the Isle of Man.

That small office has since grown into a company that has become one of the most respected in the field of software engineering.

To celebrate those 30 years of success, PDMS recently held an evening at Cycle 360 which not only reflected those early days, but how the company has grown to work with clients such as the NHS in England to others right across the world

Speaking at the event, CEO Chris Gledhill said: ‘In the intervening years, there have been eight UK Prime Ministers, seven Chief Ministers, nine if you include repeats.

‘We’ve doubled in size about 5.5 times taking us from the original two to 92 people today, we have two offices, we’ve acquired two other companies and developed and sold to others. We’ve worked with over 300 customers in about 50 jurisdictions in many different sectors and although our customers and the solutions we provide are incredibly diverse, our core purposes remain completely consistent.

‘We aim to ensure that customers are able to make the best use of information, technology and data to achieve their organisational goals, we aim to provide the information for people to succeed and I really put the emphasis there on information, data is the raw material, information is what people need.’

Proving his love of data and information, Chris explained how more than 45% of PDMS’ clients have worked with the company for 10 years or more, that the company has employed over 250 people on the island since it first opened its doors and that one in six of the technical team in post today started with the company as an apprentice.

Chris also praised Junior Achievement, which unveiled its new scheme that will see volunteers receive discounts or other benefits from partner company across the island.

He added: ‘We should never take for granted the value of STEM and institutions and the value of collaboration between politics, civil service, business and the third sector.

‘I can’t overstate how important that relationship is to business, because it makes such a difference to so many aspects of success.’

Despite having been running for 30 years, Chris said PDMS is a company that ‘feels young, diverse and vibrant’.

He said that even with a ‘millennium of continuous service’ across the business, there are ‘industry record’ levels of women and under 45s in senior roles.

Speaking at the event, Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer said he had visited PDMS’ office and had been struck by ‘how they invest in their people’ and ‘how they look after their team’.

He added: ‘But the thing that struck me was was working with the community and that strong relationship with the community, particularly giving staff time to go off and work with charities.’

Sir John also praised PDMS’ commitment to the environment and a sustainable future, before leading a toast to 30 years of success for the company.