150 jobs at Sheffield IT firm are 'just phase one' of expansion

Littlefish wants 150 people after taking a floor in Steel City House on West Street.

But with growth of 50 per cent a year, bosses are already planning a second phase of recruitment - and say Sheffield is in the running.

Sales and marketing director Mark Petty said: “We’ve got 15 people in there now and 60 jobs on offer and we don’t officially open until March 5. We need a total of 150 by Christmas. This is just phase one.

“Before we choose Sheffield we hired consultants who looked at transport links, skills, affordability, standard of living and the proportion of students.

“They said a lot of people are commuting from Sheffield to Leeds. But if you didn’t have to you wouldn’t. So after phase one we’ll be looking again and asking, ‘do we expand in Sheffield?’”

The Nottingham-based firm has grown from £6m turnover to £30m in the last three years.

High profile clients include the Houses of Parliament, where it has 8,500 users. It also serves local authorities which have IT in-house.

Mr Petty said sickness absence at local councils was the highest since 1990 and their services reduced it by 70 per cent.

Littlefish offers IT services, cyber security, a call centre and helpdesk to customers including paint company Farrow and Ball, the PDSA and NSK, one of the world’s largest makers of ball bearings.

Steve Robinson, chief executive and co-founder, said: “The decision to expand our footprint in the UK and open a second major service centre here in Sheffield was due to the exceptional levels of digital talent in the city and the surrounding areas, the fantastic transport links, and the superb universities, but also because Sheffield is a creative and vibrant city that we feel has a huge amount to offer our people.”

The move coincides with both another record-breaking year for Littlefish, and acknowledgement of its #PeopleMatter cultural approach, with being awarded the coveted 2020 Sunday Times Best Companies 1* Star Accreditation.