12 jobs on way after £2m investment in Sheffield IT company Azzure

Azzure IT will strengthen its management team, recruit engineers and expand sales and marketing operations. It is set to create 12 jobs over the year ahead.

The firm, based on Sheffield Business Park, helps clients boost productivity with Microsoft software.

Founded in 2011, by Craig and Sharon Such, it now employs 57.

Craig Such said: “In the last three years the speed at which tech is moving has accelerated tremendously, it is much more accessible and easier to use on all devices such as smartphones and the cost has come down.

“Even a business of a single person can use tech to be more effective. We are putting a lot of investment into the local region.

“I want to see the businesses in this area be the best run in the country.”

The investment is from Mercia Equity Finance which has taken an undisclosed percentage stake in the business.

It is one organisation which manages the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund run by the Sheffield-based British Business Bank, which is part-funded by the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

Ken Cooper, managing director at British Business Bank, said: “Providing investment for innovative, high-growth companies such as Azzure is what we set out to achieve when we launched the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund last year. This deal, which is the largest to date, highlights the range of support provided by our fund managers and demonstrates the existence of potentially world beating companies in Sheffield. The fund will be supporting many other similar opportunities across the Northern Powerhouse region.”

Neil MacDonald of SCR LEP said: “This sort of project is exactly why we’ve invested in NPIF and the British Business Bank. This is all part of our wider package of funding to support business across the region.”