Think of “Kagool” and you might imagine a bracing countryside stroll wrapped up in a trusty, weather-defying coat. But, here in the West Midlands, it’s a name that’s also synonymous with a home-grown company that has taken centre stage as a global big-hitter.
Coventry-based global data and analytics specialist, Kagool, has seen a meteoric rise in the space of a few years – and with bases dotted across the globe including Chicago and Dubai – it hits pretty much every business timezone.
Its customer-first approach and digital wizardry has seen it garner the support of big tech groups (Kagool is partnered with the world’s leading providers including SAP, Microsoft, Google and Oracle and it’s the primary choice for programmes for some of the world’s largest multinational organisations.
The company offers skilled employment to hundreds of staff, both regionally at its Coventry headquarters, as well as globally. It reaches out to the education sector through mentoring and other programmes and encourages other companies to thrive through its work, notably with West Midlands Growth Company. It was even part of a transatlantic trade mission, led by the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, to North America earlier this year.
Quite a list of achievements for a company which, though founded by its chief executive officer, Dan Barlow, back in 2004, has seen massive expansion in the past few years.
“In the last five years we’ve gone from 15 people – we only had UK clients, we only had UK employees. Five years later, we’ve now got 600 employees, we operate in seven countries, and we’ve got customers all over the world,” said Dan.
So what is it that makes this data analytics and ERP specialist consultancy such a success in the sector? Kagool’s sales director, Peter Dennis, believes there are a number of factors. He explained: “We are in a unique position because the talent pool we have attracted from the universities allows us to offer a service and product that delivers the highest level of service and allows us to be more competitive in the marketplace.
“We still offer a boutique service that some of the organisations we are dealing with will find refreshing – we are agile, aligning ourselves with the customers quicker because we don’t have that red tape in place. We also have a relatively flat structure which allows us to adapt quickly for our customers. People like that. We are trying to accelerate the way businesses get to use their data and give our customers that value.”
Global expansionKagool has seen huge global expansion over the past five years – and its ability to provide solutions to manufacturing and distribution problems faced by companies during the Covid-19 pandemic only galvanised its reputation and further speeded up its rapid growth. The last few months have seen Kagool significantly strengthening its global presence, with new offices opening in Hyderabad (India) and Chicago (USA), as well as an office expansion in Kuala Lumpar (Malaysia). It has also taken its first steps into the Middle East, with expansion to Qatar- and a new office in Dubai. It has bases in India, Chicago, Dubai and Qatar – and it doesn’t stop there.
Kagool’s head of public affairs, Clare Golby, explained: “Our next focus will be on Kuala Lumpur. We are covering most of the timezones we need to through these well placed offices. But everything is run through Coventry.”
Trade mission Trade mission… Kagool chief executive officer, Dan Barlow with Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, in the Kagool Chicago officeKagool was part of a special transatlantic trade mission earlier this year which showcased the region to investors in the US and Canada.
Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, led the week-long Commonwealth Game trip which began in Birmingham’s twin city Chicago before heading to Toronto for the arrival in the city of the Queen’s Baton Relay.
The aim was to showcase the region to investors, business leaders and tourism chiefs looking to expand into the West Midlands or establish trade links here.
Tapping into regional talentOne of the keys to Kagool’s success is its ability to attract, nurture and maintain emerging talent. The company works closely with the universities – it was involved with Coventry’s Women in Tech programme as well as mentoring students.
“We engage with the universities because we have a really good talent pool locally and the work we do focus on trying to keep that in the West Midlands,” said Clare.
“The Midlands region is very good at training people and then we haemorrhage them as they go back to their places of origin – so we work with the universities to tap into that talent pool to stop the brain drain.”
Tech Boss Challenge Inspiring the next generation at the Tech Boss ChallengeThe company works within the wider community, too. It recently teamed up with EmployabilityUK to deliver the inter-school competition, Tech Boss Challenge. Its aim was to raise the confidence, skills and aspirations of students across Coventry with teams presenting their solutions to a judging panel of representatives from Kagool, EmployabilityUK and independent experts.
A team of volunteers from Kagool acted as mentors to the students – allowing them to tap into expertise and experience in a variety of areas including marketing, HR, analytics and data engineering. And it opened students’ eyes to a range of technical and non technical role when considering their future career paths.
AwardsKagool is a proud sponsor of the Coventry Telegraph West Midlands Tech Awards to be held later this year.
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