Company of the Month, June 2019: Kainos, the first NI company admitted to FTSE 250

Pictured: Brendan Mooney, Chief Executive, Kainos.

Digital services company Kainos have been selected as Business & Finance’s Company of the Month, making history as the first Northern Ireland company admitted to the FTSE 250.

Belfast-headquartered Kainos first listed on the main market of London Stock Exchange in 2015. The IT group announced in June 2019 that it has been promoted to the FTSE 250, the first Northern Irish firm to reach the select group consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. It joins well-known names such as Dixons Carphone, easyJet and Grafton Group on the prestigious listing. 

Kainos, founded in 1986 as a spin-out company from Queen’s University, delivers IT solutions, consulting and specialised digital products, employing over 1,400 people across Europe and the USA. Its clients are predominantly in the Public, Health and Financial Services sectors, and include over 150 well-known global organisations and large government departments, ranging from the NHS to Chanel to Netflix.

Headed up by chief executive Brendan Mooney, a previous Business & Finance Business Person of the Month, innovation is at the core of what the company does, with pioneering digital platforms used by public and private sector organisations across the globe to deliver better customer outcomes, improve service and reduce costs.

Kainos has 1,470 staff across 11 offices in Europe and the US, with recently established outposts in Frankfurt, Copenhagen and Canada. As one of Northern Ireland’s most successful indigenous IT companies, its growth and expansion in Northern Ireland has created hundreds of high quality, well-paid jobs in Belfast and Derry. 

The last ten years have seen a continuing growth trend for the company, with its latest full-year results announcement showing revenue growth of 56% to £151.3 million (2018: £96.7 million).

In a previous interview with Business & Finance, CEO Mr Mooney credited seizing and creating new growth opportunities as one of the keys to their success, citing their work with high-growth US software company, Workday to implement their software in Europe for clients like Easyjet, Travelex and Tom Tom.