UK'S THE ACCESS GROUP OPENS GLOBAL OPS CENTRE IN KUALA LUMPUR

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has attracted the United Kingdom’s second-largest business management software provider, The Access Group, to establish its new Global Operations Centre (GOC) in the country.

The Access Group aims to leverage Malaysia’s dynamic digital environments, stable business landscape and skilled workforce to support its ongoing global expansion.

The expansion will be supported by an additional 1,000 skilled workers, aiming to be created by 2027, said co-founder and chief executive officer, Chris Bayne, during the launch of the GOC here today. 

A total of 417 local talent pools are already based at the GOC, which is at Exchange 106. 

"We did a lot of research and we had 17 different metrics (why we chose Malaysia). We looked at Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Manila and of course Kuala Lumpur, as this choice was not made randomly.

"What influenced our decision was the business economy, the connectivity, the technology, the access to talent, the university graduates, and the talent pool we can get from the location. These drove us to make the decision," he said. 

Bayne said that in just 10 months, over 200 staff members were added to support the GOC, which went live in July.

Access serves 20,000 domestic clients, and the GOC Kuala Lumpur is now ready to tap into new markets, accelerating growth in regions with smaller coverage and boosting the company’s business outlook.

"If we look at our revenue over the over last few years, 17 years of uninterrupted growth, and you can see we go from relatively modest US$40 odd million revenues in 2012 and as we stand today, we are just north of US$1.4 billion revenue and aimed to go to US$1.6 billion this year (US$1=RM4.385).

"The acceleration has come as the transformation of software to pure cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) has accelerated across the UK and now much more globally," he noted. 

President for Asia Pacific Kerry Agiasotis said the UK market serves a client base 10 per cent larger than that of Southeast Asia and Australia; however, these markets are five times larger, presenting massive opportunities for Access to tap into.

Access first entered the Malaysian market in 2018 via the acquisition of Sage Group PLC's (business management software company) local businesses and Volcanic (recruitment and staffing website software supplier). 

The company is also in the process of acquiring new businesses to strengthen its domestic operations, as revealed by chief sales officer Jon Jorgensen. 

However, he did not provide further details on the acquisitions or the specific companies involved.

The GOC was officiated by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustafa and Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Liew Chin Tong. 

Zaliha said Kuala Lumpur homed 140 multinational corporations supported by InvestKL Corporation, which facilitated RM30 billion worth of investments and created more than 27,000 jobs. 

"We aim to position the country among the top 20 in the global startup ecosystem by 2030, underlining our dedication to sustainability, innovations and global connectivity. 

"Therefore, the presence of the access group here in Kuala Lumpur strengthened the visions propelling us forward on our journey to a smart and process future," she said. 

Over the next four years, Access GOCs throughout the world will support 40 per cent of the group's global staffing needs. 

The ambition is to create a global backbone of GOCs, providing international senior management access to diverse talent and regional infrastructure to execute growth targets. 

-- BERNAMA