A Carlow-based technology company which started three years ago with a staff of two now employs 60 and has offices in Ireland, the US and Britain.Nobody at Technology Sales Leads, it seems, even noticed the slowdown in the economy which has particularly affected the IT sector.
The company has just announced a doubling of sales for the year ending March 2002 to €2.5 million.
Its managing director, Dubliner Mike Kelly (30), says the intention is to match that performance by doubling in size again over the next 12 months.
Running a rapidly-growing enterprise is, he claims, "good fun".
In April 1999, he and a friend from Boston, David English (29), were the sole occupants of the TSL office at the innovation centre at Carlow Institute of Technology.
Their idea was to replicate an idea which they had come across while working together in the US. Mr Kelly calls it "enterprise prospecting". In short, the company does the groundwork in generating sales for clients, allowing the clients to concentrate on finalising deals.
As well as its office on Burrin Street in Carlow, where about 45 of its staff are based, TSL also has an operation in Boston, run by Mr English, and has sales offices in Washington and London. It plans to open another operation near London soon.
It has recently expanded its service to include call centre-type telemarketing.
Delegating tasks to a good management have enabled Mr Kelly to concentrate on continuing the strategic development of the company.
He intends to keep TSL in Carlow but only as long as it is advantageous to do so. "Carlow has been good to us so far. If we can consistently get good people here at the right price then we don't have a problem with that." The company has a website at www.tsleads.com
