A £20 million credit facility and the appointment of Jeremy Bailey, chairman of Global Banking Europe at Deutsche Bank, as a non-executive, are the most obvious indicators of the ambitious intent of Computer Software Group.

According to chief executive Vin Murria, she wants her company, which is consolidating attractive areas of the business software sector, ‘to justifiably command a market value of around £250 million as soon as possible. The addition of Jeremy adds an even greater credibility to our board and the bank facility provides a degree of financial muscle.’

Her comments accompanied the group’s buoyant interim results for the six months to August. These showed profits up 80 per cent to £1.7 million on sales improved 77 per cent to £19.4 million. £5.2 million of this came from acquisitions, of which four were completed during the period. Three — AIM Group, Videss and Laserform — have been merged to form a professional solutions division and have made CSG a leading player in the legal market.

Says Murria: ‘our business services and not-for-profit divisions are trading strongly and winning high-profile clients and contracts. But legal services is equally exciting. There are around nine and a half thousand legal firms in the UK and 3,000 have our products. We’ve combined the R&D budgets, improved profits and we’re now winning key competitive accounts.’

If all goes according to plan, Murria hopes to announce full-year profits of more than £8 million. At 114p, the business is valued at £67 million.

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