Astuta acquires leading UK public sector finance software specialist Trojan

UK software group Astuta has announced the acquisition of Trojan Consultants, a UK leader in public sector finance systems. The move heralds an exciting new chapter in both businesses’ growth.

Trojan has developed, supplied and supported specialist finance systems for Social Services, National Health Service and Local Government organisations the length and breadth of the UK for more than 30 years.

Astuta excels in identifying, organically-developed British IT companies with longevity and high-growth potential. Its plans for Trojan are to ensure smooth continuity for loyal customers, while unlocking more of its potential by investing in a new generation of features and functionality.

Although there will be no disruption to the customer experience or every-day operations, Astuta’s outright purchase of Trojan will provide the business a timely injection of funds to finance a new phase of software enhancement and expansion. Specifically, it will allow Trojan to migrate its software to a modern, cloud-optimised development and delivery platform. This will offer customers the option to run systems externally, as a secure, flexible and cost-effective alternative to maintaining fixed licensed products on their own premises.

Migrating Trojan’s systems to a state-of-the-art Microsoft development platform and the Azure cloud-based infrastructure will also enable more frequent updates to the software, keeping pace with user expectations and making the user experience richer and more intuitive.

“We want to reassure all of Trojan’s valued customers and staff that we’re 100% committed to continuing the success of the company and its products,” said Howard Sears, Astuta’s founder and executive chairman. “This is a business which already has exemplary customer service and, by no coincidence, a very loyal customer base. Our plan is to protect and build on that.”

Explaining Trojan’s stand-out appeal to Astuta, he added, “Trojan is a leader in safeguarding vulnerable groups. Key to the solution it provides to more than 80 local authorities is CASPAR, a system that monitors and records spending for vulnerable people. Ultimately this spending has to be reported to the regulator. All of this fits very well with the regulatory reporting-related activities of the other software organisations we have acquired and funded. The intelligent automation of regulatory reporting and compliance is a central interest of Astuta, and it’s one of the pivotal ways we add value to the technology companies we acquire.”