Newport-based IT consultancy Certus TG, has received £85,000 of funding from the Welsh Government to help it achieve its ambitious plans for growth.

The funding, which was awarded under the Skills Growth Wales programme, will enable Certus TG to maintain its position at the cutting edge of the technology sector by making sure its engineers are up-to-date with the very latest accreditations.

The funding comes at a time when Certus TG is enjoying a period of expansion, having recently taken on five new members of staff across its technical and marketing teams.

Certus TG is already one of Wales’ fastest-growing IT consultancies. Earlier this year, it became the first company in Wales to be awarded Triple Gold Competency status from Microsoft, the highest accolade available to Microsoft partners.

Paul Brown, CEO of Certus TG, said that investing in Certus’ technical team was key: “Investment in staff training and education is vital to make sure that our customers know they are dealing with a fully accredited team, who are up to speed on the very latest technology and who are capable of delivering the very best service.

“The IT sector is naturally fast-moving, with updates to software and systems appearing on a regular basis, so it is very important that we keep, and stay, up-to-date.

“We are determined to continue to achieve the very highest industry standards, and this funding from Skills Growth Wales will be integral in helping us to do so.”

While the lion’s share of the funding will be put towards training for Certus’ technical team, staff across the business will benefit.

Paul said: “The continual development of our technical team is paramount, but our customer care, finance and marketing teams will also receive training. While the technical team need the very latest skills and accreditations, these other departments are just as important in maintaining the excellent levels of service our clients receive.

“We have recently recruited four new team members in the technical department and one in the marketing department, further demonstrating our commitment to developing our team. We want to make sure every member of staff at Certus meets their individual potential, to enable the business as a whole to meet its goals.”

Rosemarie Mears, senior relationship manager at the Department for Education and Skills, said: “The Welsh Government are very pleased that the Skills Growth Wales supported training which is intrinsic to Certus TG realising their growth potential, is bringing real benefits to the company in increasing skills levels of new and existing staff across the whole organisation.”

Applications for this year’s Skills Growth Wales scheme closed in March.

Skills Growth Wales is part of the Welsh Government’s Workforce Development Programme, and is part-financed by the European Social Fund. The scheme provided companies who have plans to grow, but need support for training their team to achieve this. To receive funding, companies demonstrated that their plans for growth are credible, and will lead to the creation of new employment opportunities within their business. They also showed that the training being funded will directly help them to achieve this growth.

Training programmes or modules leading to qualifications in Leadership and Management and Business Improvement Techniques were eligible, as well as other recognised vocational qualifications.