London isn’t where it’s at when you’re in the software business. Ben Goss moved his financial advice technology firm Distribution Technology from bustling Bishopsgate to leafy Reading to be in the heart of software land, alongside giants Microsoft, Oracle and SunGard.

“We found we were hiring from the Thames Valley anyway,” says Goss. “And there were only 12 of us at the time, so the move wasn’t too painful. We did it over a weekend and were open for business as usual on Monday.”

Goss lost two members of staff when he made the move, but the new location put the firm slap bang in the middle of a pool of talent. “I realised that there were thousands of people in software getting on and off trains at Reading station, so we started putting posters up.”

The ad read: “Enjoying your commute? Interested in joining a Tech-Track 100 financial services software company, based two minutes from the station? We’re recruiting.” The posters cost £1200 for two months, but the response was huge.

“We’re growing so fast that we’ve had to move offices again, but we’re subletting our old property at a profit,” says Goss. The company currently employs 72 people. The DT business model relies on five-year contracts with major institutions like Lloyds, Citibank, AXA and Friends Provident.

Today, 28 out of the 50 big financial services companies use the firm’s products, that’s over 18,000 financial advisers around the UK. Distribution Technology turned over £3.5m last year, having doubled in size year-on-year since the company’s inception in 2003. And DT is set to double again in 2008, with a predicted turnover of £7m.

But Goss and co-founder Patrick Fitzgerald did have to overcome one obstacle with the Reading relocation. Albeit a personal one. “Until recently, Pat and I were commuting from Blackheath,” he says. “That’s a four-hour journey. It was a nightmare!”

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