'Spare-room' firm makes top 500

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS: Ferret Software, one of the fastest-growing companies in the Asia Pacific region, is run from a spare room in rural Te Awamutu. Ferret Software staff IT support person Tony Hao, left, and company founder and director Phil North, with Luger the dog, met up ahead of the Deloitte Fast 500 award presentation ceremonies held last night.

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Running his company from a spare room in his Te Awamutu home, Ferret Software founder and director Phil North said being named as one of the fastest growing companies in the Asia Pacific region was "a bit of a shock".

His company is one of five Waikato businesses that made it on to Deloitte's list of the 500 fastest-growing technology companies in the Asia Pacific region.

Raglan-based surf reef designer ASR, Hamilton-based internet retailer Torpedo7, web hosts Rimu Hosting, broadband network provider Velocity Networks and Mount Maunganui-based retailer IQ Toys also made the list, which is based on three-year average percentage revenue growth.

Ferret Software is one of the smaller companies represented. Until last year Mr North was a one-man band supporting clients and spending much of the year on the road selling his file management system. "I usually clock up 80,000 kilometres a year and that is not counting flights to the South Island and to Australia and Singapore," Mr North said.

He also has clients in Thailand, Fiji and Britain.

Ferret Software stores and manages large volumes of electronic files and clients range from manufacturers and consultants to accountancy practices to insurance brokers.

"If a company has large volumes of one type of file we save everything in one place and they only have to look in one place," Mr North said.

Until 2005 he had a document scanning company, through which he developed the Ferret technology. He then sold the company, retaining Ferret, and "took over the spare room".

"The aim is to keep costs and overheads down. We have no debt," Mr North said.

"We don't need big fancy offices."

He may have been surprised to have been on the Fast 500 for 2009 but now he is keen to build on his 395th placing in 2010.

Ferret Software is still experiencing high growth from a turnover of $300,000 in 2007 to $630,000 last year and now being on track to increase turnover by 25 per cent for 2010.

Expansion plans include hiring salespeople for New Zealand, Australia and Singapore so he can spend more time at home.

The companies were presented with their awards at Deloitte's offices in Hamilton last night.

- © Fairfax NZ News