More misery for Scottish workers as CRM firm lays off 80

NEWS Scottish CRM vendor Quadstone has announced 80 redundancies and the resignation of its CEO in a cull designed to turn around the company's ailing fortunes. Departing chief executive Neil Heywood blamed the changing market conditions for his rapid exit. "I believe the company will be stronger and more successful following the changes it has put in place this week," he said in a statement. The cull of almost 50 per cent of Quadstone's workforce is unwelcome news for Scotland's already demoralised high-tech industry. Heywood will be replaced by founder and CTO Nick Radcliffe, who called the reshaping "painful but necessary". In December the company secured £21m in private equity financing from a syndicate lead by Amadeus Capital Partners. It has raised around £34m in funding over its six-year history. David Bradshaw, VP of consulting for Ovum North America, was not surprised by the news. "Next year the worldwide market for CRM is going to be flat. In the US it's going to shrink," he told silicon.com. "Quadstone is anticipating a downturn in the market and making sensible decisions. It will also be looking for profitability," he added. The company's predictive marketing software is used by clients such as Barclays, GUS, Sainsbury's and Vodafone to make sense of user data and predict customer behaviour. Set up in the early 90s by four graduates of Edinburgh University's high-performance computing centre, Quadstone is considered a leader in its field. In May this year it picked up the coveted title of 'CRM Solution of the Year' at the Customer Technology Association (CTA) awards in London's Waldorf Hotel.