Instant Library appoints new MD to drive expansion

Instant Library works with clients in the private and public sector including London Underground, Virgin Atlantic and the House of Commons. New MD Martin Lewis has held senior positions in software and outsourced services industries for over 20 years including posts as UK Vice President for NIIT, an Indian software company, and Managing Director of ZEDA, an outsourcing specialist.

Experienced in change management and driving expansion, as well as being a successful entrepreneur, Martin has ambitious plans for the company, aiming to increase staff numbers threefold over the next few years through a combination of organic growth and acquisition. He says, "Instant Library is active in a wide range of areas such as knowledge management, records management, software development and ERDMS . We work with numerous skilled people including information managers, document managers and librarians and offer consultancy on challenges such as preparing for the Freedom of Information Act; Sarbanes Oxley; public/private partnerships; coping with increasingly demanding users; and dealing with combined services following mergers and acquisitions."

Client portfolio and future opportunities
Martin sees scope for market expansion in the private sector as non government organisations increasingly embrace the benefits of information management and knowledge management skills. Instant Library is already active in the private sector with clients in many areas including the engineering, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and transport industries and in the public sector with local and central government organisations. Work with London Underground involved transferring complex engineering information to Tube Lines and MetroNet under a public private partnership agreement. Instant Library captured all relevant engineering and CAD drawings for the tubelines electronically, indexed them and presented them in a central electronic data room.

Martin continues, "Archiving, managing, tracking and retrieving hard copy and electronic data is a huge task for private and public sector organisations – in 2002 alone, five exabytes of new information was created – enough to fill 37,000 new libraries the size of the USA’s Library of Congress. We have scanned and indexed over six million engineering records for London Underground."

"There are fantastic opportunities ahead for Instant Library," concludes Martin. "We employ staff who are luminaries in the records management, petrochemical and information management sectors including Paul Duller (editor of the Records Management Society’s journal) and Peter Beauchamp (former government Chief Library Adviser). We already have an impressive client base with Countryside Council for Wales, Ernst & Young, 3M Healthcare, HM Treasury, London Borough of Westminster, Manchester City Council, Marks and Spencer, Scottish Power, and Virgin Atlantic. And as part of Tribal Technology, the IT and information management division of the very successful FTSE-listed support services organisation Tribal Group plc, we can draw on other Group resources to offer clients complementary services."

Since Martin’s appointment, Instant Library has already merged with another IT-based Tribal company, creating an even broader base of relevant skills. The merger provides Instant Library with expertise including data collection and asset tracking using barcodes or radio frequency identification (RFID) via traditional and mobile communication tools for clients such as BOC Group, Hays and Rank. Many organisations are switching to RFID as it does not require direct contact or line-of-sight scanning, unlike barcodes, and used strategically it also offers opportunities to reengineer business processes through more efficient data flow. Instant Library also now offers pioneering IT software design and has designed portals, intranet, internet and extranet based solutions for on-line auctions and transactions, and to manage assets and share knowledge.

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Notes to editors:
Instant Library Ltd has a proven record in the provision of professional library, information and records management solutions in the public and private sectors. Company divisions include recruitment; records management; library services; engineering information services; and IT services. In the CAD (Computer Assisted Design) field, Instant Library provides support for CAD software and hardware, as well as data management and 3D modelling. Document management services range from scanning to bespoke application development for electronic document management systems (EDMS), data room services, records and archive management and formulates strategies for document management.
www.instant-library.com

Tribal Technology is the IT and information management division of the Tribal Group plc, one of the most successful and fastest growing support services companies in the UK today. Tribal Technology provides creative technology and management solutions to the private and public sector specialising in libraries and information management, learning delivery and management, back office support, IT infrastructure management and managed services. The company formed in 2002 from a number of businesses who are experts in their field. It has a turnover of £40m and 500 staff based across the UK.
www.tribaltechnology.com
www.tribalgroup.co.uk

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Catherine Dhanjal, TheAnswer Ltd Tel: 0208 655 0953 or 0794 166 9925
Email: catherine.dhanjal@theansweruk.com