BUSINESS management software provider Access has reported a near-50% increase in headline annual profits.

Access, which is based at Stratford St Mary, between Ipswich and Colchester, said earnings before interest, tax and depreciation grew to �6.70million from �4.56m, on turnover up 16% at �32.93m against �28.37m the previous year.

Licence order intake grew by 29%, as Access won new customers in a wide range of sectors. Customers included rugby club Leicester Tigers and the Welsh Rugby Union, with Access also boosting its strongholds in the not-for-profit, professional services and manufacturing sectors.

Acquisitions during the year included dealers DHC Finance and Accounting Technology alongside the user bases of Elite Business Services and Hoge 100 Business Systems.

The new financial year has also seen the acquisition of Prelytis, Delta Software and thankQ, alongside the launch of Access aCloud, an SaaS (Software as a Service) platform.

Adam Brown, chief financial officer at Access, said: “The strong financials reflect our success in enabling some of the UK’s most innovative, fast growing enterprises to achieve operational excellence.

“This has been realised by acquiring best-of-breed, compatible technologies which provide a strong fit for our demand-driven product portfolio.

“These solutions are then being integrated with the rest of our software suite in record time. In addition, our templated approach alongside our extensive domain experience is leading to rapid deployment, often within complex business environments.”