THE chief executive of IT and telecoms provider Pinnacle Technology Group has warned his turnaround programme to return the AIM-listed business to profit will take time to bear fruit.
Nicholas Scallan took charge in early March and believes the firm is now moving in the right direction.
Mr Scallan came into the role after Pinnacle founder Alan Bonner announced at the end of 2013 he wanted to step down.
The group's half-year results to March 31 this year, which were published in June, showed a dip in revenue from £5.36 million to £4.29m with its loss before tax widening from £1.1m to £1.2m.
Mr Scallan, a former director of customer solutions at Virgin Media Business, was bound by stock market rules and was unable to talk about the specific financial projections at the company.
However even six months into the post he reiterated the turnaround process will not be a quick fix.
He said: "We have made progress with it and we are making some headway which is good.
"We are pointing in the right direction but it is going to take time."
Mr Scallan's plan involves narrowing the focus of the business to concentrate more closely on managed IT services and cyber security although it will still provide services such as broadband and telecoms.
There has already been a step-back from its one-off events business which saw Pinnacle provide telecoms and broadband infrastructure to major events ranging from the Alfred Dunhill Links golf championship and London Marathon to music festivals and the Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
Alongside that Mr Scallan has continued to trim costs "where possible" while aiming for profitable revenue growth.
He said: "In terms of growing the business clearly we need to acquire new clients as well as maintain the ones we have got. We have got a good track record of recurring business, it is about 88 per cent of customers staying with us and we have started to try and grow again."
Mr Scallan pointed out Aberlour Childcare Trust as a new client while also stating recent renewals included Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and United Utilities.
He was also keen to note that while Pinnacle is trying to keep a lid on costs it continues to invest, particularly in its Glasgow office.
He said: "We are continuing to take cost out where we think it is the right thing to do. That is balanced by selective investment.
"We put some investment in Glasgow and brought on some additional technicians and engineers."
According to Mr Scallan headcount in Glasgow is now at 16 and he would be happy to add to that.
He said: "When I did my review of the business I saw that our Glasgow operation was one of the best bits of the company and has the capacity to grow.
"I thought we could make the customer experience in Glasgow better by adding some new tools.
"My view is that success breeds success. As we attract new clients then we will continue to grow the operation. It is a question of the team having the right tools to deliver customer service and having the right skills in the business."
Mr Scallan, a chartered engineer who graduated from Strathclyde University, confirmed there were no plans for the company to invest in infrastructure such as data centres as he feels it is better served by outsourcing services of that type to specialists like Scolocate.
As well as that he indicated the public sector procurement process is becoming increasingly difficult for small and medium businesses to compete in.
He added: "This is increasingly challenging as the frameworks which public sector (contracts) are being procured under, while ostensibly inviting small and medium businesses to be part of it, actually have quite a high degree of overhead associated with them.
"So while we are continuing to explore (public sector)we are also exploring solutions where we are part of a consortium or solution.
"This collaboration approach is increasingly important as the public sector is obviously cost conscious but equally strict in terms of the procurement process. It can be quite challenging for a company like ours to produce something to the standard they would need on our own two feet."a
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