LONDON (ShareCast) - Details of the UK government's G-Cloud framework agreement are out and companies that have been picked as approved suppliers have lost little time in announcing the fact. The G-Cloud is a UK government initiative designed to bring together a collective resource of cloud-based information technology (IT) services for use by public authorities.

@UK, the cloud e-commerce marketplace, said it has been recognised as an approved supplier in each of the four lots of the framework. Netcall, the provider of customer helpline software, has been named as an approved supplier of Software-as-a-Service solutions.

Sticking with the IT theme, Belgravium Technologies, the designer and supplier of computing solutions and services for the mobile computing market, has installed MSS, its on-board retail software system, for in-flight retail use on British Airways. Around 1900 Kestrel handsets designed and assembled by Belgravium have been supplied to British Airways as well as the necessary software and hardware support. In addition, through its commercial partner Tourvest, an agreement is in place for Belgravium to provide on-going maintenance for both hardware and software.

dotDigital Group provides software as a service products for digital market professionals, although the target market probably did not need to be made explicit given the self-consciously idiosyncratic use of capitalisation in the company's name. The group increased underlying pre-tax profit to £1.25m in the six months to the end of 2011 from £1.03m the year before. Revenue grew to £5.5m from £4.1m. The business has continued to be cash generative with net cash inflows from operations of £1.2m and the cash balance at the end of 2011 was £2.9m.

Westminster Group, the security solutions firm, has won a 15-year contract to provide complete airport security at an international airport in Africa. The contract has a potential revenue value of more than $150m. Operations will begin in May of this year and are expected to generate revenues of $4.5m in the first twelve months of operations. Shares leapt 41.67% to 21.25p.

Amiad Water Systems, an Israeli water filter supplier, has secured two 'significant' contracts for projects in Australia. The contracts are valued at $8m and $1.6m respectively. The larger contract is for the supply of the firm's automatic self-cleaning screen filter technology, and the smaller for its automatic self-cleaning disc technology. Both are due to be delivered later this year. Shares rose 3.15% to 245.50p.

Wanxiang Group, a global leader in automotive parts manufacturing and supply, is to make a $25m investment in Smith Electric Vehicles, a US associate company of Tanfield, the aerial work platforms maker. The investment will be in the form of the acquisition of preferred stock and warrants, as part of the fund raising announced by Tanfield on February 14th. Smith and Wanxiang have committed to invest up to $75M in a joint venture to develop, manufacture and commercialise all-electric school buses and commercial vehicles for multiple industries in China. Tanfield's shares rose 6.23% to 53.25p.

Shaft Sinkers, an international shaft sinking and underground construction group, has revealed that results before exceptional items for the year ended December 31st will be ahead of market expectations, despite the technical difficulties experienced at some of the company's client sites. Unaudited group revenue has grown by about 20% from £183m in 2010 to around £220m in 2011. The group said it continues to seek growth in the CIS region and India and to pursue new opportunities that arise in South Africa. Shares rose 24.87% to 60.25p.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE