SciSys, the Chippenham-based specialist IT firm, has landed two contracts worth nearly £8m – ending a tough year for the company on a high note.
The firm, which develops high-end software for blue-chip customers in the defence, government, media and space sectors, is to supply software and support services for the Ministry of Defence’s Customs Compliance Management Information System (CCMIS).
Also this week it secured a contract with Thales Alenia Space France for work on the Galileo Ground Mission Segment (GMS) – the global network of sensor stations monitoring signals from the mission’s satellites. 
The contracts come as SciSys recovers from challenges over the past 12 months that included problems with the major fixed-price development project for an unnamed client, which pushed the firm into a £1.1m half-year loss on revenues down by 22%.
In June millions of pounds were wiped off SciSys’ stock market value when it issued a profits warning over the contract and warned that it was at risk of breaching its banking covenants
The firm later said “constructive consultation” with the banks – which it has not named – had resulted in a successful outcome.
The four-year, £4m MoD contract includes designing and delivering a system to help CCMIS become more efficient.
The MoD is unique because of the volume of equipment and supplies it moves across EU borders as exports and which are then returned as imports.
Compliance with complex regulations enforced by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is essential, and requires documents to be submitted and the correct payment of relevant duties and taxes.
CCMIS will enable the MoD to be tax efficient and compliant with HMRC regulations and EU law, as well as meeting the requirements of international defence trade agreements.
SCISYS divisional director of enterprise solutions & defence, Andy Whitehead, said: “We are delighted to add this highly significant project to our defence portfolio, which helps underpin our growth plans within this most important sector.”
SciSys CEO Klaus Heidrich added: “Our enterprise solutions & defence division has again proved its ability to win key contracts in tough competition. Congratulations to the team for securing this great success. It underpins our expectations for a solid second half year and also supports recovery and growth ambitions as we move into 2016.”
The two-year €5.2m (£3.8m) Thales contract is carried out under a European Union programme and funded by the EU.
It continues a successful and long-standing cooperation between SciSys and Thales Alenia Space France, the prime contractor for the GMS.
The GMS is the heart of the Galileo satellite navigation system. It comprises a global network of sensor stations to monitor the signals from the satellites, a chain of Earth stations to uplink navigation data to the satellites, parallel communications networks, and a complex sequence of processing elements.
Klaus Heidrich added: “Our space division has again proved its ability to secure follow-on work on key contracts, underlining SciSys’ strong commitment to the Galileo Ground Mission Segment. This contract provides us with a valuable boost to our order book and added confidence around expectations for the forthcoming financial year.”
Shares in SciSys, which employs 450 staff across its offices in Chippenham, Bristol, Leicester and Reading and two in Germany, started 2015 at 93.5p but tumbled to 58p in June. Today they were trading at 72p.
