Preston software firm signs milestone deal

A young entrepreneur is celebrating after agreeing a milestone deal that will see his graduate business provide application processing technology to universities across the UK.

He was featured in Lancashire Business View's Young'uns feature in 2012, and now the Preston company’s software – which helps cut immigration abuse and streamline administration – will be rolled out in up to 100 UK universities and colleges.

“I had the idea when I visited India on a business placement. I met with international officers and agents there and witnessed the problems international students face when applying to study in the UK.”

The application software was built using the funding from UCLan and Centurus launched in 2011.

Julia Stickley, business mentor at UCLan said: “Dawood has worked extremely hard over the past few years developing his business from scratch, through the pilot stage and now into establishment and quite rapid growth. He has also become an employer and has recruited a small, dedicated team.

Dawood added: “The company is growing faster than forecast and we expect further significant growth in the next few years following this deal. “We hope that the admission technology will become the industry standard and expect to introduce new services that will support international students throughout their university experience in the UK.”