BTL Group have been recognised as one of Britain’s fastest growing small to medium-sized companies for international sales over the last two years, coming in at number 47 on the list.
During this period, exported software and services accounted for 42.7% of BTL Group’s total sales revenue, with a two-year average international sales growth of 73.58% per annum.
BTL Group was established in 1985 and is headquartered in North of England. Shifting their focus to assessment software in 2007 they have grown a strong community of customers both in the UK and around the world, with over 180 organisations currently using the “Surpass” assessment technology platform to create and deliver assessments, contributing to over 24 million on-screen assessments being delivered using Surpass, in addition to countless paper-based exams and practice tests published from the software.
Whilst achieving this significant growth in international sales, and seeing a 76% growth in organic revenue in the last two years, BTL continues to invest all profits back into product development every year, with its 25 dedicated software development teams adding value to the Surpass product for the assessment community to benefit from.
The company owes much of its recent success to its comprehensive assessment solution coupled with a focus on collaboration and continual investment into innovative product development, making for an ideal partnership for any organisation.
It has enjoyed popularity with many of the UK Awarding Bodies and exam developers for a number of years, such as City & Guilds, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). Rapid international growth has stemmed from contracts with European and North American organisations, such as Prometric, the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA) who sought out Surpass as an innovative product that could meet their requirements. In 2016, BTL established a US office to support the needs of the growing number of organisations investing in Surpass.
“BTL has been established for almost 35 years and innovation is at the root of what we do here. British innovation in technology is well known around the world, and we are well respected for our education system. It has truly been a pleasure over these past few years to bring together those ideals with the fast-paced and progressive thinking of other global organisations to continue evolving Surpass, but also knowing that it can be a catalyst for positive changes to how children and adults are tested around the world.”
Sonya Whitworth, Managing Director of BTL Group
With BTL acting as a facilitator, it is not unusual to see UK and overseas organisations, particularly those from North America, collaborate on significant enhancements to Surpass.
“We are delighted to have received this recognition from a prestigious publication in the UK. Being ranked within the top 50 organisations demonstrates how Surpass continues to go from strength to strength thanks to a strong international community of customers. Our success internationally has benefitted the entire community, as we’ve been able to continue innovating by combining the best ideas and technologies from around the world to keep Surpass at the cutting-edge of assessment technology. We look forward to continued growth as we work with our existing customer base and bring new organisations on board.”
Andy McAnulla, President of BTL Surpass and CTO of BTL Group
The expertise and passion of all Surpass Community members who join BTL in their mission ‘to significantly improve the assessment experience for everyone’ has been pivotal to this international growth, making Surpass one of the leading platforms for assessment design and delivery.
If you are interested in discussing Surpass and your requirements for a test creation platform, please get in touch. If you have further questions about the story, please contact marketing@btl.com.
