Yorkshire, UK, November 2021 – BTL Group Ltd., the Yorkshire-based provider of onscreen assessment platform Surpass, has announced a £10 million investment into its products and services to further support its rapid growth both in the UK and overseas markets.
By providing the tools and expertise needed to move offline paper-based exams into an onscreen (online or offline) environment, BTL has allowed many organisations to continue delivering tests throughout the pandemic. Online invigilated tests in particular rose 6,500% at BTL in 2020/21.
The pandemic’s impact on in-person events has led to a surge of interest in online options for high-stakes test delivery. With BTL already delivering over 5 million tests a year across 144 countries, BTL has been uniquely positioned to help facilitate this uptake in onscreen testing.
BTL are investing a significant £10m in their Surpass product and related services, with plans to continue this level of investment in growth next year. This investment comes entirely from company revenue generated in the financial year 2020/21, and is being re-invested to ensure future growth.
Providing secure, skilled jobs, BTL is a great Northern success story. Prior to announcing the £10m investment, they were recently shortlisted in the top 100 companies 2021 in the Northern Tech awards, and have been listed by the Yorkshire Business Insider as a top 500 growth company in the region.
Supporting the British education sector and working with clients such as the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), City and Guilds and OCR, BTL is also succeeding internationally, particularly with its expansion in North America, winning The Queen’s Award for Enterprise – International Trade in 2020.
New developments include a new candidate test booking system for the BTL Test Centre Network and Online Invigilation service, and significant ongoing enhancement of the Surpass platform to meet the needs of its growing international community.
A family-founded company, BTL has expanded with 90% growth in staff over the last five years, currently employing around 170 staff in the UK and US. Its investment and track-record in growth makes it attractive to potential employees and investors.
Founded by entrepreneur Bob Gomersall in 1985, BTL is a global provider of assessment services and technology.
“We are proud that our technology is used worldwide and has had a positive role to play in the COVID-19 pandemic. This significant investment will enable us to continue to be the fastest growing community in the assessment industry.”
Jim Crawford, Business Development Director at BTL
About BTL
Established in 1985, BTL Group Ltd. has grown into a renowned global provider of assessment technology and services trusted by some of the world’s highest profile providers of high-stakes summative assessments. Since 2007, BTL’s core focus has been the development of its award-winning assessment platform, Surpass. Surpass is considered to be one of the best solutions available and has been used internationally to create, deliver and mark over 30 million computer-based tests to date. BTL’s success has been due to its innovative approach to technological development, its passion for significantly improving assessment for everyone, its creative core, and its refreshing approach to collaboration with partners and Surpass Community members.
