A fast growing Gateshead technology firm is eyeing international expansion after a Middle East fact-finding trip has revealed ‘huge potential’ for its specialist online education software.Team Valley-based Mesma, which has seen sales take off among UK schools and colleges since launching in 2013, believes that billions of pounds of new investment in education facilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) will unlock sales of niche products like its self-assessment andimprovement planning Mesma software.
This highly versatile software ensures schools and colleges among other education providers are properly prepared for Ofsted inspections, which often take place at short notice.
The system enables teaching and support staff to focus more time and resources on teaching and learning provision and less on paperwork, helping them to complete self-assessment reports – a requirement of the Ofsted common inspection framework.
Now, after returning from a visit to KSA, Mesma director Louise Doyle is gearing up to tap into an education market UKTI has identified as a high value opportunity for British companies.
Hundreds of millions of pounds worth of contracts are being secured by UK education and training providers alone but Mesma is targeting the dozens of vocational and technical Colleges of Excellence (CoE) that are being built and operated by British consortium through the KSA’s CoE programme.
It is also targeting opportunities across all sub-sectors in the KSA including schools, vocational education and training, higher education and CPD/professional training.
Louise Doyle says UK education and training expertise is highly prized in the KSA across a range of industry sectors.
She says: “For niche specialists like Mesma there’s huge commercial opportunity opening up, which is potentially worth thousands of pounds in new revenue for us.
“So, we are gearing up to be in position to do business in the region through new product development and increased sales activity.
“Easy-to-use and cost efficient self-assessment and improvement planning like ours can provide benefits to Saudi Arabia education and inspection authorities as they look to establish new institutional review methods to assess the quality of student training.
“It meets evolving requirements in the KSA for software that helps providers better prepare and be ready for inspection regimes.”
The Mesma platform was initially set-up in response to changes implemented by education watchdog Ofsted, which led to schools, colleges and independent providers receiving reduced notice of inspection.
Louise and her fellow directors have more than 30 years experience in business and working in with the education sector between them, helping head teachers and other staff complete self-assessment – a requirement of the Ofsted common inspection framework. More at www.mesma.co.uk