HiQ is focusing on growth in Finland

– Strengthening the client offering and intensifying sales activities through HiQ Finland HiQ is forming a new company by merging the two subsidiaries, HiQ Softplan and HiQ Quality Services. The new company in the Helsinki area employes nearly 200 employees and has a strong offering in development and quality assurance of advanced systems for clients in sectors such as gaming, telecom, finance and the public sector.

“This is an exciting and important step for HiQ in Finland. By merging our two subsidiaries and forming a new one, we are strengthening our client offering in the Finnish market. We will be a bigger player with an integrated offering and a stronger brand. It feels great,” says Lars Stugemo, President and CEO of HiQ. The Managing Director of the new company is Jukka Rautio, the current Managing Director of HiQ Quality Services. The Deputy MD will be HiQ Softplan’s current Managing Director, Pekka Neva. “The goal for 2010 is to continue to develop HiQ and to grow in the Finnish market. At the beginning of May we will move into new offices in Espoo which will make it easier for us to grow and recruit new, talented consultants. Naturally, a larger company is able to offer better development opportunities to its employees,” says Jukka Rautio. HiQ Finland will offer cutting-edge expertise in development of interactive gaming platforms, business-critical systems for public sector agencies and logistics companies etc., and systems development for the telecom industry. HiQ Finland will also have a very strong offering in quality assurance of large IT systems. Examples of clients are Tekes, Kuusakoski, Ficora, Nokia, Veikkaus, GTECH and ECHA (European Chemicals Agency). “Since we acquired HiQ Softplan nearly eight years ago, HiQ has developed very well in Finland. Combined, the companies have many years of experience in the Finnish market and very strong relationships with Finnish clients. I look forward to continuing to work on strengthening HiQ in Finland in the years ahead,” says Lars Stugemo. “Both Jukka Rautio and Pekka Neva have done excellent work developing HiQ in Finland over the past few years and the great cooperation between them has made HiQ a strong player in that market. Now we are taking a natural step forward by creating a joint company with a focus on growth, in which Jukka and Pekka will form a strong team,” says Lars Stugemo. For more information, please contact: Lars Stugemo, President and CEO HiQ, tel.: +46 8-588 90 000 Jukka Rautio, Managing Director HiQ Finland, tel.: +358 9 4355 860 Annika Billberg, Head of Corporate Communications HiQ, tel.: +46 8-588 90 015, +46 704-200 103