TRADING TECHNOLOGY

The Fidessa Group’s clients include 85 per cent of the world’s premier financial institutions – from large global investment banks and asset management firms to boutique brokers and niche hedge funds. “We may not be a household name,” says Wayne Coomey, HR Director, “but we’re incredibly well known and well respected in the finance industry. Not just in the UK but around the world.”

In fact, Fidessa is a huge UK success story in the financial technology sector. Set up in the UK in 1981, the firm had one clear founding ambition. “Our goal,” says Coomey, “is always to make it easy for our clients to transact and do business.”

Developing innovative products to achieve this goal, Fidessa is now the leading provider of trading and risk-management software, data and analytics to the buy-side and sell-side investment communities, enabling financial institutions to trade a broad range of financial assets. It’s a global standing that the group has earned through a reputation for leading-edge technology and the trusted relationships it has built up over the decades.

“Our software is top quality and extremely powerful,” says Coomey. “Getting the trading and risk-management workflow right is vital and one of the things that sets us apart. It’s what gives our clients a competitive edge in the complex and fast-moving markets in which they operate.”

Opportunity knocks

Fidessa employs around 1,750 people globally, with some 850 based in the UK. More than 50 Fidessa graduates – with backgrounds predominantly in physics, maths and computer science – are hired annually for the firm’s award-winning graduate programme. “Our graduates are talented individuals who come into our organisation and help keep it alive and relevant,” says Coomey.

The group’s graduate programme came first in the IT Development and Telecoms category of The Job Crowd’s 2015/16 Top Companies for Graduates to Work For rankings. The programme runs for 18 months, throughout which in-depth technical training is offered. “Because of the technical nature of our products,” says Coomey, “there is a lot for them to get up to speed with.”

Graduates are well supported. A work “buddy” is allocated to each individual for the first six months, followed by a business mentor thereafter. There is also a lively social programme, which helps them develop both in and out of work. In fact, the same approach is applied throughout the company. There are regular out-of-hours social gatherings organised for staff, along with “extra mile” and “long service” awards for standout individuals and those who have been with the company for five years. It may not be a household name, but that hasn’t hampered Fidessa’s global success one bit.