TWO employees from Worcester have celebrated three decades of success at a city IT firm.

Martin Pritchard, Warndon Villages, and Pat Knapman from Battenhall began their careers at Open GI in 1979, the year the company was formed.

Now Open GI has marked their success with a 30th anniversary presentation. The presentation coincided with the Warndon-based company’s own celebrations that have been running throughout the year.

Mr Pritchard, who works as a programmer and joined Open GI after 10 years of working at IBM in London, said: “Many things change over the years but working with technology provides a unique insight into how far we have evolved in a relatively short period of time.

“When I first started with the company, computers were the size of filing cabinets and only able to perform basic functions. Now you can develop something 100 times more powerful to fit in the palm of your hand.”

Mrs Knapman, who has lived in Worcester all her life, began her career at Open GI as office manager and has since moved on to become commercial manager.

“Today the business is totally unrecognisable to the one we started 30 years ago in a small back office on Bank Street in the city centre,” she said. “For the first few years we were struggling to make ends meet as most new businesses are. Now we turn over millions each year and support a workforce of more than 300 people. Looking around the company now makes all the hard work in the early years worthwhile.”

Chris Guillaume, managing director of Open GI, said: “The success of Open GI as a business relies on the skills and dedication of our workforce. Martin and Pat’s length of service is testament to their ability and the added value they bring to the business. We are extremely proud to have such an experienced team and we hope to continue to support individual and collective success over the next 30 years.”