ControlP chairman Warren Tayler claimed the drive for e-commerce and procurement software was "coming from the corporates, rather than the printers" as the firm issued preliminary results for the 18 months to 28 February.


"People are now looking seriously at this software as a way of saving money, particularly in times of a recession, and it is the corporates that are forcing the pace," he said.


Tayler said he hoped to conserve as much of ControlPs 5.5m cash at bank as possible, but did not rule out acquisitions at a later stage.


The company reported a pre-tax loss of just over 3.6m on turnover of 566,182 for the 18-month period since its start-up
Tayler said losses had been lower than expected due to the firms conservative approach.


"The initial idea of dotcoms was to conquer the world, but we took a slower approach to the market, reducing our expenditure, which resulted in a lower burn rate of cash."


Some 4.1m of administration expenses accounted for the general running of the company due to the costs incurred at start-up, but Tayler expected that figure to be "substantially lower" in its next results.


ControlPs merger of operations with printbynet.com, announced in March, cost 255,151.


The firms aim is to be cash-profitable before the end of the year, and Tayler revealed that half a dozen serious contenders were trialling its software.


"A further 20 are also going through the proposal stages," he said, but he will only reveal names once they have signed.


Story by Andy Scott