Waterside buys into contract electronics

Waterside Solutions, the fast-growing technology company with roots in the HMI and plant management sector, has broadened its activities to include electronic manufacturing. It has made its second acquisition in five months - this time, the Welsh contract electronics specialist, Novaspec - and has injected the business into Ikonotek to form a new subsidiary.

Staffordshire-based Waterside was formed in 1999 by Peter Evans and Richard Gore - both previously with AFE - to address what they saw as a need for better information-handling in manufacturing industry. The company`s products include control and display hardware and software for moving information around an organisation.

In July 2001, Waterside bought the specialist computer manufacturer, Oyster Terminals.