Companies such as Cisco, IBM and American Express use the online employee benefits management system developed by this London firm to administer reward schemes for their staff. Chief executive Michael Whitfield and managing director Chris Bruce founded the company in 2000, and in 2004 Pi Capital bought a 48% stake for £5m. Thomsons was sufficiently robust financially to thrive after the financial crisis of 2008 when competitors struggled. This contributed to sales growth of 41% a year from £8.6m in 2007 to £23.9m in 2010.