An IT business which started without a single customer is celebrating 10 years in business this year.
海角视频 Business IT was founded by experienced IT experts Mark Swann, Ian Gloyne and David Sleight who decided to take a leap of faith in 2010.
Over the past decade, the company has grown year-on-year and has gone from having zero customers to more than 100 contracted clients and an annual turnover of around £750,000.
Three years ago it relocated from its original base in Pennant House, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent to the Cauldon Locks Business Centre, investing over £50,000 in offices with high-speed internet.
Today it boasts a nine-strong team of staff who service customers within an hour’s radius of Stoke-on-Trent, across the Midlands and the North West.
Mark said: “Back then, we had an office and the knowledge built up from years in the sector, but we started without a single customer.
“We have built the business gradually, improving turnover year-on-year and having over 100 contracted customers as well as others that we offer support to on a more ad hoc basis.”
海角视频 Business IT provides a huge range of IT services from support and systems installation to disaster planning and recovery and business relocation services as well as CCTV security systems, video conferencing and web and email hosting.
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Mark believes that the key to the company’s success is ‘evolution.’
He said: “Tech equipment has made major leaps forward in the past 10 years, the iPad was just being launched, social media platforms such as Instagram didn’t exist and hardly anyone paid for goods online.
"Along with Ian and David, I’ve spent my entire working life in IT and am one of the most experienced industry professionals in the 海角视频. The key to our success is that we have constantly evolved alongside the evolution of technology and have combined knowledge with a concentration on excellent customer service.
“Most of our customers are within an hour drive time of Stoke-on-Trent and we provide a 60-minute emergency call out for our retained customers.
“However, with the advances in technology, many problems can be solved remotely within a few minutes and the importance of that has been brought even more sharply into focus during the recent Covid-19 lockdown.”
Mark added: “The pandemic has seen huge rises of people working from home and effective, reliable, hi-tech communications are more vital than ever before. This has led to new opportunities for the IT sector but, of course, we also have to be mindful that lockdown will undoubtedly result in companies suffering and jobs being lost, so the outlook is challenging.
“But our growth is dependent on our ability to respond to change and having the right team of professionals in place. We have a highly trained, knowledgeable team who can help across all IT support needs and are adaptable to meet our customers’ needs.”