"We operate in a highly competitive industry, and while others purport to be able to do what we do, they just don't do it as well. That's not just us saying it, it's what our clients tell us," he said.
The facts bear out his words. The last 17 years since its creation have seen Gateshead-based ITPS carve out a unique reputation as the North East’s leading ICT company, using its unrivalled levels of IT expertise, technical support and customer service to help clients across the UK achieve their business goals.
Specialising in strategic IT consultancy and support, implementation, data centre services and unified communications, ITPS works with clients spanning a wide range of sectors including shipping, financial services and law, from large corporates and SMEs through to local authorities, charities and blue light organisations.
Last month saw the business invest a significant sum in moving to new headquarters, as it gears up to support its rapidly-growing client base across the UK.
The move to larger premises increases the available square footage by 30%, and is the second milestone in the company’s organic growth, which in 2014 saw it invest in a third state of the art data centre, a 33,000sq ft £4m operation giving clients the fastest connectivity in the North East plus access to a wide range of flexible, scalable ICT services including a 350-seat workspace recovery facility.
Earlier this year ITPS announced it was joining forces with Coniston Computers, creating a customer base of over 500 organisations.
Garry Sheriff takes up the story: “We are not far from achieving 20 successful years in one of the world’s fastest-moving sectors, which is no small achievement in the face of the incredible pace of technological advances.
Our success has been built on an unswerving commitment to listening to clients and helping them to make the right choices about adopting future-proof technology solutions. We stand apart from competitors because our business is based on delivering business solutions and services, not just ICT solutions.
As technology gets more complex and many of the decision makers we deal with are not techies, some of them are wary about handing over the reins to a third party. They simply want their technology to help them cut costs and improve productivity and efficiency.
Much of their concern is around not fully understanding the issues and implications, and that’s where we add real value as true partners who can educate and guide clients – never dictating to them – to help support them in the decision-making process.
Technology moves fast and it’s our job to identify and analyse trends and be ahead of the curve, so our clients don’t need to worry about it.
Take the big data society that has developed over the last decade. How we capture, store and manipulate data hugely impacts on our personal and professional lives, and data-driven enterprises are now said to be up to 26% more profitable than their peers.
Several years ago we adjusted our long term business plan to include a big investment in data centre, business continuity and recovery services. Adopting this strategy meant we were ideally placed to meet the demand from organisations who are making data a number one priority.”
Garry believes the biggest factor in the company’s success is the quality of its people: “We have a highly skilled, committed team here and it is gratifying when we win repeat business from clients such as our long-standing customer the offshore renewable energy organisation Catapult, which has to go out to tender under its regulatory framework. In the last round of tenders we won a four-year contract against 80 other suppliers, which is testament to our reputation for our team’s ‘can do’ attitude and reputation for excellent service delivery.
Other factors that have contributed to our healthy order book include global events such as Brexit and the Safe Harbour Agreement, sparking contracts with a growing number of large, Southern-based organisations.
One of these came about when a large email marketing service provider needed to exit Telecity datacentre in London, which had been bought by an American company and its customers were concerned about the protection of their data.
Another case involved us working with a £450m turnover NHS-linked client, which after careful discussions and due diligence opted to relocate its ICT to the North East.
Never have businesses been faced with such a world of choice, and this ‘South to North’ trend validates our commitment to service development. If we were not able to offer the range and calibre of services that organisations like these require, they simply would not buy from us.”
Across the business, a steady upward shift in new client acquisition combined with the number of clients committing to five and seven-year contracts has seen staff numbers grow, accelerating the company’s search for bigger premises.
Having spent 18 months searching for the right property, the ideal location turned out to be just yards away from ITPS’s previous headquarters on Metrocentre East Business Park in Dunston. The company’s investment in the move includes a full refurbishment of the 10,500sq ft offices, creating an airy, open plan working environment complete with meeting rooms, breakout spaces, café areas and even staff showers.
So what does the future hold for this thriving business?
“The next five years will see us continue to focus on data centre-centric services including backup and high speed communications, as clients move towards buying ICT as a managed service just like any other utility,” added Garry.
“Five years ago our plans were to increase staff levels to 100, create a top level, high security data centre and move to bigger offices. We achieved all that ahead of target.
Ten years ago we moved to larger premises quadrupling our space, but a couple of years into it we realised we were quickly going to run out of room again. This latest move and the configuration options and layout of the building have afforded us 50% more working space for staff, which should see us through the next few years, and support our plans to hit a £25m turnover.
Our technical reputation is very strong, and it is not unusual for competitors to turn to us for advice on particularly thorny technical issues. While we don’t spend our time looking over our shoulder, we are well aware that as the North East’s leading IT experts, our competitors are always behind us watching what we do and hoping to replicate it.
We are never complacent about our success, but I believe we will achieve our long term growth targets, and we are looking forward to the future with confidence.”
