Eighteen months ago, two specialists came together to form Simply Techspace – Simply Workspace to provide a complete service provision in the office space, from refurbishments and fit-outs to providing furniture or IT support.
Founders Jon Bautista and Matt Dann had a clear plan for the first two years, but having exceeded their expectations in terms of turnover and customer numbers already, they are now looking back on how being agile and innovative has delivered quite different results from the original blueprint.
Having grown from two to 17 people, with a client base of 200 or so in this country and abroad, and with turnover set to triple by the end of year two, the future is looking very healthy indeed.
Jon Bautista said: “We started out with a business plan and still have one, but things always look different as you get more established and the business grows.
“It looks better than what we planned, because we haven’t been tied to our original ideas of what things would look like. It’s a business that is always evolving and growing and that’s mainly because of the way the two companies work together. Opportunities for Simply Workspace come out of what Simply Techspace clients are asking for, and vice versa, and we always adapt.
“If you’re flexible and give the client what they want, you build a trusted relationship. Most of the time, all clients want, whether it’s in giving the office a new look or dealing with a tech issue, is that you take the pain away. And we do that, and at a very fair price.”
Simply Workspace provides a comprehensive range of furniture, ceilings and flooring, as well as office storage systems and partitioning, operating mainly in the office, education, health and care home sectors. Simply Techspace is a full-service IT business, providing hardware, software, cabling, IT support and cyber security.
The most recent addition to the portfolio is Simply Commspace, a newly launched division that will focus on telephony, connectivity and mobile phone contracts.
Throughout the divisions, the ethos is the same, the client receives the same level of service whether it is a sole trader or a large multinational.
Matt Dann said: “We don’t want to have different service levels or packages, we’d rather just provide the same excellent service to all our customers, at the level they need and at a fair price.
“What has become clear is that we need to be innovative, it’s all too easy to get stuck in your ways, but if you keep doing things the same old way, you just keep getting the same results. Most of our clients now have a decent level of technical knowledge. Gone are the days of us suggesting they turn a computer off and turn it back on again. We know and understand our clients and how they operate and when they turn to us, it’s because they really can’t solve the problem themselves. We have to take it to a higher level and make sure we’re there as a trusted partner that will come in, identify the problem and fix it so they can get on with running their businesses.”
Having refused to be fazed by the speed at which the company has grown over the first year and half, Jon and Matt are planning to add to their own office space to accommodate a helpdesk and sales team that is set to double in size.
Jon added: “We have moulded the company to how we want do business, working with valued clients and coming up with new and different ideas that help make their businesses a success.
“It’s a changing work landscape. Businesses have had people working remotely, which brought about a need to reconfigure workplaces and make best use of the space, as well as technology issues, particularly in terms of security. Now, we’re starting to see more people coming back into the workplace and companies need to adapt again.
“And we have exciting plans of our own, we’ve exceeded our expectations and set new ones and there are lots of things coming up, locally, nationally and internationally, that we are looking forward to getting started with.
“But ultimately, we know that if clients need a measure of how good we are, it’s just about showing that we are a trusted company to work with, and one that turns up, fixes their problems and leaves them with one less headache to sort out.”
Contact Simply Techspace and Simply Workspace on 01604 316989 or 01604 316922, through their email here, or visit the website here to find out more.
