Q1 2021

24 | Q1 2021 Oct20415 Best Connections One of the Midlands’ fastest growing telecoms specialists is bouncing back from the pandemic to celebrate a big birthday in style. SME News Magazine talks to Tin Can Comms founder Amy Mitchell on the rollercoaster ride that is five years in business. It’s good to talk. Those two words shot to prominence when movie star Bob Hoskins uttered them in a BT advert in the 90s and, following the last twelve months of dealing with Covid-19, have never been more pertinent for society. With social distancing becoming the norm and remote working going through the roof due to lockdown after lockdown, tailored communications and cloud technology has risen in importance. Businesses, charities, community groups and essential services across the country have had to pivot and virtual meetings, phone calls and online exchanges have replaced face-to-face meetings. Companies without a solid telecoms infrastructure have struggled to keep pace, but for those that invested early and work with the right partner, it has been a seamless transition to the new ‘comms norm’. “We’ve certainly been flavour of the month this year,” explained Amy Mitchell, Managing Director of Tin Can Comms, one of the Midlands leading telecoms service providers and the SME News Magazine ‘Best in Communication Services’ Award winner. “The majority of our clients were already set up with the latest telephone systems and were used to having people working from home. As such, we simply supported them on any final changes they needed to make.” She continued: “We also had a lot of new firms approach us with urgent requirements to overhaul their approach to comms, in order for their businesses to remain operational. This was a massive challenge, but one our team really stepped up to.” 2021 is a big year for Tin Can Comms, who provide telephone systems, broadband services, cloud solutions and video conferencing requirements to hundreds of customers throughout the UK. It marks five years since Amy left a major telecoms provider to start her own business with just £1k in the bank, bundles of energy and a passion to deliver more personalised solutions for clients. A lot has happened in that time, with Brexit and Covid-19 presenting some major challenges for a young company trying to establish itself in a mature marketplace. “As anyone who knows me will tell you, I love a challenge,” pointed out Amy, who provided free CAT phones for Covid-19 patients at Russells Hall Hospital to keep in touch with loved ones. “I used an ironing board as a desk when we first started. Thankfully that has been replaced with a proper office set-up, that is usually home to our amazing team of sales and administrative staff. “The last five years have been about steadily building our client base by offering them outstanding customer service, tailored comms solutions and access to new technology that delivers improved performance and cost savings.” She continued: “It appears to be an approach that is really working, with more than 300 customers from ten different sectors currently on our books – a 15% increase on the same time last year despite all the pressures of the pandemic. “We’ve also made some important organisational decisions, with our close-knit team expanding with the appointment of additional member of staff in finance and a new Operations Manager. “The latter will be a great addition to the team and brings with her more than two decades of experience within the telecommunications sector.” There are some big changes to the telecoms world taking place over the next few years, with the end of life for ISDN and analogue lines still planned for 2025 and a number of influential players pulling out of the traditional PBX telephone market. Both of these factors are contributing to a massive demand for the cloud and, in particular, technology that allows customer relationship management systems to be integrated to support click to dial, detailed missed call logs and call recording. All of this needs to be achieved securely and support remote working from multiple locations. Amy concluded: “We’ve had some really nice wins to celebrate our 5th birthday, including supporting Lumberjack Tools’ ongoing expansion at its Wolverhampton HQ and providing a full cloud solution to the growing team at Platinum World Travel. “Staying connected has been a lifesaver for businesses and society in general over the last twelve months and we’ve been delighted to play our own small role in keeping the economy going.” Email : hello@tincancomms.com Telephone: 0800 083 0900 Twitter: @TinCan_Comms LinkedIn: /company/tincancomms