We completed the purchase of the 2,000 ft2 adjoining office space on Friday 27th April, having moved to our current premises in 2010.

We have experienced significant growth in recent years and due to an increased workload have been looking for larger premises for some time and have invested £325,000 in buying and equipping the new two-storey building.

We initially plan to make use of the whole of the first floor space of the new property and will offer the remaining 1000 ft2 ground floor for rental as a fully serviced office. This will include a self-contained open plan setting with kitchen, toilet and allocated parking with leading edge IT infrastructure and telecommunications in place.

The additional first floor space with be utlised to expand our current operations to cater for the increased demand for our services. It will be used for extra office space and the creation of a purpose-built high-tech training suite providing a range of customised training programmes to our clients and internal staff.

The Help Desk Department, the hub of our IT support delivery, will also be expanded to cover the entire ground floor of our existing offices.

We have already taken on one new member of staff to cope with an increasing workload and will be recruiting further staff in the near future as the expansion programme is rolled out during 2012.

Todd McQuilkin, Managing Director said:

“We needed to expand operations to meet the growing demand of our ever increasing client base and required additional floor space to do so.

We are delighted to acquire the neighbouring building which means we can roll out our expansion plans seamlessly and continue to offer clients the best possible support and guidance with their business technology needs.”

For further information please download our full press release below:

Air-IT – Expanding IT Specialists Purchase Neighbouring Premises at Nottingham Business Park

We are thrilled to have been chosen as one of three finalists in two separate categories – for both Small Business and Apprentice of the Year Awards:

Small Business of the Year Award

This award recognises the achievements of businesses in Nottinghamshire, with a turnover of less than £2 million, which have demonstrated outstanding success during their latest financial year.

This nomination comes at an exciting time for Air-IT since we have experienced significant growth over the past year, with further plans for expansion underway for the remainder of 2012 and beyond.

The continual investment and improvement in our staff, operations and service portfolio has meant that we have been able to consistently deliver high quality IT services to meet the growing demands of our ever increasing client base.

Apprentice of the Year Award

The Apprentice of the Year Award recognises the practical and theoretical progress being made by young people in the work place and education and rewards those that demonstrate a real commitment to improving their skill levels.

We were very pleased to nominate Help Desk Technician Josh Turner, who joined us in June 2011 as part of the Microsoft Advanced IT Apprenticeship Scheme.

Josh has made an immediate impact since joining the business and has excelled in his position to become an integral and valuable member of our support team. We therefore felt that he was a worthy contender for this award and are extremely pleased that he has been shortlisted as a finalist.

Josh Turner, Finalist Apprentice of the Year Award

The winners of each category will be announced at a presentation Awards Dinner which is being held at the Council Houses in Nottingham, on Wednesday 4th July. This promises to be one of the most prestigious business events of the year and will be attended by the region’s leading industrialists, business people and media figures.

As a local company we are very proud of our Nottingham heritage and to reach the finals of these prestigious awards is a major achievement in itself due to the large number of entrants in this high profile competition.

We would like to thank all our staff for their continued commitment to Air-IT and all their hard work that has enabled us to reach the final stages of both award categories.

The Client Discount Club also provides special offers and promotions that are only exclusively available through this feature.

In this edition we would like to introduce Skills Motor Coaches & Holidays – one of Air-IT’s longest standing clients and one of our very first customers when we were established back in 2005.

An Introduction to Skills Motor Coaches & Holidays

Skills Holidays, the trading arm of Skills Motor Coaches originated in Radford, Nottingham in 1919.  It became a limited company in 1958.

Founder Arthur Skill, the current Managing Director’s grandfather, began by using his only lorry to collect fish from the early morning market and for light haulage during the day.  Soon, he began carrying local miners to Bestwood Colliery, and in 1921, he purchased a Crossley charabanc – Skills first true bus.

Nigel Skill began work with the family business whilst at school. During school holidays he and his four brothers and sister would help to clean the coaches.

Nigel Skill bought the firm in 1987 to become Managing Director.  Continental tours were introduced in the late 1970s, and following deregulation in the industry in 1986, Skills has concentrated on the coaching side of the industry, investing in a first class fleet of modern vehicles, and offering luxury coach holidays ranging from day trips, weekend breaks to extensive tours of Europe and beyond.

In May 2002, Skills Motor Coaches moved to a new larger headquarters building. The new premises at The Holiday Centre on Bulwell’s Seller’s Wood Drive / Belgrave Road, which became necessary as the Skill’s fleet of luxury coaches grew.

Skills Look Forward to Celebrating 95^th Anniversary During 2012

Today Skills provides coach holidays, day excursions and private hire to the UK and Europe. The family-owned and run business now looks forward to celebrating its 95^th anniversary this year.

With the wealth of experience gained over the years, Skills offers a variety of choices for customers.

An array of Days Out trips start at only £15 for a trip to Skegness or Cleethorpes; London from £20, including Buckingham Palace from £39. A favourite this year is the newly-opened Harry Potter, Warner Bros, Studio Tour for only £56 adult/£47 child. A huge choice is available!

Weekend breaks start from only £59 for a trip to the Christmas Markets or from £99 for a London Theatre Break including West End Show tickets. Then there’s Newquay, Torquay, Paris, Ostend, Austria, Italy…..the list is endless. If the Tour de France is your thing then join them for four days from £219. Take your girlfriend or wife to Royal Ascot Ladies Day; two days from only £129!

Skills also have a large Private Hire and Groups programme so if your company wants to plan a day out (business or pleasure!) or a weekend away, then it is worth considering their programme. A favourite with businesses is their Christmas party breaks (2 days) from as little as £69!

Client Discount Club Special Offer

Spotlight readers exclusively qualify for 10% discount on any Skills holiday, booked by 30th June 2012.

For further information and to find out about the holidays and trips currently available – please call Skills on 08456 66 55 44 to request your brochure.

To claim your 10% discount - please quote code SPOT3006* when making your booking.

*Please note that this offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other available offers provided by Skills.

The new site is the 4th generation design since the launch of our first company website in 2005 and is far more comprehensive in its offering in comparison to its predecessors.

New Air-IT Website

The new website is a complete re-design from the ground-up and includes a new look and feel that will be gradually rolled out across all other marketing mediums (print and digital). The new design incorporates a range of banner advertisements outlining our key services which include bespoke photography of the Air-IT support team and staff.  This has been used to create a more unique and personal feel rather than just utilising widely available stock art images.

We have also introduced a number of new features and improvements so that we deliver a much better user experience and communicate our service offering more clearly.

We have spent a great deal of time refining our content which has been streamlined to focus on our core business strengths of IT support, installations and IP telephony along with our hosted / cloud service offering and virtualisation solutions.

Site navigation has been improved considerably to enable users to access information quicker and easier with clearer signposting.

To make sure that you get the most out of our new website we have outlined some of the new features below:

Improved Client Support Area

This includes our remote support portal for direct connection to Help Desk operators and logon to our Client Access Portal where clients can submit and monitor support tickets, update tasks, review projects and utilise our extensive knowledge base.

Latest News Section

Our improved news section aims to keep clients up to date with all of the latest company news and developments that are taking place here at Air-IT.

The new layout is much more user friendly and easier to navigate and includes: a standard blog layout out of article posts (in reverse-chronological order), clear categories, a search feature and archived news. This also includes a featured news page displaying all the latest company news and updates in pictures with text snippets.  Readers are also able to leave comments and feedback for each story which encourages discussion.

You can also subscribe to our RSS feed which enables you to stay up to date without having to visit the site directly.

Technology Tips and Advice Feature

This section of the blog is provided by our Help Desk Department and aims to provide clients with useful information and technology tips. This will enable them to become more productive, work more efficiently and discover new techniques that will allow them to stay one step ahead in their day to day use of technology.

Live Chat and Call Back

Instant live chat and request a call back feature with the Air-IT sales team.

Site Search / Newsletter Sign-up

Full site search of all content and blog / news posts and mailing list sign up.

Social Media Integration

Full integration with our company social media sites – please connect with us below:

Client Case Studies

In-depth case studies of previous projects we have delivered which have provided best practice solutions to our varying client IT infrastructure needs (cloud and on-premise).

Careers / Vacancies

A careers section listing current job opportunities available at Air-IT.

As with any website this is an on-going development project and we will be continually streamlining and adding new content over the coming months including: new staff profiles, new case studies, on-going company news / updates and a new resource centre which will provide instant access to a catalogue of product data sheets, white papers and case studies written by industry experts.

We would like to thank the team at Purpose Media, our business partner, for all their hard work in the design and build of the new company website. We would also like to thank Matt and Cindy of Matt Jones photography for the fantastic photography work.

We do hope that you find our new website of interest and look forward to receiving your feedback.

Our remote support portal now includes a separate button for each of our 4 Help Desk technicians and allows direct connection to each individual operator. Available operators are identified by an orange icon with a grey icon showing if they are unavailable – when dealing with another support request.

New buttons to iniate remote support session with individual operator

Our previous system utilised a single remote support button which operated on a round robin basis depending on which technicians were available at the time of the support call.

The new system means that our Help Desk can be more efficient when routing client support calls to the correct technician. This avoids client waiting times during follow-up support calls and means that they can be instantly directed to the correct technician who was originally dealing with their request.

Clients are then instructed to click on the correct icon to initiate a remote support session with their designated Help Desk technician. The technician is then able to gain instant control of their PC utilising our industry leading remote access software NTR global and can diagnose and resolve their problem more efficiently by saving time and speeding up the process.

The Air-IT remote support portal can be found in the Client Support Area on our website along with our Client Access Portal – a secure web portal allowing clients to submit and monitor support tickets, update tasks, review projects and utilise our extensive knowledge base.

For further information about our Client Access Portal please see Air-IT Launch New Online Client Access Portal

KOP is a UK registered charity committed to supporting the health, education, nutrition and social welfare of orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa through a range of individual and partner projects. Linked to this work is an active UK student programme in which KOP university groups provide direct support for projects.

James will be travelling to Western Kenya for two weeks with a group of around 30 students from Nottingham University.

He will be working on a number of projects in the Kisimu area. This includes the HOVIC day centre - a feeding, medical and educational support programme for street children and the Kochogo Feeding Centre – a rural settlement in an area with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS supplying meals to children who otherwise may not have any other source of regular food.

Started in 2001 by 3 medical students from Nottingham University, the KOP was formed as a response to the plight of millions of people affected by HIV/AIDS and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

Project work has been focussed in the Nyanza province in Western Kenya to enable children to thrive through health and education. It has been involved in establishing hospitals, health clinics, numerous primary and secondary schools, community centres and support, feeding and rehabilitation centres for street children, along with numerous other projects and activities.

These sustainable grass roots level projects focus alongside communities who are then able to take them forward so that they can continue to assist local people for the long term and not just provide temporary relief.

Most of the volunteers and fundraisers are university students from the UK and several groups will be visiting Kenya this summer to assist with projects. Each student needs to raise £800 through sponsorship and charitable donations to fund the trip and need to pay for their own travelling expenses.

Air-IT is delighted to have contributed towards James’s sponsorship total so that he can continue the good work carried out by KOP in helping improve the life quality of these less fortunate children in Kenya.

If you would like further details about KOP and sponsorship opportunities for James’s trip, then please contact Air-IT or James directly on email mzyjc@nottingham.ac.uk

Should you wish to make a donation now and help James achieve his target sponsorship fund of £800 you can contribute directly through the just giving website

This consists of a very short follow-up questionnaire that is automatically emailed by our Service Desk software (to person reporting issue) upon closure of a support case.

The survey aims to evaluate client satisfaction levels with the services provided and will help to ensure that we are maintaining the high quality of support that you have come to expect from us.

The survey is optional and therefore clients can choose to opt out or not participate, if they so wish.

The questionnaire consists of six short rating questions, is very quick to complete and will cause minimal inconvenience.

Your opinion is extremely important in helping improve our services therefore we would be extremely grateful if all clients would participate.

All surveys are anonymous and results will be used internally by Air-IT to help improve the quality of our future Help Desk services.

We would like to thank all clients’ in advance for their participation in the survey and of course those of that have already taken part.

The Role

The role will involve providing first and second line technical support to our growing client base. This involves working closely as part of the existing team to troubleshoot and resolve daily client support issues (desktop, server and network) utilising remote access technology and scheduled field based visits. The role will also involve key account management, proactive maintenance and leading project delivery for client installations for server, desktop and networking.

The ideal candidate should be experienced in the implementation, support and maintenance of Windows infrastructure, trouble shooting and resolution of issues both remotely and on-site for server, desktop, laptops, applications, networking and mobile devices.

The successful applicant will:

• Be able to demonstrate a successful background in technical support
• Have 2/3 years experience in a similar role for a Managed Service Provider
• Hold a valid MCITP accreditation
• Be willing to further develop technical skill-set and gain on-going industry related accreditations
• Be self-motivated, disciplined and a self-starter able to think on their feet
• Be able to prioritise in a fast-paced environment
• Be able to work on their own and part of a team with excellent leadership and organisational skills
• Have excellent English communication skills (written & verbal) with the ability to express technical concepts clearly and concisely
• Have excellent customer facing / service skills
• Have a desire to progress within an ambitious and hardworking organisation

Required Technical Skills

The successful candidate must have a strong understanding of the following:

• Microsoft Small Business Server 03/08/11
• Microsoft Window Server 2003/08
• Exchange server 2003/08/10
• Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
• Apple Mac desired
• Networking

This role will be based in Nottingham and will require travel within the East Midlands area. Applicants must hold a full UK driving licence.

If you think you are the type of person we are looking for, then please forward your CV and covering letter to careers@air-it.co.uk

Strictly No Agencies please

For official confirmation of our Dell partner status please see our PartnerDirect Registration Document.

Dell is the world’s leading computer manufacturer and provides a range of leading edge technology and professional services for the global business and home consumer markets.

Air-IT has provided a full range of Dell’s market-leading solutions for many years now supplying, implementing and supporting our clients with business class work stations, laptops, storage solutions and the award winning PowerEdge servers.

As a Dell Registered Partner and member of the Dell Partner Direct Programme we now have access to a wealth of benefits from Dell including: direct access to key personnel and resources, on-going training and technical support which are otherwise unavailable.

As a result of our new partnership Air-IT are ideally positioned to deliver infrastructure solutions based around Dell’s market-leading offerings. Our staff are fully equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge, experience and technical skill set to best accommodate the supply, implementation and support of our clients computing needs.

Our partnership allows us to supply the latest Dell products at very competitive pricing (lower than available directly from Dell) with minimal lead times and excellent after sales service and on-going support.

Please contact us if you are considering upgrading your IT equipment and we will recommend solutions that best fit your budget and future business needs so that you can gain the most from of any investment that you make.

In December we exhibited at the Annual Christmas Networking Event held at the Arena, Ilkeston. This event was opened by The Mayor of Erewash, Cllr. Kevin Miller and was attended by a wide cross section of delegates from the local Erewash Business Community including Jessica Lee MP.

Air-IT Exhibition Stand Christmas Networking Meeting

Most recently we exhibited at the Partnership Spring Networking Event held at Trent Lock Golf Centre in Sawley, on Friday 16th March.

Air-IT Exhibition Stand Spring Networking Meeting

Both networking events were well attended by over 150 delegates from the local Business Community, Education and Public Sectors. Both exhibitions proved a great success in allowing us to meet new contacts and promote our IT support services to wide variety of business owners from the Erewash Borough.

We would like to thank everyone who visited the Air-IT stand during both events and we look forward to meeting you all again at any future events we attend.