Introducing working from home
March saw the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and businesses across the nation were forced to start working from home. Thankfully, Air IT colleagues were up to the challenge!
We helped many clients migrate to this new way of working, ensuring that the right technology and cyber security measures were in place for a smooth transition. Although we’ve had to do things slightly differently, we’re proud of the way everyone has come together this year and thank our staff and clients for their continued support.
New key appointments
Earlier in the year, we announced exciting changes to our leadership team.
Todd McQuilkin, our founder, was replaced by John Whitty as Chief Executive Officer. With over 20 years’ experience, John has brought a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role and has already overseen significant progress for Air IT. Meanwhile, James Healey stepped up from his role as Managing Director to become Chief Operating Officer.
It is an exciting time for Air IT and we are happy to have grown the team across all areas of the business. We have also welcomed Jonathan Hardy (Chief Financial Officer), Mark Whitehead (Sales Director) and Rob Heathcote (Head of Service), all of whom have extensive experience in their sector.
Supporting the sports community
Although the pandemic meant that sport came to a standstill for a while, we continued our six-year sponsorship of Nottingham Rugby’s Green and Whites. As part of this deal, we also provide IT support for the club. The Air IT logo can be found at the ticket office, pitch side, around The Bay and on the back of the first team’s shorts.
We are also proud sponsors of Papplewick and Linby Cricket Club, who had initially struggled to find a sponsor for this season due to the economic climate. We are thrilled to have been able to help them bounce back and look forward to once again being part of their corporate 6-a-side tournament once things are back to normal.
We have also renewed our sponsorship of Notts County Football Club for the 2020/21 season, and continued our support of Beeston Hockey Club and Derbyshire County Cricket Club.
Teams Talk launch
After migrating so many users to remote working, it quickly became clear that many businesses were at a loss when it came to taking their telephony operations from the office and into employees’ homes. Many were using Microsoft Teams to keep in touch with colleagues, but this wasn’t the way they would usually communicate with customers.
With that in mind, we launched Teams Talk, a unified communications solution that integrates external telephone calls within Microsoft Teams. We’re proud to have introduced a new product during such a busy time – especially one that will help businesses to carry out remote operations more easily.
Virtual awards
Though we haven’t been able to attend any awards ceremonies in person this year, we have still enjoyed the ones that were able to take place virtually.
At the European MSP Innovation Awards back in May, we took home the Customer Satisfaction award for demonstrating ‘a comprehensive approach to providing a first-class customer experience, with high levels of retention and satisfaction’.
In July, Channel Futures revealed their MSP 501 list, ranking the world’s MSPs. Air IT was once again ranked #1 in the East Midlands, as well as #9 in the UK and #142 in the world.
More recently, in November, we were crowned Business of the Year in the Nottinghamshire Business Awards! It was a huge honour to win this out of so many great candidates. We are also proud to have received the Outstanding Growth award in recognition of our progress.
Educational webinars
While we were no strangers to hosting webinars beforehand, we have certainly embraced them this year.
Various members of our leadership team have hosted insightful webinars on topics ranging from remote working to cyber security and business intelligence. It’s been a great way to stay connected with our audience and share our knowledge of tech when it’s needed most.
Expansion
One of our most exciting developments this year is the addition of four great businesses to the Air IT Group.
In October, we announced that Microtrading and Netstar were coming on board, and in December they were joined by Nexus GS and Riverbank IT Management.
We are thrilled to start working with likeminded colleagues who are just as passionate about technology and customer service as we are. Plus, we will now be able to better support clients based in the West Midlands, London and Oxford.
Giving back
Although we haven’t been able to take part in the usual staff fundraising events, we’ve made donations to several good causes throughout the year to support the charitable endeavours of our clients, with donations totalling just over £4,000.
Several Air IT colleagues – known collectively as Team Hair IT – took part in Movember this year. It was a great effort from everyone, walking, running and growing impressive moustaches in aid of a worthy cause.
The team raised an impressive £700 in total, which will go towards men’s health initiatives focused on mental health, suicide prevention, testicular and prostate cancer. Well done everyone!
Great People Awards & Employee of the Year
The Air IT team have worked tirelessly throughout this challenging year to ensure that users can continue everyday operations with ease. Though most of us haven’t been in the office for several months, we continue to get together virtually for our quarterly Great People Awards, as well as our annual Employee of the Year award. Congratulations to the worthy winners!
After a challenging year, we would like to wish all of our clients, suppliers, employees and followers a Merry Christmas. We look forward to working with you in 2021.
