2019 a top year for Highlander

Please note: This post was written by Highlander prior to their rebrand to FluidOne Business IT - Sheffield.

Once again the festive break seems to have been and gone in a blink of an eye, and with the Christmas decorations back in the loft, the party poppers packed away and the New Year’s hangovers now (hopefully) no more than a bad memory, attentions here have quickly turned towards the outlook for the new year.

And although we’re firmly focused on the year ahead, there’s perhaps no better time to take stock and reflect on all that we achieved in 2019 and start to look forward to what we hope to achieve in the coming months.

2019 was our most successful year to date as we posted an increase in turnover of more than 25%. This was in no small part down the continued support of our loyal customer base, with customer retention at its highest level. Clear evidence that our commitment to bettering ourselves every day does not mean that we lose sight of the importance of delivering the best service we can for our existing customers.

Of course, a record year must also bring with it the addition of new customers, and we’ve been especially pleased to welcome new names, just reward for the steps we take to stay on top of the latest technologies to deliver a well-rounded offering.

As Managing Director I’m immensely proud of all we achieved throughout 2019, and would like to thank each member of our talented and industrious team for their efforts, which I’m in no doubt will continue during 2020 and beyond.

Thanks to our financial performance, we’ve been able to support more charitable causes and organisations than ever before, including equipment donations for Sheffield’s own Titans Boxing Gym, and support for Hallam FMs Mission Christmas Cash4Kids appeal as part of our festive schedule.

Those who know us well will appreciate how important this is to us as a business, so we’re delighted to have been able to give back to both the members of our local community and those further afield.

One major change during 2019 was the creation of a new software-specific arm of the business. Following a meeting early last year, we worked with NetSuite to form a new business plan focused specifically around the development and deployment of its cloud-based ERP solution.

Despite being warned that our initial goals were ambitious, we’re delighted to say that this emerging area of the business has seen incredible first year success with four major deals already signed off.

This represents a significant step for the business, and we’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far and hope to continue the good progress this year.

2019 has demonstrated once again how quickly the world of IT can change, but there’s been no change in our customer’s desire to implement new technologies within their businesses to take advantage of the new capabilities, operational efficiencies and financial benefits they deliver.

Having encouraged our customers to get cloud smart at the beginning of 2019, we’ve certainly noticed an increased uptake in the number of cloud-based services we’ve implemented and supported in recent times.

Security has also continued to be a hot topic, and we’ve seen many of our customers keen to engage us in conversations around improving their business processes with the help of NetSuite’s cloud-based ERP. In this regard we were also pleased to receive re-certification for our three ISO standards including ISO 27001 for data governance, something that is of the utmost importance to us as we ensure the security of the data we come into contact with daily, both for ourselves and our customers.

As pleased as we are with the progress made in 2019, we’re certainly not resting on our laurels. As always, we’re looking to take even more steps forward over the coming months, further enhancing our offerings to deliver the best levels of service possible to our customers as we continue to establish emerging areas of the business.

Equally, we appreciate that we are only as good as our people, so as a business we feel fortunate to have such a committed and knowledgeable team. We’ll endeavour to continue supporting each of them as best we can along the way, whether that be by helping them settle into a new role after a career change, or giving them the security and freedom to achieve a lifetime ambition.

And as we strive to continuously improve all aspects of the business, we are always on the lookout for new additions to the team to help further strengthen our entire service offering. No matter whether you’re a camper or a climber, if you’re looking for a new opportunity this year then we’d love to hear from you.

Take a look a look now at our current list of opportunities or simply send us your CV. Regardless, keep your eyes peeled for further developments throughout the year.