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Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd specialises in providing telecoms and broadband for businesses. Founded by Eddie Portman and Matt Perry in July 2016, the company has grown from strength to strength. Turnover and profitability has increased by an impressive 30-40% year on year, and they expect to be just short of £1.5 million in turnover this year.
The company’s services include cloud or hosted telephony, broadband services, data cabling infrastructures, CCTV, and mobile tariffs. Their customers range from one-person micro businesses, right through to multi-site companies with 2,000 users.
But, despite their growth, Eddie and Matt still hold true to their original values.
“Matt and I used to work together and felt we could offer a better service ourselves. We took a leap of faith and set up a company called Unified Voice and Data from my dining room table. We started on a small scale and focused on providing a personalised service for our customers.”
Eddie Portman, Sales Director, Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd
As the company grew, customers were asking for mobile services too. Eddie and Matt looked for specialist companies to partner with. They found one, Blue Portal Telecom, with very similar values and a strong customer ethos. When the two companies realised they were both talking to the same customers, they formalised their partnership.
Unified Voice and Data’s name changed to Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd. Whilst the company still operates as a distinct business, the marketing is now on one website. It’s meant the Blue Portal group as a whole now offers multiple services:
Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd has now become a reliable alternative to the big Telecoms companies. The company uses the major telecom infrastructures such as BT, Talk Talk, and Virgin, but at wholesale price with a better customer experience.
“We take the headache out of dealing with big conglomerates. Our fast turnaround times help differentiate us. And we like to visit our customers on site to see what they do and how they work. It means we can ensure they have the right product and service to fit their business, not just what we want to sell.”
Eddie Portman
When the company outgrew Eddie’s dining room in September 2017, it was time to look for an office.
Eddie was in a networking group and had a few follow-up meetings with members located in The Business Village. He saw the site was in a good central location and very well priced with great facilities.
They moved in at the end of 2017, starting out in a 2-person office. As the company grew, they moved into bigger spaces. And they now rent an office and workshop covering 716 square feet. It’s a whopping 258% increase in square footage on their original office.
“Since moving into The Business Village, we’ve reaped the benefits. Having 24/7 access and free parking gives us convenience and flexibility for the team. And we can use the bistro or meeting rooms when customers want to visit. The nature of our business means we don’t need to have the office occupied all the time. But the reception staff do a great job whenever we’re not around.”
Eddie Portman
Being in The Business Village has helped increase sales for Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd. The company now looks after telecoms for several tenants. Although some have since moved on from the Business Village, they’ve continued as customers.
“We expect to be at The Business Village for a long time. It’s a nice environment and our current office and workshop give us space for expansion. We love the flexibility. We’re not tied into long contracts and know the team here will support us if things change.”
Eddie Portman
Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd has grown steadily and now employs seven staff in Barnsley. Eddie says the next step is to streamline operations and expand their administration. But they want to stick with a gradual pace of growth and avoid becoming too large too quickly.
“We’ve seen companies grow rapidly and not be able to cope. We want to keep our feet on the ground and continue with our personalised service. Our customers are important to us, whether they have one or 2,000 people. We’d like to create a middle management structure and have more people taking on roles in the business. We have some great staff and look after them well. In turn, they look after us and come forward with ideas to improve things.”
Eddie Portman
Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd works with customers across a range of sectors. Some are start-ups, but many are larger, more established companies too.
The technology used allows people working from home to appear like a larger company. Eddie will often set up phone numbers with location codes, which then work via a mobile app. One customer lives in Portugal but has a Harrogate phone number for his business. He can take calls from anywhere and, using the app, return calls from the landline number.
“We allow people to make educated decisions by introducing them to what’s available in the marketplace. Micro businesses especially need to be agile. The owners are not tied to their desk all day, but they do want to answer customer’s calls.
You’ll find lots of communication providers out there, and we’re one of them. We can offer flexible contracts and encourage you to talk with us to see how we can help.”
Eddie Portman
Get in touch with Blue Portal Voice & Data Ltd:
Website: https://blueportal.co.uk/
Tel: 0114 553 7969
Email: eddie@blueportal.co.uk
