Great IT support is just around The Corner

The Corner, London

As an independent London-based creative agency, The Corner helps brands find a meaningful role in the world, through what they say and what they do. Winner of multiple creative industry awards, The Corner brings creative, strategy, design, research, data, and cx together in one team to support the whole brand, not just a few choice bits. Its clients include several high-profile brands such Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Batiste, Anglian Water and Jackpotjoy.

In September 2020 The Corner went through a major transition when its three founding partners bought back the agency from the Be Heard Partnership, who they had sold it to previously in 2017. This newly acquired re-independence was an opportunity for The Corner to rethink its IT estate and its managed IT support.

Removing the headache of IT

Similar to most creative agencies, The Corner experienced high staff turnover during the pandemic and has pivoted to hybrid ways of working, which has resulted in a high level of IT-related requests. Techsolve has removed the headache of day-to-day IT challenges, enabling The Corner to focus on business growth and talent acquisition.

Fahima Khatun, Office Manager, explains: “Sometimes we’d have someone confirmed as a new starter on Friday who needed to have their equipment ready for Monday. Pretty early on into our partnership with Techsolve we established our onboarding process and clearly defined the roles so Techsolve would pick up such an ad-hoc new joiner with relative ease and ensure they were set up smoothly.”  

When The Corner was conducting an office refurbishment, Techsolve provided consultancy on how technology could support hybrid working not just today, but also in the future. Kam Sanghera explains: “Augi and Austin invested time in truly understanding our business and tech processes, priorities, and future plans. They provided a couple of different options that would work best in different scenarios, which was great. We were then able to make an informed choice on the one that best suited our business needs rather than be railroaded down one path.”  

Sometimes less technology is more

Techsolve has also played a valuable role in helping The Corner consolidate and trim down its somewhat sprawling IT estate.

“Augi and Austin helped us to see that we were paying for quite a few licences and tools we really didn’t need. We were able to cancel some unnecessary contracts as well as consolidate and migrate a few solutions in-house where we can manage them more efficiently and cost-effectively,” explains Kam Sanghera.

There were also examples when Techsolve advised The Corner how to better utilise existing solutions to avoid duplication and unnecessary procurement of new technology.

“We were looking at options for a new collaboration solution but Techsolve advised us to utilise a messaging solution within an existing paid-for platform to avoid extra cost. They’re very much aligned with our business strategy and understand the challenges of an IT-dependent small business,” adds Stacey Stollery, Head of People at The Corner.

Genuine people people

In the past, The Corner struggled with the level and speed of IT support, with its previous supplier taking days to respond and often failing to fix the issues at hand. Now, staff at The Corner can trust that support will be there on the same day it is needed.

“Augi, Austin and the team give us complete peace of mind that our IT needs are taken care of. At the same time, they’re incredibly accessible and easy to work with. If you have a query, they’re really quick to understand it and help you, or point you in the direction of who you should be talking to,” explains Kam Sanghera.

Fahima Khatun adds: “Augi and Austin are very involved in the business and take a personal interest in our challenges. They’re always on hand. Being able to have that direct communication with the leadership team really sets Techsolve apart from other managed IT support companies I’ve worked with before where you can’t really develop a relationship because it’s just a faceless support desk.”

It’s the personal touches, honesty and straight-talking, which staff at The Corner value most highly. “There have been times when Augi has come out in person to the office to have a look at issues that had nothing to do with him, but that have affected our service or connectivity. He took the time out of his day to come in, have a look and uncover the source of the issue. We always feel like a valued customer and that our needs are well looked after,” concludes Fahima Khatun.