Business Engage Profiles
Connecting across the region She said: “We’ve joined up as Business Engage members of the Chamber and we’re getting out to quite a few events to help raise our profile because we feel there is a really good opportunity to work with businesses in this area.
A Midlands-based telecommunications company is expanding its footprint across the region – helping more and more businesses stay connected with their customers and teams.
are becoming increasingly linked, and with more services shifting to the cloud, now is an ideal time for businesses to start laying the platform foundations that they can continue to build on.
dbfb is based in Northampton but has enhanced its presence in Coventry and Warwickshire after extending its partnership with CityFibre, the company rolling out a full-fibre network in Coventry.
Emma Mullings, the company’s head of marketing, said there were strong opportunities for growth in the region as Coventry and Warwickshire remains a buoyant economy.
dbfb, which employs around 45 people and celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2023, offers a range of communication solutions that are designed to keep businesses connected, talking, mobile, secure and supported. With businesses striving for more profitable growth, the integration of telecommunications and operating models
“We work with companies of all sizes and across all sectors. We’re commercially competitive, contractually flexible, provide better service and we give back to the local community." Emma added: “At the end of the day, we sell what large corporates do. But by choosing us as your communications partner, you’ll receive a more personalised and customised service. We know more and more businesses are making a digital investment, however, some are still choosing product silos from multiple large companies, rather than looking
“We work with companies of all sizes and across all sectors. We’re commercially competitive, contractually flexible, provide better service and we give back to the local community."
at integrated solutions. This results in disjointed customer service and higher operating costs but we’re here to help fix that.” Simon Pickering, managing director of dbfb said: “The truth is, some large companies aren’t servicing their customers correctly and we aren’t afraid to admit that service is something we do particularly well, with a 98.7% customer satisfaction rate. We invest in technology specialists who take the time to understand your business and map out the issues you’re trying to resolve. By taking this approach, you receive a solution that’s fit for purpose, rather than just ‘sold’, because they are the products that we sell. “Offering customers only what they truly need and by ensuring the highest levels of service has stood us in good stead over nearly a quarter of a century now and that is something that we will continue as we expand across the region.” For more information on dbfb go to https://www.dbfb.co.uk/
Leading the charge for greener energy in the region A business on the border of Rugby and Coventry is offering firms in the region the potential to tap into the renewable electricity it generates from farm crops. Channing Digester Ltd is based at Brandon Grange Farm and is run by brothers Alistair and Andrew Channing, having been a family farm for more than 100 years. Just over a decade ago, they decided to phase out the farming of potatoes and their dairy herd and took the decision to invest in an anaerobic digester, which can burn anything from manure to food waste, and turn it into electricity. They now farm around 900 acres worth of maize each year and also buy in maize from other local farms to feed into the digester. It generates 499 Kilowatts per hour and is fed back into the grid as well as powering the family home on the farm. They are keen to expand this by an extra 1MW, but the grid connection cost is making the expansion unviable.
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Now Alistair believes there is the potential to sell direct to businesses in the local area and even create a battery charging centre on site for a regional transport operator. He said: “We decided about 12 years ago that traditional farming wasn’t the way we wanted to go and my wife was working in the anaerobic digestion industry, so we decided to look into it and made a significant investment. “This has been a family farm for around 110 years so it was a big step but we felt that it was the right time to move into a new area of business. “We grow the maize that we feed into the digester and also purchase some in from other farms, who use it as a break-crop for their wheat. It means as well as running our own business, we are contributing to the local rural business community too. “Everything we generate is sold back into the grid but we believe there is potential to do more. “We want to talk to businesses in the local area – say in Ansty or Binley – who may want to purchase electricity from
us direct because that could definitely be done and would offer them a greener, more sustainable source of electricity. “We would just need to connect them up to us via a cable, agree a cost and go from there. I am not sure businesses know that this opportunity is there for them but we would be happy to talk to companies about what we can provide. “We’d also consider creating an on-site charging centre for, say, a local bus or coach operator that use electric vehicles. We would create a new entrance and
install charging points, and then use the electricity generated by the digester to charge the vehicles. We also have a large amount of waste heat available for businesses who have a high energy requirement. “There is massive potential in what we do here and we just want to get the message out to businesses in the area of what we could do for them.” For more information or to get in touch with Channing Digester Ltd please contact Alistair on 07887 561202.
“We want to talk to businesses in the local area – say in Ansty or Binley – who may want to purchase electricity from us direct because that could definitely be done and would offer them a greener, more sustainable source of electricity. " www.cw-chamber.co.uk
