Peterborough & Stamford area news

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IT Naturally celebrates its 2nd Birthday

IT Naturally was born from the demise of Tour Operator, Thomas Cook. Our CEOs, Julie and Richard worked for the Group when they went into administration. One of the internal airlines knew it had to go it alone to survive. They approached Julie and asked her to set up a company to run their IT infrastructure services. Within a month of Thomas Cook collapsing, IT Naturally was registered with Companies House, she had set the ball rolling to launch a business that needed the skill and expertise of a large enterprise. Julie decided to find a business partner, together they recruited a Leadership Team, and within three months a team of experts and its first client was signed. The aim of the business was to hit the ground running, take over a fragile IT infrastructure without anything going down! To then re-size it for 5k employees rather than 23k, yet again without breaking anything. Within just two months lockdown hit, all employees were sent home from the office, but IT Naturally continued to go from strength to strength. IT Naturally now has 31 members of staff, several accreditations including ISOs and Cyber Essentials and Investors in People – Silver. Our IT Managed Services are also available on government and public sector frameworks having successfully complete G-Cloud 12 and TS3. We were proud to be able to develop an app for one company to help their team get vaccinated quickly. This year we have really focused on who we are as a company and what makes us different. We are human-centric, dedicated, and playful. We are inclusive and caring; take ownership of everything we do and we’re light-hearted and bring good humour to our day. That is reflected in what we do. We empower our customers’ business by looking after their IT infrastructure because IT comes naturally to us. We love turning a challenge for them into something simple and manageable. Our proudest moment this year has been gaining full marks in our Net Promoter Score. “We are so incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and we are looking forward to the next two years as we continue to grow.” Richard Gardner, CEO, IT Naturally

DSM Group acquire managed services provider EasyLifeIT

EasyLifeIT, founded in 2008 has built an excellent reputation for the provision of premium on-demand Managed Services. DSM Group’s CEO, Mike Richardson said: “The fit with DSM is perfect, whilst both EasylifeIT and DSM operated in each other’s sectors, and did it well, the route to enhancing their offerings could really only be achieved by a united front.” Mike went on to say: “Joining forces will enable the delivery of a refined and wider range of premium services, nationally and internationally, our five year vision is to make a number of strategic acquisitions, further solidifying DSM’s market position.” EasylifeIT’s Director and Founder, Lindsey Hall said: “EasylifeIT’s success has been built around its unique Help Desk model and proactive systems management. Joining the DSM Group not only provides the resource to continue growing this exceptional service, but also allows for EasylifeIT to bring to its clients the vast array of cloud services and expertise that DSM has to offer. “I’m excited to be part of this new adventure, as Group IT Director I look forward to developing, enhancing and combining, for the benefit of our clinets, the services of both DSM and EasylifeIT.”

PETERBOROUGH & STAMFORD

Cross Keys Homes retains highest possible rating from Regulator

Cross Keys Homes (CKH) is delighted to announce that it has retained the highest possible rating from the Regulator of Social Housing, who have confirmed that CKH retains its rating of V1 for viability and G1 for governance. G1 means CKH meets the Regulator’s governance requirements. V1 means CKH meets the Regulator’s viability requirements and has the financial capacity to deal with a wide range of adverse scenarios. The news is particularly welcome in the currently challenging times. CKH adapted to the pandemic and focused on the welfare of its resident and employees. Its Be Kind fund ringfenced £1.2m on supporting residents through the worst of lockdown, enabling them to purchase white goods, laptops for home-schooling and household items for those moving from short stay accommodation into their permanent homes. It moved to delivering food and medicines and adapting the support it offers to the most vulnerable to be done in safe way. Despite the challenges faced by the construction industry, CKH still managed to build 290 homes and a further 35 through its joint venture, Medesham Homes. CKH retains ambitious plans to build 500 affordable homes for shared ownership and rent each year. Claire Higgins, Chief Executive of CKH, said: “I am very proud that we have retained this rating despite all the challenges of the last couple of years. It really is down to the hard work and talent of our employees, and their commitment to getting it right for our residents. It also highlights that we are a sound business for our investors and stakeholders and gives them the confidence in our business approach to risk. We are continuing to work with some amazing partners to change even more lives and communities for the better in the future.”

New Volunteer Coordinator joins the Peterborough Cathedral team

Charlotte Amato-Gauci has joined the team at Peterborough Cathedral as their new Volunteer Co-ordinator. Charlotte’s full-time role will see her recruiting volunteers to help with tower tours, gardening, serving in the Cathedral shop (which is set for an exciting relaunch in the coming months) and assisting with a packed programme of events. Inclusivity is integral to the Cathedral’s Vision and Values and Charlotte will be working with a wide range of people to encourage them to become Cathedral volunteers. She will also be liaising with businesses looking to arrange a ‘volunteering day’ for their staff, perhaps as a team building exercise or as a way of giving back to the community. Charlotte brings a great deal of experience to the role having worked with members of the community in her clinical job at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, where she led a team of staff to achieve their full potential. She is keen to support volunteers to do the same. Canon Tim Alban Jones, Vice Dean of Peterborough, said: “We are delighted to welcome Charlotte to the team and excited about the skills and insights she brings with her. Volunteers play such a vital role in the life of the Cathedral and we simply couldn’t manage without them. We hope that they, in turn, gain valuable friendship, skills and experience from us and we look forward to Charlotte being able to offer these opportunities to a wide variety of people”. Charlotte Amato-Gauci said: “I have had such a wonderful welcome to Cathedral life from all of our staff and volunteers, so I am confident that any volunteers who come forward would get a similar reception. I look forward to promoting the inspiring work the volunteers do. If you are thinking of volunteering at the Cathedral, we really do have such a variety of opportunities to get involved in. Our team love developing their knowledge of the history of the Cathedral, using their skills, working with and meeting new people, all the while knowing that their work is needed and valued.” To find out more about volunteering opportunities at Peterborough Cathedral, please get in touch with Charlotte Amato-Gauci via volunteer.coordinator@peterborough-cathedral.org.uk or call 01733 355315.