IN BIZ MK June July 2021.qxp_A4 size 14/05/2021 10:18 Page 14
TALKING BUSINESS
IN THE BUSINESS OF FORGING STRONGER CONNECTIONS IN MK It is five years since communications specialists dbfb branched out into Milton Keynes in a bold and innovative move to help businesses to access a worldclass fibre network. Managing director Simon Pickering explains more. That, alongside networking, referrals and high-quality Back in 2016, Milton Keynes was hailed as one of the worst service is what Simon believes will help them to achieve connected cities in the UK and was in desperate need of their aim of turning over £15m a year by 2025. investment. “In the next five years the marketplace will change dbfb was offered the opportunity to partner with again,” said Simon. “The traditional way of making phone CityFibre - the UK’s largest alternative provider for calls will change at the end of 2025 when BT turn off IDSN wholesale fibre network infrastructure, and the builder of and everybody will have to move to internet-based Gigabit Cities - and invest £2m over five years in to turning telephone solutions. Milton Keynes into a connectivity beacon for others to “The telephone platforms will have to move to internet aspire to. and that requires great connectivity, and we feel we are It was a much-deliberated decision, but the leap of faith best placed to talk to businesses about that move and was worthwhile. about what they need. Five years later, the partnership has facilitated £80m of “Our business model is very simple. We speak inward investment into Milton Keynes and to customers, understand their pain points and Northampton, connecting more than 170 deliver flexible solutions. businesses to date. “Communications is a complex area now. “That opportunity to become a launch ‘WE’VE NOW It’s drifting into the IT world more than partner came with a significant investment GOT A GREAT ever before. Most business owners just it wasn’t a decision we took lightly,” said want it to work but they don’t have time managing director Simon Pickering. “It was CUSTOMER BASE to understand it. They need someone a marketplace we didn’t know well at the IN MILTON they can trust and do the right thing by time and Milton Keynes ranked as one of KEYNES’ the business and can support them as a the lowest connected cities in the UK then. human being. That’s our model – and it’s “The decision we took as dbfb has had a quite a rare one in our industry. significant impact on Milton Keynes and we are “We are over resourced for our revenue but we incredibly proud of being part of delivering such know that and we do it on purpose. Customers speak impressive connectivity. The city now ranks, for to a person, a local person, as we’ve found most people business and home, as one of the most connected cities in would rather talk to people. the UK and we’ve paved the way in Milton Keynes for that “We are very lucky as a business. Customers that come connectivity opportunity.” to us stay with us and I believe that’s because of the valued Combining this with dbfb’s other core services, means service we offer.” the company is perfectly positioned to bring ultrafast connectivity to local businesses, and then provide the allFor more information on how dbfb can help you important management and support for business-critical understand your company’s technology needs without the internet services. acronyms and jargon visit www.dbfb.co.uk Its dedication to its four chosen key business focus areas - people, platform, service and solutions - has led to impressive growth in recent years across all areas. This year the company aims to to increase its workforce to 40 and increase turnover to £7.5m. Simon, who took the helm in 2016, said: “We’ve seen steady growth in Milton Keynes but I still believe that there’s a lot more we can do here. We’ve now got a great customer base in Milton Keynes. We need to invest again, there’s no doubt about that. That may be organically, like we have done in Northampton, or we may look to acquire.” The 50-year-old added: “We have definitely got to be noisier about what we do in MK.” dbfb will soon be launching a five-year anniversary offer for anyone moving over to CityFibre from another network and they are working closely with fellow Chamber members and the Milton Keynes business community to share their connectivity opportunity with more firms. Simon admits that the local marketplace has taken some getting used to. “MK has two key business areas – there are very entrepreneurial start-up businesses or there are large enterprises. It’s a difficult balance of businesses and that’s been quite a steep learning curve for us.” But dbfb are proud of their simple and successful approach to technology – solutions without the jargon. 14 inbusiness JUNE/JULY 2021
dbfb team
