It’s fair to say that 2017 has been a time of growth and change for a lot of brands in the UC industry. UK headset specialists Corptel are no exception to that rule. They’ve taken advantage of the age of digital transformation to increase their sales and enhance their position in the marketplace.
After around 23 years of trading within the Comms market, the company has seen a huge increase in performance, with a projected turnover of approximately £11.5 million for this year (2017). Previously, the brand’s personal best was around £9.5 million – a number they achieved in 2007 before the recession began. We spoke to Managing Director, Paul Baxter, about what he believes is driving the development of the company.
Tell Us About You, and Corptel
Corptel first came to the market in 1994. Since then, its focus has been to deliver a wide range technology products and services to companies across the UK. Paul Baxter has been working as a key member of the Corptel team for around 19 years. He told me that he has been working in the industry for his entire life, from the moment he left school.
“My time in the industry means I’ve seen a lot of changes over the years. I’ve been running Corptel now for about a decade, and honestly, we’ve been proud of our fairly consistent turnover around the £9 million mark for a few years now.”
Corptel have traditionally been seen as a specialist in headsets even when headsets themselves were notoriously complicated. Phones were simply not designed to connect easily and often required additional amplification. Paul has seen the industry develop the technology that has made the headset a more integrated and user friendly tool. The company has always sought out products and partners that offer customers the best technical solutions to suit their needs. He believes this has given Corptel the respect it enjoys within the industry and has allowed the company to develop beyond a headset specialist and into a full service Telecoms Distributor.
Why Do You Think Your Revenue is Growing Now?
Paul told me that he feels that Corptel’s recent success can partially be linked to the changes currently happening in the technology world. More people are switching to virtual solutions for communication, and stepping away from the standard desk phone as a result. This means that headsets and VoIP softphones are becoming increasingly popular around the world.
“People are changing the way they work. There’s remote working, flexible working, people connecting to the office from their home and mobile devices. This year, we’ve seen a huge uptake in the headset industry, as the traditional desktop telephone continues to die off, and new technologies begin to grow. The adoption of solutions like Skype for Business and convergent innovations has made the headset a much more necessary piece of tech.”
What’s the Plan Going Forward?
With this huge milestone under their belt, I asked Paul what Corptel’s plans were for the years ahead. He told me that the brand hopes to continue growing organically, thanks to the changes in the marketplace, and the brand’s devotion to exceptional quality.
Paul also noted that Corptel’s customer satisfaction levels are a major factor in helping to facilitate further growth:
“Our customers think that we’re incredibly easy to deal with, and as many brands know, great service is the key to success these days. As a result, we have many clients that have stayed with us for over fifteen years”.
Paul also praised the entire team at Corptel:
“We are lucky to have a fantastic group of people across our entire business and our commitment to paying the London Living wage has seen us experience great staff retention. It is their hard work that has seen the exceptional growth in the business.”
