“Our aim is to help you and your business thrive”
tecwork is an independent telecoms and IT support provider headed up by industry expert Nick Brandon. Here he and his team tell Eileen Leahy why being proactive and making an impact on businesses will always be at the heart of everything they do for their clients
Nick Brandon founded tecwork, his telecoms and IT support business, in 2017 after the company he’d worked at for 23 years was sold. On leaving First Office Systems Nick says he immediately knew he never wanted to work for a boss again so he decided to go it alone.
“I’d had a limited company established since 1998 and that meant I could set up immediately. I became a Gamma Reseller, which is our main telecoms provider, because I had a previous relationship with Gamma in my old role. So I started selling telephone systems and hosted VoIP (voice over internet protocol) phone systems straight away.
“On launching tecwork it really was full steam ahead trying to get as many businesses on board.”
Thankfully after two decades of working in telecoms and prior to that nine years in banking, Nick had a very good contacts book which, he tells me at our interview, meant that a number of businesses agreed to support him from the start.
Since 2017 the visionary entrepreneur has been determined to deliver tecwork’s growing client base, with not just the best, most innovative service and products, but to lead where others will follow.
“The aim is to help you survive and thrive with technology and to do things differently from others in our sector,” explains Nick who now heads up a team of six plus various out-sourced specialists and sub-contractors.
“We are passionate about what we do here and I feel that is missing in a lot of our competitors. We pride ourselves on being proactive and always staying one step ahead. That’s not only important for our clients but also for us as a team too. We get excited about new technology launches or upgrades that will not only simplify a company’s day-to-day operations but save them money too.”
Just one quick look at tecwork’s website confirms this with the homepage carrying a strapline declaring the business as “Award-Winning Tech Experts Saving Small Business Owners Money, Time & Stress On IT and Telecoms, Cloud & VoIP In Kent & Sussex.”
We’re chatting at Basepoint in Crowborough, a flexible working space where Nick and his team have assembled to be interviewed and have their photos taken by our photographer John Knight.
We’re meeting there as everyone in the business works remotely. In addition to tecwork’s founder and director Nick Brandon, the company’s other employees are Adam Walder, Technical Director; Martyn Smith, IT Director; Matthew Guile, IT and Telecoms engineer; Angus Fleming, IT and Telecoms engineer and and Paul Berry who is a sales consultant for the firm.
Nick tells me they don’t need a designated office as Adam, Martyn, Matthew and Angus are mainly dealing with clients online, or the phone, or out doing installs or repairs in the various offices they service. Martyn, who was made IT director last summer, is in charge of overseeing the firm’s more complex IT projects. Nick and Paul are tasked with generating new business and managing the customers they service, with Nick also running and leading the company. He also raises the company’s profile further by attending networking events in and around Tunbridge Wells.
Although Nick started the business on his own, he says that it wasn’t long until Adam joined him.
“I had been working at First Office Systems for around a year after they introduced IT expertise to the services they offered,” explains Adam.
“But when the company was sold I was asked to take the IT clients I’d acquired with me as the new firm was only interested in the telecoms and copiers side of the business. That was a very fortunate thing to happen,” he smiles.
Since arriving at tecwork eight years ago, Adam has grown the IT side of the business exponentially. He is assisted by Matthew who also came from the old team and arrived in 2018. Martyn and Paul came on board in 2021 and Angus joined the business in 2025.
The company specializes in telecoms, IT and Cloud Services and Support, with an increasing focus on cyber security and AI services.
“For some customers we do both telecoms and IT – which is the utopia for us – and for others it’s one or the other. But we are definitely seeing a growing demand for cyber security and AI,” reveals Nick.
But before we get into more details about that he is keen to focus on why it is so important to be proactive with clients.
“They will always come first. We will never let a call or email go unanswered. If the client isn’t happy then neither are we. But having said that it’s amazing how many of our competitors don’t get that. Telecoms can be a bit like the Wild West in that many will only sort out problems when they arise. We however want to be transparent and in communication with our clients which is why we check in on them and hold regular review meetings.”
But it’s not just customers the team gets enthused about, it’s the tech too because – let’s face it – in this ever-evolving digital landscape innovation seems to happen on a daily basis.
“There’s so much out there now,” continues Adam. “From call systems that will record conversations and then send you the transcribed text, to AI Agents that can manage a smaller company’s HR. It is forever changing and that’s what makes our job so exciting.”
Nick agrees by telling me that the tecwork guys love discovering all about the latest innovations in their field.
“That’s so important because you can’t just be seen to be offering up the same products – which unfortunately a lot of people do. That’s where the difference is for them. On the telecoms side for example competitors can lock clients into three, five or even seven year contracts. That’s not good value for the customer – but it means whoever is selling will get their commission. Thinking about the client almost comes last for them – but not for us.”
But Nick is quick to add that doesn’t mean they will try and sell any kind of niche or new-fangled products just for the hype.
“We will only advise on products we know are worth it but we will always have our eyes on what is new and could possibly be a game changer for a client. We’re still young enough as a company to have passion and agility, and that’s a real bonus for us.”
Adam tells me that working for an independent business means they aren’t tied to specific providers and can therefore be very prescriptive for every individual business they work with.
“We don’t have a fixed list that we can’t deviate from. It’s simply a case of if we can deliver it you can offer it to a client.”
And the brands tecwork offers are some of the sector’s biggest players including Microsoft and Gamma.
Another outstanding USP of tecwork’s approach to doing business brilliantly is their ‘Wow Factor’ support.
“When I worked at First Office Systems I was on stage twice picking up awards for service excellence on behalf of our company,” states Nick. “So when that business got bought there was a big gap in the marketplace locally for a technology provider who was an award-winning one. And it’s fair to say that from the start we really have focused on service and support being our key thing. We believed if we got the service and support right – that ‘Wow Factor’ if you like – then the business would look after itself.
Ultimately we want every customer interaction to end with them going, ‘wow, that was really good service’.
Clients include Loch Associates, Rencraft Kitchens and Courtney Havers Partnership – all of whom have taken that ‘Wow Factor’ a step further by recording video testimonials for Nick and his team.
“That’s the next step for us. We have around 70 plus testimonials you can read from our clients on our website but having someone record their feedback on screen and tell people – and any potential clients – how well we have impacted their business is something that you just won’t see anywhere else. Usually testimonials are anonymous and that makes them meaningless in my opinion.
“Everybody says they do a really good job but the reality is we have found that often, competitors frequently fail to deliver the service levels they claim to offer, and that is a major reason customers ask us to take over for them.”
Referencing the testimonials again Nick adds: “I just think the best way of showing your wares is to tell stories. And what better way to do so than have your customers tell them?”
Nick admits that he may well have more resources than he probably needs but such is his commitment to serving his clients above and beyond, he wants to ensure every single one of them receives the best experience possible.
“We aim to respond within ten minutes because we need to make sure that if someone has a problem they are looked after. In my old role we won two coveted customer excellence awards and I have always sought to ensure that is what tecwork is also renowned for.”
He does however admit that this could extend up to 60 minutes if things are exceptionally busy but the whole team thrives on that quick response and turnaround.
Adam tells me that the majority of tecwork clients are spread across Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and into East Sussex.
“Most of the businesses we work with are SMEs so they don’t have the budget for an in-house IT department, but by employing tecwork they can access expert advice without having to pay inflated overheads.”
And despite having an impressive coterie of clients already which also includes Helios Homeopathy and Consultus Care and Nursing, Nick and Adam say they are still very much looking to recruit more.
And that’s where word of mouth and social media come into play.
“If customers are saying good things then that’s fantastic,” explains Nick. “They are all on our website and have been shared on LinkedIn too but doing an article like this helps us spread the word further.”
I ask the pair where they want to be, let’s say, in a year or possibly five years’ time in order to expand the business further.
“Well we want to continue to grow but it’s fair to say that our staff are really the most important thing in our business,” states Nick.
“It really is imperative they are happy, have a good work-balance and aren’t stressed. They’re all good people and do an amazing job.”
Adam says that ultimately Nick lets them manage their own time and that micromanagement just isn’t a thing at tecwork: “You get the best results that way.”
Nick says that one of the hardest things about being in business is getting – and keeping – ‘really, really good people.’
“My philosophy has always been if we can get and keep really, really good people, then everything really should look after itself. Because if they’re good people, they’re doing a good job.”
And offering up that kind of autonomy pays dividends says Nick as if there is an emergency let’s say late at night or at the weekend they will try and help – despite not operating a 24-hour/7 days a week operation.
“If we are able to we will because when a ticket comes in we all see it immediately but having said that we are not a round-the-clock operation as that would mean subbing it out to contractors and that would risk losing control of our service. At the end of the day it’s all about our best endeavours.”
Adam informs me that the tech team are out and about regularly managing IT/Telecoms customers, sorting out technical issues or installing new technology for customers, so there is a good balance of remote and in-person work ensuring both customer familiarity and variation, whilst maintaining helpdesk resource, which always takes priority.
“When we are on a customer site, staff always have questions – it could be about anything including queries about laptops, cabling, docking stations, CAD hardware and software for an architect – literally anything tech-related.”
“We meet all types of people in this job,” admits Nick. “Our clients are so diverse which keeps things interesting and informative as you have to learn each company’s culture and what works best for them.”
In addition to IT and telecoms, tecwork is becoming increasingly involved with online safety and keeping businesses up to date with all the latest tech developments.
“We are Cyber Essentials accredited which is a Government scheme so we are able to go into companies and advise them what the best level of protection will be in order to protect themselves. Cyber Essentials isn’t a silver bullet solution though – it’s actually the minimum protection you can have but some people are reluctant to even do that! They think it won’t happen to them so it really is about educating people.”
According to Adam AI is also another a ‘huge area of growth’ for tecwork.
“This isn’t just about navigating things like ChatGPT or Co-Pilot, it can be relevant to telecoms too. And as I said earlier AI agents are becoming more and more popular for SME businesses. These agents can be fed a load of HR documents, and then staff can just ask questions such as ‘’what’s our policy on sickness and dismissal’. They’re really powerful.”
As you’d expect tecwork will happily carry out tutorials to help businesses get up to speed with all this ever-evolving tech and Nick says they are very much focused on having review meetings on a regular basis.
“As I said right at the start we pride ourselves on being proactive so by having review meetings is a perfect way of assessing if certain systems we have put in place for clients are the right ones. You would seriously be amazed at how many of our competitors do not do this,” he reveals.
“But if we don’t have those reviews then how are we going to know what’s working and what isn’t? It’s a fundamental thing to do if you’re providing a bespoke service. Contact shouldn’t just be left until there is a problem.”
Nick’s involvement with lots of local networking groups such as enTWine and the Sevenoaks Chamber of Commerce is another way he recruits new business.
“I try to be on the radar by attending these and by posting regularly on LinkedIn but we also get a number of referrals where we don’t know the source. I guess it’s just word of mouth from our clients which shows that we are making an impact. Being in business is not just about making money. If you can improve someone’s business and genuinely make a difference, that’s just as important as financial success.”
