“We are not your average telecoms provider”
From Sanofi to Saracens, superyachts to start-ups, Active Digital has earned a reputation for keeping businesses connected wherever they are in the world for 30 years. Here its founder Richard Groves along with his sister and the company’s director and co-owner Jo Wimble-Groves tell Eileen Leahy how they have evolved into a digital-led company helping companies of all sizes to transform their organisation through technology and why people will always come first…
What do Saracens Rugby Club, Sanofi Pharmaceutical, Baxall Construction, Corker Outdoor Living and Crew Clothing all have in common? They are all clients of the award-winning local communications business Active Digital.
The company, founded by entrepreneur Richard Groves in the mid-nineties, prides itself on helping businesses achieve their best communications possible – whether it’s with their mobile account, gaining faster connectivity at the office, or starting to consider how AI could be integrated into their organisation. Its consultancy-led approach has been key, leveraging the strength of a friendly family business and an independent provider. As a result, Active Digital has become one of the UK’s most well-respected connectivity and communication solutions-based business.
With thousands of clients and a revered reputation in the digital communications and tech industries, Active Digital has certainly come a long way since Richard began his multi-award-winning business.
“I was 19 years old when I founded Active Digital. I had £300 pounds to my name and thought ‘how am I going to make money?’. At the time mobiles were coming onto the scene and so I thought I would give selling them to businesses a go,” he tells me as we sit down to chat along with his sister Jo Wimble-Groves, who is the company’s business director and co-owner. Together the pair are one in around six million family-run companies who positively contribute to the overall economic landscape in the UK.
When he started out, Richard was also playing golf for England Boys but all of that came to an abrupt end after a serious car crash.
“I remember being in the back of the ambulance with Jo and asking her to ensure that a big client I’d made a deal with signed their phone contract! I kept saying ‘don’t forget to call Karen’!”
“That was one of the first big contracts we won which was with international pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and they’re still with us.”
We’re conducting our interview at Active Digital’s impressive HQ, located in Five Oak Green. The cavernous converted barn is where Richard, Jo and the Active Digital team host talks, social events such as ‘Connect over Coffee’ and client days. It’s a very welcoming space, decorated with framed, personally signed shirts from many of Active Digital’s VIP clients including the likes of England Rugby’s Owen Farrell, Arsenal football club and the Ryder Cup team. There’s also numerous glittering award ceremony photos and pictures of team days at Goodwood Revival and Bedford Autodrome.
This is a company that certainly looks like a lot of fun to work at but the barn, acquired just over a year ago, isn’t the business’s official office.
“We encourage hybrid working for our staff so this space really is just for special occasions,” states Richard as he shows me the incredible customised Active Digital Scalextric that he had built, complete with branded racing cars – a personal passion for Richard but more on that later…
“We offer four wellbeing days a year for our staff and will always support parents attending school events. If staff feel valued, that loyalty is reflected in how they treat our customers,” smiles Jo, who joined Richard’s business on leaving school. In 1996 it officially became Active Digital and next year will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
There are currently 28 employees in the Active Digital team who also have another local office to work from and a satellite space in London for client meetings or events.
Both Richard and Jo are the first to admit that where they are right now is just a little bit different from Active Digital’s first office space.
“We were in a tiny 6ft x 10ft office our dad got us,” says Richard. “We chose the name ‘Active Digital’ because it sat at the top of the Yellow Pages listings. We would – and often still do – cold call businesses whose lorries or vans we spot on the road. If business isn’t landing in your lap, you go out and find it.”
This hands-on approach may be old school but it still works.
“We are not your average telecoms provider – we are all about service. That is what sets us apart. Our business has mainly been built on word of mouth recommendations and consistently providing excellent customer service,” adds Richard. “We’ve delivered phones on Christmas Day or taken them personally to airports for our VIP clients.”
Originally a mobile and telephone solutions service the multi-award winning Active Digital has expanded exponentially into offering pioneering digital services. It now creates bespoke, high-performance connectivity for some of the world’s most demanding businesses – and local ones too including Corker, Baxall Construction, Thackray Williams and Naos Flooring.
“Our purpose is to create sustainable telecoms solutions that keep your brand connected, regardless of business size,” says Richard. “We do not compete on price alone – we stand out by providing exceptional value and industry leading service.”
And although the company has seen seismic changes over the past three decades in tech and communications, it has never lost sight of how important the human touch is in an ever-increasing digital world.
“Where AI is becoming the norm, people have told us they still want to talk to our team in person,” says Richard. “Some tell us it makes their day to talk to our staff.”
Since launching, Active Digital has worked with industry powerhouses across the insurance, energy and food & beverage sectors, as well as locally working with Harwoods Group, Tunbridge Wells Dental and Dale Hill Golf Club too. It has also been an O2 partner for many years, winning countless customer services and digital awards for them but numerous other industry giants too. Active Digital also boasts many prestigious partnerships, which extends to all UK mobile networks as well as Gamma and IBM.
“We’re incredibly proud of those achievements,” says Jo.
Richard adds they’ve seen a huge rise in the demand for cloud-based comms systems, sustainable IT and businesses asking for state-of-the-art Starlink kits which allow you to access the internet wherever you are in the world.
“We get a lot of CEOs asking for them to be installed on their yachts,” he says.
Yet despite the incredible revolution that’s taken place in the business, he and Jo say their success always goes back to loving what they do.
“We’ve always loved selling phones, whether it’s one phone to one person or thousands to a company. That buzz never goes away,” says Richard. “And we’ve never forgotten how tough it was when we started.” For your info the first phone Richard sold was the NEC P3!
“Hard work has always run in our family. Our uncle and grandad both had businesses and our dad instilled a hard work ethic in us from an early age.”
Jo tells me they knew from the start they couldn’t compete with the consumer market so the duo avoided going up against big chains like Phones4U and Carphone Warehouse.
“Instead, we focused on business customers who needed support. That’s when things took off, especially with the introduction of the BlackBerry.”
“When that happened many of our clients had three phones, including the Blackberry which meant three revenue streams,” says Richard.
Partnering with O2 was another seismic moment. “We were originally with BT Cellnet, which then became O2 and that meant we had access to the exclusive launch of the iPhone in 2007. That year we just rocketed.”
Another milestone was moving into the sports arena, which is still a huge part of the business. Active Digital have partnered with British Taekwondo and Olympian Steve Backley OBE, who is their company ambassador alongside former England rugby player, Richard Wigglesworth, who is now an England Rugby Senior Assistant Coach. The pair are the company’s key ambassadors whilst other supporters include Jade Jones OBE, netball player Eboni Usoro-Brown and former model-turned-racing driver Jodie Kidd MBE.
Its clients receive exclusive access to Active Digital’s hospitality events at the races, rugby and music gigs as well as charity golf days – most of which are hosted by their VIP clients and sporting ambassadors.
“I’ll never forget a meeting I had many years ago with David Brailsford who was Team Principal at Team Sky when he said: ‘Richard, people here say you’re the best company we deal with’.”
Jo adds that at one point Active Digital were supporting five Olympic Teams worldwide, handling all of their tech while they travelled. And if you smash your phone you’ll have one delivered immediately – wherever you are – thanks to the Active Digital VIP Care programme.
“We like to say we have global perspective and local insight,” reveals Jo. “After 30 years, we’re still learning, still growing.” Active Digital hosts an annual tech talk with Apple at its London headquarters and has also developed a number of useful apps for clients as well as a revamped YouTube presence in order to maximise its reach.
But community is also a big tranche of what Active Digital is all about – whether that’s sponsoring local events such as Hever Castle’s Supercar Show or fundraising for the Heart of Kent Hospice. The company has also really helped some of its ambassadors who include Olympic track and field Steve Backley and former Taekwondo gold medallist Jade Jones (who is now boxing professionally) by supporting them in their next career.
That type of commitment goes well beyond delivering the latest iPhone, installing pioneering tech or hosting an in-office demo.
To survive in such a fast-paced industry takes tenacity, forward thinking and instinct but Richard says success also boils down to looking after people – especially their staff.
“They really love what they do and clients often remark how happy and friendly our team are.”
The whole Active Digital tech team is accredited with Apple and Android devices and offers myriad services both remotely and in person. But their commitment extends beyond the 9–5 and includes fundraising events such as the Tonbridge Half Marathon.
“We promote a culture that inspires creative energy, collaboration and a growth mindset,” says Jo.
A major current development area for the business is Active Digital’s billing department.
“Networks constantly make errors so we process thousands of credits to clients a month. No big organisation could afford that level of granular analysis in-house but we do,” reveals Richard.
“We truly are a solutions company. We work across all networks, tailoring each client’s setup to where they work and what they need. If a client has a problem – connectivity, security, digital data workflows or mobile – we find the solution.
“So many in-house IT teams are overwhelmed by the constant changes in technology but we are able to take the mobile, cloud and connectivity issues off them entirely.”
Digital forms are another growing area of expansion for Active Digital.
“This is a game changer as it means enterprises can go totally paperless and increase eco-consciousness and efficiency tenfold,” says Richard.
AI is also becoming another hugely important aspect of the business which is why Active Digital has partnered with Ant Morse of Adventa Consulting to create Active Digital AI.
The collaboration aims to empower companies to explore, understand and deploy the most effective digital solutions to stay connected, relevant and competitive in the ever-evolving tech landscape that lies ahead.
“Ant is the former Head of Digital Innovation at Virgin Media O2 so it’s great to have him on board,” says Jo. The collaboration helps clients keep up with tech advances and gain competitive advantage.
Workshops can happen in a company’s offices or at Active Digital’s special AI events. A free 20-minute discovery call is also offered.
Another key pillar is sustainability. Active Digital runs recycling programmes for phones, laptops and servers – all securely wiped with GDPR certification. It has also rolled out e-waste initiatives, a buy-back service and a pre-loved device tab on its website.
“We encourage clients to donate the value of recycled tech to charity and we also do our bit. We have donated hundreds of Wi-Fi devices to charities such as London Youth, Young Lives Foundation, the Baytree Centre and Mid Kent College,” explains Jo.
The company is now trialling a phone recycling scheme with Speldhurst Primary School.
“We’re asking parents to drop off their old phones in a safe box and the money we get for them will go straight back into the PTA’s coffers. We are looking to roll it out elsewhere so do get in touch if you’d like to be part of this scheme.”
Before I leave Richard tells me more about his passion for fast cars and sport. He often uses his awesome collection of super cars and vintage rally numbers for launches but to also inspire young people.
“It’s about showing them what they can achieve if they put their minds to it.”
Most recently Richard used a few of his supercars to launch Active Digital’s collaboration with Ant Morse at Bedford Autodrome.
But as well as a passion for fast cars Richard tells me he is equally interested in wellbeing so when Jade Jones told him about JJ Double Gold – a range of natural pain-relief products – he tried them and found them to be incredibly effective.
“I’d sustained long term injuries following my car accident years ago and had taken regular pain relief. But after driving back from a meeting with her in Wales I reached home and thought ‘wow my back isn’t killing me’. Her products had worked and so I decided I could help Jade promote them.”
Jo tells me her brother ‘sees an opportunity in everything’ but clearly so does she. She has spoken publicly for years about being a woman in STEM and ICT, visited 10 Downing Street, sat on many influential women in business boards and also found the time to pen the best-selling Rise of the Girl female empowerment guide which is available to buy on Amazon.
“We’re committed to inspiring the next generation of female leaders in tech by providing mentorship, resources and opportunities to learn and grow,” explains Jo. “We want to give back – not pull up the ladder.”
Richard adds: “When everything seems to move at the speed of light, the pressure to keep up can be tough and that’s why we are here to help. And if you can enjoy your passions while moving the business forward, that’s a win.”
