In October, #MadeInSandwell Monday celebrated Midshire Telecom and the company’s successes since its foundation in 2002.

Today we’re putting it in the spotlight again, this time for the great work it’s doing to support other businesses and schools in the region to use technology to stay Covid-safe and adapt to lockdown life. Jim Callaghan, managing director, said: “Our whole team has worked exceptionally hard to help businesses across the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.”

The West Bromwich firm has been particularly busy helping people work from home. The Midshire team has done a lot of work with schools, upgrading outdated phone systems on campuses to enable students to learn online, supplying 4G dongles for students with no internet access, and helping students, parents and teachers communicate more easily.

Midshire has also offered existing customers free upgrades to remote working software for the duration of the pandemic, and most recently developed a telephone system scrappage scheme, offering schools up to £1,000 towards a new telephone system when they trade in their old one. Jamie Callaghan, Midshire marketing manager said: “Moving to a new telephone system can seem daunting and expensive, so we decided to do our best to help out. Historically, the education sector uses very inflexible centrex telephone lines and telephone systems. As a result, the pandemic has highlighted key considerations and requirements to improve communications from the campus or from home. Our scrappage scheme means that schools can implement new solutions at a lower price, and Midshire Telecom can recycle their old system. It’s better for the customer and better for the environment.”

The company now sponsors school business management forums across the country, including the Sandwell Schools Business Management Forum. Looking to the future, it will continue to focus on helping schools adapt and change throughout the global pandemic, and beyond.

#MadeInSandwell Monday is a celebration of the talent and diversity within our borough. If you’re interested in being considered for a #MadeInSandwell Monday profile and having information about your organisation shared on Think Sandwell and through Twitter, read this.