With the current crisis, the way businesses communicate has changed: #MadeInSandwell

Man with a pen and a book at a desk of computers, smiling and speaking into a headsetLearn how West Bromwich-based telecoms provider  Midshire Telecom is providing remote working solutions across the UK #madeinsandwell

Midshire Telecom provides communications solutions for businesses all over the UK, including telephone systems, video conferencing, collaboration software, business broadband, ethernet and mobiles.

Established in 2002 by managing director Jim Callaghan, the business has grown from a team of three working from a small office in Birmingham, to a team of 40 employees working across six departments – operations, support, engineering, sales, telesales and marketing.

Midshire Telecom started life as LegalTX, providing telecommunications to the legal sector across the country. Having discovered a gap in market, the firm quickly gained a high market share within the legal sector by offering significant cost savings to its customers.

LegalTX later became Midshire Telecom and, after several years of success and consistent growth, the business relocated to a larger site in Sandwell. The 2015 move was part of a £2.2m expansion plan. This investment was partly funded by the Growing Priority Sectors Regional Growth Fund, with the help of our Business Growth Team here at Think Sandwell.

Today, Midshire Telecom supplies telecommunications all over the UK, with a focus on SMEs, government bodies, not-for-profit organisations, and the commercial and education sectors.

The company’s sales, support and engineering teams have received Samsung and NEC Platinum status, as well as Gamma Platinum Partner status.

Marketing manager Jamie Callaghan said this reflects the continual investment Midshire Telecom has made in products and people.

“The telecommunications industry is constantly evolving and in order to remain competitive we are constantly looking at ways to enhance the level of service we provide, through product development, staff training and operational efficiencies,” he said.

Now Midshire Telecom aims to increase its support for people and businesses in the local community with the launch of its new unified desktop app for enterprise communications.

HostX Collaborate provides video conferencing, instant messaging and realtime presence capabilities in a single solution.

Jamie and his colleagues hope the system will enable employees of businesses to work remotely and improve productivity.

“With the COVID-19 global pandemic, the way we communicate with our colleagues and customers has changed overnight,” he said. “Organisations face the new reality of their entire workforce working from home. Providing employees with communications solutions that enable them to be productive from any device, anywhere and on any mode of communication has become an absolute necessity for business continuity and success.”

As well as helping businesses to transform the way they work, Midshire Telecom has been working closely with the education sector to provide students who don’t currently have access to sufficient broadband connectivity.

Through its Schools Connect product, Midshire Telecom is providing disadvantaged school pupils with access to the internet. The company has received a high number of requests for temporary 4G data dongles (4G internet access).

Midshire Telecom plans to continue to be a key provider of secure connectivity to schools across Sandwell and the UK, keeping students and staff connected during these unprecedented times.

Midshire Telecom was ranked at number 19 in our Top 50 Fastest Growing Companies Index for Sandwell in 2019, having grown its overall turnover by 19.5 percent from the previous year.

Midshire Telecom is proud to be located in Sandwell and is committed to the region.

Managing director Jim Callaghan said: “We’ve built our business on the core belief that by investing in people in the local area we can provide outstanding levels of customer service to our customers.

“This ethos is something that continues to be of the utmost importance at Midshire Telecom and we’re proud of our sense of community here. No matter the job, everyone is willing to help each other out and get the best result for our customers.”

#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.