News Item 1
Bolton Evening News 1st April 2005

24-hour help now on hand

As a matter of course business owners protect themselves against health problems and loss of income.

Drivers protect themselves against breakdown, and home owners protect themselves against intrusion. It is therefore interesting that with more businesses relying upon computers for the vast majority of their work that so many are taking so long to protect themselves here, too. Security and protection are arguably the biggest concerns in our increasing reliance on PCs. Last tear, market research company Keynote estimated a £4.86bn cost in breaches of IT security to the UK Economy with projected increases of 14-15% annually.

For small and medium sized businesses in particular, often a lack of time and knowledge can mean work slows down or stops completely. Its downtime they can ill afford. The IT repair industry does offer many solutions for businesses, with High Street retailers providing after sales support. However this often means long, frustrating phone calls to call centers and while many retailers offer call out visits for businesses, an average wait of three days is a very long time when their computers are used so frequently.

So cue Chris Halloran of Amberworks (Bolton) Ltd who hopes to fill the gap with his local 24 hour PC trouble-shooter business. After been made redundant from a highly paid job as a Financial Director, Chris decided a fresh start was what was needed. I was tired of accountancy and wanted a new challenge after years of living in a comfort zone, I saw the opportunity to set up my own business in IT repair and did so in September 2003, he said.

He decided a franchise was the best option and discovered Amberworks, a Manchester based firm which offers individual’s the chance to start their own computer maintenance company. Soon Amberworks (Bolton) Ltd was born. Focusing on mainly small and medium sized businesses the company marketed itself on providing the customer with "the complete IT solution" - a one stop shop for all their IT requirements which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It's a service that could extend to people working from home too.

The angle was clearly to provide something different. Through the franchise I had the 24 hour back up support of a head office, but retained the freedom and flexibility to operate solely, allowing the service to operate in a fast and personal way.

Businesses like the fact that they can talk to the same person every time when dealing with a problem. I usually talk to them on the phone but they also have the piece of mind that I can go and see them if necessary.

According to Chris, there are three types of customers who employ his services. He said "Firstly there are growing businesses requiring installation or networking of new systems. Secondly there are those who call us in one off panics when viruses hit or they seem to have lost information" The final group are those who seek piece of mind by employing Amberworks on a retainer basis which guarantees them round the clock piece of mind should anything go wrong.

With a plain English approach and friendly support via the telephone and in person, Chris believes the small monthly fee is excellent value for the reassurance in having someone 'on call'. He describes the service as The IT equivalent of the breakdown cover provided by motoring organizations such as the AA, "I will either visit them personally or the Manchester office provide 24/7 technical support that is available on any problems we may struggle with. We have never left a job unfinished."

Chris admits that he found it a difficult market to break into and like many new businesses struggled in his first year. He said "The first nine months of trading were awful, I lost thousands and it left me regretting my investment.  In May 04 my wife and I took the decision to re-mortgage the house and give it a further three months.

I pounded the streets delivering thousands of leaflets advertising the service. I also telephoned companies but struggled to get past the gatekeeper. At times it was frustrating but then trade started to arrive. The first year ended with a respectable turnover."

A significant turning point for the Company came in January 2004 when Chris joined Ontrack, a local networking organization formed by Bolton Business Support Unit. He was introduced to other people and other networking groups and says he has never looked back since.

He is now on course to break the VAT threshold when his second year results come around in August, an achievement he is clearly proud of given the slow start. "We now have three people on a part time, available on a 'when required' basis. It’s growing steadily.

 Chris also recently converted his garage into an office and workshop to provide a better base and branded his car with the new logo and telephone number. The short term emphasis will be on mobility and therefore keeping overheads to a minimum but he excited by the fact that in the near future he may have three to four full time staff including an administrator and other engineers.

So from a flickering flame, Amberworks-Bolton has emerged as a business that is now shining brightly. For his part, Chris may burn the midnight oil from time to time - but then he wouldn't have it any other way.

News Item 2
Charity Race Night

Amberworks (Bolton) Ltd, Moorish Idol Marketing and Vizcom Design recently held a charity race night in aid of The British Red Cross Tsunami appeal. The night was a huge success raising over £2000 to date.

In organising the Race Night we wanted to show people that whilst most of us have not been affected directly by the tragic events in Asia we can all do our bit by donating what little time or money we can spare.

We wanted to say that we have not forgotten about the daily struggles in Sudan and other parts of the world that have perhaps been overshadowed. If you would like to know a little more about the appeal and possibly make a small donation on-line - you still can do so please visit www.justgiving.co.uk/garysappeal.

Here are a few funny tales (names are anonymous to protect our clients).

"My printer won't print and I need vital documents for a meeting in 2 hours time!"
On arrival and after a few minutes the problem was resolved when I plugged the printer cable into the back of the computer. We didn't charge of course but now have a customer for life (a very embarrassed one at that).

"There is no sound coming from my speakers"
After returning a computer to a customer's home, I received a call a couple of days later saying that there was no sound from the speakers, on my return back to their home, this problem was resolved when the switch to the power socket where the speaker plug was located was switched to the on position.

"I've removed the virus but it keeps coming back"
A customer called one day stating he had trouble removing a virus, every time he surfed the internet he would receive a message that his computer would shut in 59 sec. After the restart he would run his anti-virus software, remove the virus but the following day the same thing would happen.

Initially this was a little confusing as once a virus is removed - it stays removed, the customer then explained that a certain program failed to work after the virus attack, but worked before hand - it's at this point things started to make sense.

Within Windows XP you have the facility to restore the computer to an earlier date, the client's software worked before the virus attack, but not after. After he was hit by the virus the computer automatically stored a system check point, the customer on his system restore was going back to the point in time when the virus was in his system and his software worked, a magical merry-go-round!

Due to ever increasing workload Amberworks (Bolton) is currently developing a workshop / office at Chris's home by converting his garage in to a specially built computer repair and build centre.

The increase in overheads will only be slight which means we can still continue to offer very competitive rates but improve (even further) our high level of service.

We would like you to look out for the Amberworks car. If you email when, where and what time you saw it on a 24-7 trip we'll send you the Amberworks (Bolton) prize of the month.