Joseph Holt is an independent brewery based in Manchester since 1849. Over the years, it has evolved and grown to become the modern beer creating brewery it is today, although still surrounded by some of the original history, fixtures and fittings.

The Joseph Holt pub estate currently consists of over 120 houses, which continues to evolve and grow. With a wide range of pubs from busy city-centre inns to countryside food houses and all that go in-between, there’s a pub to suit everyone.

Key pain points

The pub estate contained a large and varied estate of legacy phone systems, which meant an increased cost of maintenance and repairs. These existing systems were continuously failing and finding replacement parts was becoming increasingly difficult to source.

The limited functionality of a traditional phone system wasn’t so much an issue but by embracing the newer features of a modern IP-based system, such as out-of-hour messages and smart call routing, would help make the pub estate become more efficient, along with an improved customer experience.

Proposed Solution

With the upgrade of the UK’s phone network in full swing, the removal of traditional copper and ISDN phone lines is a major restructure. By replacing the current traditional phone system with an IP-based solution, running over an existing data infrastructure for each pub, has enabled Joseph Holt to be ready for the switch-off ahead of time.

With the system being hosted in the cloud, it negated the need for onsite repairs and maintenance as this can all be done remotely with software changes/updates. In addition, it allowed business failover to be completed automatically in the event of a data connection failure

All provided end-user hardware is configured remotely and covered with a 3-year warranty. This provides the customer with fixed costs, less downtime and no requirement for end-user interaction with the system

“The team at Unified World Communications provided excellent customer service from start to finish; explaining the proposed solution and highlighting all the different options available.  The system they provide is easy to understand, which allowed us to establish the appropriate requirements and features for each individual pub. 

Unified World provided an end-to-end solution from design and quotation through to physical installation, along with number porting.  We were kept up-to-date every step of the way.  The project was progressing so well, we put a request in to expedite the roll-out.

Unified World accommodated this and finished the project 4 months ahead of schedule. We now have all of our 116 managed sites connected on the new IP based solution, which are managed remotely and we are benefiting from all the excellent features we have available to us.

I highly recommend Unified World and wouldn’t hesitate to use them again on future projects!”

Kevin Eaton, Audit & IT Systems Manager, Joseph Holt Limited

👉 Ready to modernise your business communications? Contact Unified World* today to discover how we can help.

*Unified World – part of the inTEC GROUP. 

Introduction

The East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce supports a diverse and growing network of businesses across the region. As the Chamber’s reach expanded, so did its communication needs. While their existing telecoms system was still functional, ongoing maintenance costs, line charges, and limitations in flexibility prompted them to explore more modern, unified solutions. After consulting with Unified World (part of the inTEC GROUP), a trusted Chamber member and telecoms provider, the Chamber decided to upgrade to Vodafone One Net Business.

The Challenge

Although the Chamber’s previous phone system was only six years old and fully paid for, it was becoming increasingly costly to maintain. Monthly line charges for an ISDN30 system and ongoing support expenses were eating into budgets.

More importantly, the Chamber needed a communications system that could keep pace with its evolving operations. Staff members were working across multiple sites, from the office to business travel, and required seamless connectivity. The existing system made it difficult to unify calls across different devices, creating inefficiencies and the risk of missed communications.

The Solution

Working closely with Unified World, the Chamber implemented Vodafone One Net Business, a cloud-based unified communications platform. The new solution connected mobile phones, desk phones, and voicemail into a single, streamlined system.

Key features included:

• Unified calling: Calls ring simultaneously on desk phones and business mobiles, ensuring no missed connections.

• Single voicemail system: Clients leave messages in one central mailbox, accessible from any device.

• Smart call forwarding: Reception can transfer calls to mobiles or desk phones using short 4-digit extensions.

• Flexible configurations: An online portal allows each staff member to personalise their setup, tailoring communication preferences to their role.

• Seamless installation: Engineers delivered a smooth transition, with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations.

The Results

The Chamber quickly realised the benefits of their new solution:

• Improved efficiency – Staff could handle calls across multiple devices, reducing delays and boosting responsiveness.

• Greater flexibility – Remote and travelling staff stayed connected just as effectively as those in the office.

• Reduced costs – By replacing ISDN30 lines and cutting maintenance charges, overall telecoms expenditure decreased.

• User empowerment – With a simple online portal, each team member could customise their phone setup with minimal training.

• Reliable support – The professionalism of Unified World’s team ensured a painless transition.

According to Roger Edworthy, Internet Services Manager at the Chamber:

“The installation of the new system was incredibly smooth, and the changeover had minimal impact on the business. I would be happy to recommend the system and Unified World, particularly to those businesses that require a flexible approach to their telecommunications.”

By adopting Vodafone One Net Business through Unified World, the East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce has created a more agile, efficient, and cost-effective communications system that supports its growing operations.

For businesses seeking a flexible and future-ready telecoms solution, Unified World offers the expertise, support, and technology to make the transition seamless.

👉 Ready to modernise your business communications? Contact Unified World* today to discover how we can help.

*Unified World – part of the inTEC GROUP. 

Regal Gaming is among the largest operators of amusement, gaming, and leisure equipment in the UK. With around 400 employees, the firm wanted to improve disaster recovery and cut IT costs by using the cloud to power its email, storage, and collaboration tools for its highly mobile workforce. Unified World Communications (part of the inTEC GROUP) and Vodafone recommended the Microsoft Office 365 productivity suite to replace its existing on-premises messaging technology.

Regal Gaming business needs

Regal Gaming, one of the UK’s largest operators of amusement and gaming machines, serves regional brewers, pub companies, and free-trade customers nationwide. With 200 mobile staff, the company needed an enterprise-grade collaboration solution accessible anytime, anywhere.

Previously, Regal Gaming relied on an aging on premises infrastructure with multiple versions of Microsoft Office and Windows XP, which was nearing end of life. The system struggled with email reliability, storage limitations, and growing IT administration demands.

Managing Director Mark White explains:

“Disaster recovery for email was a principal concern. We also wanted our employees to work flexibly with larger mailboxes, without upfront costs for a new productivity suite.”

To address these challenges, Regal Gaming moved its IT platform to the cloud, improving business continuity, storage capacity, and enabling video conferencing to reduce travel costs all while simplifying IT management and reducing administrative overhead.

Solution

Unified World Communications, in partnership with Vodafone, reviewed Regal Gaming’s requirements and recommended Office 365 with Exchange Online a cloud-based solution managed by Microsoft and Vodafone.

Office 365 provides 25GB inboxes, enterprise level security, mobile access, voicemail, unified messaging, and archiving. Regal Gaming also uses Windows Azure Active Directory and Active Directory Federation Services for single sign-on, alongside Windows Server 2012 to support distributed and mobile workforces.

According to Martin West, Head of IT Services at Unified World Communications:

“This was a complex solution because Regal Gaming has many sites across the UK with engineers working remotely. Rather than invest heavily in on-premises servers, Office 365 offered the flexibility and high-quality service the business needed to stay competitive.”

The upgrade began in June 2013, with 300 mailboxes migrated in just six weeks. Regal Gaming has also trialed Lync Online for video conferencing and plans to roll out SharePoint Online for 400 employees.

Benefits

Regal Gaming has moved its email, storage, and collaboration tools to the cloud with Office 365, reducing risk and improving disaster recovery compared to its previous on-premises system. The shift avoids a six-figure server investment and lowers ongoing IT support costs.

Improved Productivity
Employees now benefit from 25GB mailboxes and the flexibility to work from home, on the move, or directly with customers. Office 365 ensures continuity at no additional cost over the old system.

Lower, Flexible Costs
With a monthly per-user payment model, Regal Gaming avoids major capital expenditure and can scale licenses to meet seasonal demand. Office 365 also guarantees 99.99% uptime with enterprise-level security.

Future-Proofing IT
Microsoft manages all updates, enabling Regal Gaming to access the latest tools without extra costs or added IT overhead. Gaming Equipment Firm Ensures Disaster Recovery with Cloud Productivity Suite.

“We’ve reduced the cost of deploying email and collaboration tools, and, because Microsoft manages all of the upgrades, we’re set to spend less on future in-house IT support.”

Mark White, Managing Director, Regal Gaming

👉 Ready to modernise your business communications? Contact Unified World* today to discover how we can help.

*Unified World – part of the inTEC GROUP. 

Background to the organisation

The Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed) is a not-for-profit trade association which represents the engineering testing, inspection and certification (TIC) sector in the UK and Ireland.

SAFed is therefore a key player in workplace safety across the country, employing a collaborative, stakeholder-led approach to delivering guidance and driving standards for the sector. SAFed member companies now employ over 2,600 highly skilled engineer surveyors, who are performing thousands of inspections on a daily basis on electrical systems, local exhaust ventilation systems, pressure equipment and more, providing a comprehensive risk management service to British and Irish business.

SAFed are a client of our Sussex team, and inTEC are proud to be a key partner to the Federation, supporting the vital role it plays in helping to keep us all safe at work.

The organisation’s requirement

SAFed had been managing IT internally, relying on staff to self-support on an ad-hoc basis when issues arose. This approach was leading to the loss of many productive hours and frustration among the team, creating a need for a single IT support provision from an experienced, reliable service provider. SAFed were already working with inTEC on a limited basis, and now trusted our team to provide the all-in-one IT Managed Service the organisation needed to free up their staff from cumbersome IT failures.

First steps

Our priority was to deliver a plan which would bring all elements of SAFed IT under a single support provision. This vastly simplified the management of the SAFed IT estate, and allowed us to provide the Federation with a single point of contact or all IT issues. Throughout, we understood that such fundamental changes to IT management would require careful Change Management, and our team were sensitive to this, providing extensive support to users as they adjusted to a new normal.

Our solution

SAFed are supported by a comprehensive inTEC Managed Service, streamlining their IT support experience. Having established a strong baseline of effective support and reliable service, we have since been able to support SAFed further by delivering several projects. Most recently, we have updated the networking equipment in the SAFed London Office to provide a solution which supports proactive monitoring and management of the main internet connection and the failover connection, making it easier for our team to ensure that the SAFed team are online and able to work.

Delivery and outcome/benefits

Our work with SAFed has brought about marked improvements in the organisation’s digital experience, with both IT and internet failures becoming far less frequent. When hitches do occur, SAFed staff are able to communicate directly with our expert team who are on hand throughout the working week to assess and resolve issues, allowing the SAFed team to stay focused on their work, rather than on sorting IT problems.

“inTEC provided exactly what we needed, as well as additional solutions which have added further value. Before partnering with inTEC, IT was managed rather ad-hoc in-house and we had constant internet and IT issues, with staff spending hours on the phone resolving problems. Now, we have a single point of contact for all IT issues, which has hugely reduced the time being wasted by the SAFed secretariat, an our overall IT and internet stability has improved.”

“Additionally, some of our team were resistant to change, and the inTEC staff spent many hours explaining and working through their concerns. This in turn created better buy-in and acceptance of the changes, which were to benefit everyone but we did have sceptics!”10/10 – would definitely recommend working with inTEC.”

Caroline Hamilton, CEO, Safety Assessment Federation (SAFed)

Background to the organisation

Burgess and Co are a leading local estate agency in East Sussex, based in the Bexhill community they have served for the last 25 years. The team offer 132 years of combined experience to a strong base of local clients who trust Burgess to handle their property sales with care and expertise.

inTEC are proud that our teams across the country have built successful, lasting partnerships with leading, local businesses, and our Sussex team’s work with Burgess and Co is yet another great example.

The organisation’s requirement

Burgess and Co were keen to embrace the Cloud when they onboarded with inTEC as a full Managed IT Support client. The team were keen to work with a local IT provider who could deliver consistently prompt support to keep the business running, while also supporting them to take a long-term view of their IT by offering further solutions to strategically enhance their digital experience in the long-term.

First steps

The inTEC Sussex team worked with Burgess and Co to understand the full extent of their requirement to allow us to scope a future-proofed Cloud solution.

Our solution

inTEC implemented a Microsoft 365 Cloud solution for Burgess and Co. This has included Microsoft 365 for device management and SharePoint for file storage and sharing. This environment has been the foundation of the core solution we have provided, on which we have layered dependable user support and proactive fixes, allowing the Burgess team to rely on their IT and embrace, modern, cloud-based working practices to take their team efficiency to the next level.

As our partnership has progressed, we have layered on inTRUST Premium to our Managed Support, and have recently been supporting our client to improve their internet connectivity to rectify a major business challenge. Having previously been utilising a copper SoGEA line, we have since recommended and implemented an upgraded Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) connection, providing the company with its own dedicated fibre line.

Delivery and outcome

Burgess and Co are able to rely on a high-quality Cloud solution, supported by prompt access to the inTEC Sussex team. This has enabled them to embrace cloud-based collaboration and document sharing, as well as enhancing their IT security, further re-enforced by their inTRUST Premium package.

Recent work on their internet connectivity has had the desired impact, rectifying the business’ capacity to work efficiently and with confidence that their IT infrastructure will support their work.

“We had been having intermittent connection issues with the internet/broadband. This meant our business was not able to operate efficiently. inTEC have addressed this, providing exactly what we needed plus added value with additional solutions.

inTEC are local and always been very helpful. They have dealt with issues very quickly and promptly, which enables the business to function without worry. When any issue arises, we know we have inTEC on our side to help immediately – inTEC are an extremely efficient company and very reliable.”

Ben Davey, Director, Burgess & Co Estate Agents

About Just Property 

Just Property are an estate agency who have been helping the people of East Sussex buy and sell their homes for well over two decades. With offices in Hastings, Bexhill and Fairlight, the team are based in the heart of the communities they serve, drawing on over a century of combined experience to provide a people-driven service to their customers creating a great alignment to our own inTEC team in St Leonards-on-Sea!

Business Requirement

Just Property requires efficient, proactive management of their IT infrastucture to ensure that their highly mobile team can stay online and connected across their multiple locations. Recently, they migrated to a cloud-based solution to best support their operations as their existing on-premises servers were end of life and not performing suitably. In 2024, a power outage caused one of these servers to fail, creating an added urgency to the move toward a cloud solution.

First Steps

Just Property have taken comprehensive IT Support services from our St Leonards-on-Sea team for over a decade and inTEC are proud that our partnership remains strong and successful today. They benefit from a dedicated Account Manager who ensures consistent communications and proactive planning of the future development of their IT infrastructure, as well as prompt responses to changing circumstances and the evolution of business needs. As such, our team has already made significant progress in the design of the required cloud solution when the power outage brought about the server failure.

Solution

The local team rapidly expedited an existing plan to scope a cloud solution for Just Property, utilising the backup drive to restore the data lost in the server failure. The new cloud solution is complemented by a UniFi network infrastructure upgrade across the three sites, allowing us to remotely manage each network to ensure consistent performance.

The solution has been configured so that users can move seamlessly between the three sites, auto-connecting to the internet across the three sites on a singular network.

Most recently, we have ensured that Just Property are ready for the Windows 10 switch-off by ensuring that all devices across the estate are fully Windows 11 compliant.

Benefits

Just Property’s team now benefit from consistent, reliable and futureproof cloud-based IT, which provides a great foundation for our continually proactive partnership. Business operations can be integrated seamlessly across the three sites, maximising the collaborative potential of the whole Just Property team.

“We have never had any issues with the service provided by inTEC and their solutions have always provided exactly what we needed.”

– Sarah Dixon, Administrator, Just Property

Pearl Representation are a leading sales and marketing firm working to connect premium Destination Management Companies and exclusive hotels with the UK market. The Pearl team, based in Aldershot but with colleagues as far afield as Mauritius, have almost a century of experience setting the standard in their field. Today, they continue to lead the way, connecting both corporate and leisure travellers in the UK to world-class destinations right across the globe – from San Francisco to South Africa, Monte Carlo to Malaysia.

The inTEC Group are your UK-based IT solutions provider, but our teams from across the British Isles can support your users whether they are in Manchester, Mauritius, or anywhere in between!

Pearl Representation had not previously engaged with an IT Provider, but reached a point where their international operations required specialist technical support. Central to this requirement would be reliable, responsive support to give them confidence that technical faults would be handled promptly and effectively to keep their teams online.

First Steps

Pearl were referred to inTEC by an existing client, and are supported by our Sussex team, based in St Leonard’s-on-Sea. inTEC are proud to deliver a truly personal touch service, and a priority of introducing key Pearl stakeholders to their dedicated inTEC Account Manager. With a clear strategy for regular communication and reporting established, a carefully managed Onboarding Project could proceed. This delivered the key pillars of our Managed Service, including 24/7/365 remote monitoring and easy access to high-quality remote Helpdesk support and support.

“inTEC have provided exactly what we needed. The team are very responsive and ensure that any issues we face are dealt with quickly. We also feel the benefit of regular communications and check-ins, which are greatly appreciated. They deliver a 10/10 service which we would certainly recommend to other businesses looking for a great IT partner.”
– Matthew Walker, Managing Director, Pearl Representation.

Outcomes and Benefits

The team were experiencing issues using Microsoft Applications, specifically syncing files from OneDrive to SharePoint. inTEC Engineers investigated the issue and identified the specification of the existing hardware as the root cause of the syncing difficulties. inTEC took a consultative approach, working closely with the team to agree a path forward. The solution was to roll out several new devices (replacing all of their pre-existing hardware).

This was highly effective, almost immediately resolving the issue and allowing the team to work seamlessly, both independently in OneDrive and collaboratively in SharePoint. inTEC have also supported the business to proactively improve their digital working experience, installing an HP conferencing system into their office to enhance their meetings. The online meeting experience is key to a premium operator with teams working all across the globe.

Richard Body Law

Richard Body Law are an established, local legal firm with decades of experience practicing criminal, family and civil litigation across East Sussex from their St Leonards-on-Sea base. The friendly, hard-working team have represented clients in high-profile cases faced with the most serious of charges, as well as being continually available to advocate for local people charged with traffic offences, handling the fallout of divorce or in need of legal support in the workplace.

Company Requirements

Richard Body Law Ltd were beginning to experience challenges with their ageing IT, which they feared was fast becoming obsolete. To ensure that they could continue to work with the utmost sensitivity for client data – and to be compliant with key industry standards such as Cyber Essentials – they needed a fast-moving, well-planned series of IT upgrades.

First Steps

inTEC reviewed the existing infrastructure in place, identifying a Windows 2012 R2 Server as a key barrier to achieving Cyber Essentials, which the firm had recognised as a high priority. The infrastructure review also identified a range of end-of-life networking hardware, as well as a series of devices which would not be compatible with Windows 11. Off the back of this review, we pulled together a single proposal outlining the work needed to obtain Cyber Essentials.

Our Solutions

The existing Windows 2012 R2 Server was removed and replaced with a Cloud solution, enabling colleagues to work securely and collaboratively on documents as well as addressing a key point of non-compliance with Cyber Essentials. The improvements to day-to-day working brought about through the Cloud solution represented a significant value-add to their Cyber Essentials pathway.

To ensure that the firm’s connectivity could support a Cloud solution, we replaced their existing SoGEA line with a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) internet connection. The FTTP connection would benefit internet speeds, as well as the quality of their 3^rd party telephony system.

The end-of-life networking equipment was addressed by upgrading to UniFi networking hardware, which enabled us to remotely monitor and manage access points. This would allow for clear tracking of network demand and performance toward achieving improved system up-time. Lastly, we have recently agreed a plan to replace the existing hardware which will not be compliant with Windows 11 ahead of Windows 10 going out-of-support in October 2025.

The Outcome

Richard Body Law Ltd are now compliant with Cyber Essentials and have achieved this through a journey which has generated significant additional value through wider improvements to their operational efficiency and collaborative working potential. Throughout our work together, inTEC have been consistently available to support users at Richard Body Law to ensure that all of this change has been effectively managed.

“All the staff at inTEC are very professional and helpful. We are a not very tech-savvy firm and everyone at inTEC is very patient with us, assisting us with any queries that we have. They have also been amazing communicating with a third party that we use, to ensure that we get the best operating system for our firm. We would definitely recommend inTEC to other businesses needing IT support.” – Donna Foster, Richard Body Law Ltd

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