Cornerstone Business Solutions is an MSP ( managed service provider ) which works with leading brands , including Sunderland ’ s GS Hydro , with its UK base at Doxford International Business Park .

“ Cornerstone provides cutting-edge technology to offer our clients first-class , robust solutions ,” explains operations director Chris Bibby .

“ We pitch ourselves as a one-stop-shop for a business ’ s technology requirements .

“ We are partners with some of the world ’ s leading brands such as Microsoft , Apple , Sage , HP , IBM , Lenovo and Cisco and we provide and support IT hardware , servers , PCs , laptops , tablets and associated software , telephone systems , print solutions and photocopiers , mobile phones , connectivity , cloud solutions and cyber security . This is all backed up with our multi award-winning IT support .”

Formed in June 2008 , Cornerstone currently supports more than 4,000 users and prides itself on its team ’ s excellent customer service .

“ IT is frustrating , and we take that frustration away ,” said Chris . “ Our team are experts in their field , and we have to follow

the likes of Microsoft and Apple .

“ We advise our clients on best working solutions by being able to supply and support all technology requirements for all systems to work together .

“ We have a fantastic help desk which takes over 400 calls per day . When customers call us , they are understandably frustrated as something isn ’ t working within their business . From that first contact , our calming support agents deal with the customer ’ s problem .

“ What makes us stand out above our competitors is not only our award-winning service but our ' can-do ' attitude to help our clients and our friendly approach to business .

“ We call them clients , but they are really friends , and many have been with us since our formation in 2008 .”

This down-to-earth approach and the confidence which the team at Cornerstone instil in their clients is something Chris

Hargreaves , managing director of GS Hydro , testifies to .

“ The maintenance agreement that GS

Hydro have with Cornerstone Business

Solution is like an insurance policy ,” he says .

“ You hope you will never have to use it , but the peace of mind you feel by having it is one less thing to worry about .”

This ‘ insurance policy ’ came into force when a dramatic system failure at GS Hydro ’ s

Aberdeen plant was nipped in the bud by

Cornerstone , who were busy working on the issues even before GS Hydro were aware of the failure , thanks to system monitoring which had flagged the problem .

GS Hydro – which provides non-welded piping solutions for marine , offshore and land-based industries – stood to lose thousands of pounds a day if they were unable to use their bidding system .

“ The system failure in Aberdeen was a worrying time for us ,” admitted Chris

Hargreaves .

“ But , thanks to the swift intervention of

Cornerstone , who immediately supported us remotely , we lost just 24 hours - which is amazing in the circumstances .”

Chris chose Cornerstone Business

Solutions to provide his company ’ s IT support after becoming aware of managing director Chris Petty ’ s career over the past 20 years .

“ I ’ d known of Chris Petty before he joined Cornerstone and even then he had a reputation for excellence and reliability ,” he said .

“ When I realised how important it was for us to retain our uptime , it made sense to call

Cornerstone in .”

strict training and guidelines to partner with

Find out more about Cornerstone and its services at cornerstonebs . co . uk .