IT
Founders – John Agar , right , and Tristen Coad began IT Systems 10 years ago .
Six of the best – IT Systems colleagues ( from left ) Leo Hansom , Amie Chambers , John Agar , Adam Jewell , Tristen Coad and Adam Sanderson .
Top team – staff at work in the firm ’ s Darlington HQ . From left – Amie Chambers , Leo Hansom , Adam Sanderson and Adam Jewell .
IT Systems now has 10 full-time staff members and one part-time . With education its main focus initially , it had a strapline “ For schools , for learning , for support .”
With 10 years on the clock and a new business focus , a second strapline has emerged – “ For business , for enterprise , for support ”.
But whether it ’ s education or business , John and Tristen are determined the same high standards will apply .
John said : “ Our ethos is transferable among all our customers , irrespective if it ’ s business or education . It is about customer service – it ’ s about having that personal and trusted connection with your customers .
“ We ’ re consistent , we do what we say we ’ re going to do and we have the accreditations that sit behind us to show we ’ re doing the right things .
“ Yes , we ’ re still heavily involved with education but the services we offer are transferable and just as suitable for businesses .”
Tristen added : “ We ’ re very passionate about this . Our drivers are the right
Now we look after , with various services , 78 schools and private businesses – and that can be anything from providing annual ID cards to a full IT service .”
drivers . We ’ re not here to be the biggest or richest IT company in the world but because we enjoy what we do and each other ’ s company , that makes it work really well – and we like giving good service .”
The connection between the two is clear : “ We ’ d have known by now if it wasn ’ t going to work ,” laughs Tristen .
John added : “ We both have good ideas about things , but one tempers the other in terms of what we need to do and how we need to do it .
“ And it is personal because we want it to be right . It ’ s about the values and ethos of everyone working together – we have a great team spirit here and that passion among everyone translates to the services we offer and helps move the business forward .”
And as he reflects on the first 10 years , John recalls : “ I remember being out jogging with a friend when we were working out if it might be viable and how we were going to go about it . She said to me , ‘ Just bloody do it !’, which was probably the reassurance I needed – although we were going to do it anyway .
“ But once we ’ d made the decision , the rest of it fell into place – and we ’ re all excited about what ’ s to come .”
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