Allgood
Allgood is a leading UK architectural ironmonger with operations in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Glasgow, as well as interests internationally. With almost 100 users across a mix of owned offices, shared workspaces, remote working, and light manufacturing plants, Allgood has diverse needs from an IT partner.
2LOGIC has worked with Allgood since 2017 when they won the tender.
From the outset, Allgood were impressed with the honesty and business understanding Karl, Gary and the team showed.
Services Provided:
Managed IT Service
Connectivity
Cloud Voice
Business Mobile
Cloud Services
Other Services
Gabriella Faughy, Finance Director at Allgood:
“We were transitioning from a fully in-house resource to a fully outsourced one for all of our IT requirements, except the main ERP development and support area. We spoke to three different companies as part of the tender and 2Logic met all our requirements, understanding our needs and potential pitfalls our business could run into and they were also a very price competitive candidate. We also appreciated their honesty and transparency – they welcomed the chance to be compared to their competitors.”
The relationship has only grown in the past three years, with 2Logic now providing full managed IT services, as well as connectivity, mobile and VOIP – internet enabled telephony.
Gabriella continues: “They have become an essential part of the business. The helpdesk support runs very smoothly, any projects we have are handled well. They are also refreshingly honest.”
With the onset of the COVID pandemic, Allgood faced extraordinary new challenges and lent on the relationship with 2Logic for assistance.
“We had recently updated our business continuity procedures with 2Logic, which included how quickly and effectively we could shift to remote working. Our core ERP system runs on our own server, so maintaining connectivity and access was key, as well as having the hardware and capabilities for our people to shift seamlessly to remote working. With the government introducing lockdown almost overnight, the acid test of our updated continuity procedures suddenly became business critical.”
With the government introducing lockdown almost overnight, the acid test of our updated continuity procedures suddenly became business critical.
2Logic made Gary the dedicated contact and he immediately swung into action. With over 100 users to be set up remotely, Gary spoke to Gabriella and they agreed a core checklist of measures. These included the expected – a thorough hardware audit as not all staff had laptops – as well as the unexpected, where some users did not have reliable internet connections at home so temporary 4G mobile Wi-Fi devices were set up and delivered while the 2Logic team secured them the needed bandwidth.
Allgood’s landline system is based on VOIP, which enabled users to take home their landline handsets with 2Logic providing the additional power packs and ethernet cables. This meant customers and suppliers could contact staff on their usual phone numbers, eliminating the requirement of issuing new mobile phones and/or contacting people with new details.
“Gary and 2Logic responded brilliantly. They were in constant communication on everything from the changes in laptop prices, to working with every member of staff to get their individual systems and access set up. But it was more than that, the extra mile 2Logic went to was invaluable. Gary not only went personally to collect our new laptops, but he was onsite at our Birmingham HQ packing them up individually to get them ready to be shipped to our people as soon as possible.”
The sudden move to 100% remote working was a significant change for some of Allgood’s employees as they have never worked remotely before. So 2Logic made sure every user had guidance on best practice on setting up a home office as well as the helpdesk dealing with any problems. Not that there were many.
“I monitored the ticket management throughout the transition, and it was credit to Gary and the team that so few issues were raised. In a matter of days, we had all been set up and there was no loss of performance as a business.”
Of course, the lockdown and the shift to remote working was only the start of the business challenges brought by the pandemic.
“Our business is very much linked to UK construction market. Early into lockdown, it became clear that despite the government advising the construction industry it could continue to operate, concerns over safe working led to many contractors suspending activity. This had a material impact on the orders we were being asked to despatch, meaning we were over-manned in several departments. So, we took the decision to furlough some of people as the business adjusted to this lower demand.”
During the lockdown, we faced substantial business continuity challenges that could have easily interrupted our service to customers and partners. However, the expertise, reassurance, attention to detail and consistently excellent customer service of 2Logic meant it remained business as usual, in the most unusual times.
This triggered another phase of urgent action from Gary and the 2Logic team. To comply with the government’s job retention scheme, all furloughed staff had to be temporarily removed from the system, including suspension of Microsoft Office 365 licences. This was all completed within two working days, which was even more impressive as 2Logic were moving to remote working at the same time.
As lockdown was eased and demands on Allgood began to increase, 2Logic facilitated the return to work of those remote working and manage the flexible furlough arrangements the government introduced in July.
While the world is far from returning to normal, Allgood are well on course to have all those remote working back behind an office desk in the coming weeks as their business return to pre-lockdown operations.
“I do not think we would have coped as well during the past few months without the help of Gary and the 2Logic team. During the lockdown, we faced substantial business continuity challenges that could have easily interrupted our service to customers and partners. However, the expertise, reassurance, attention to detail and consistently excellent customer service of 2Logic meant it remained business as usual, in the most unusual times.”