Optimising IT was started at our founder, Gary Smith’s, dining room table in 2013, fast forward 10 years and we are now an award-winning business and a B Corporation which employs nearly 30 staff.
The important milestone follows Optimising IT’s announcement of its official B Corp certification this March 2023 — a testament to its ongoing success and its investment in both people and the planet with its forward-thinking IT services.
Gary hired four staff during the first 12 months of trading before opening our first office at Cheltenham Film Studios in September 2014 and took on an extra office there in February 2016; before moving to a larger premises at Twigworth Business Centre in July 2016.
Going from strength to strength we moved into a larger space at Twigworth Business Centre in April 2018 where we remain today.
Over the next few years, the business continued to grow, gaining ISO 27001 accreditation in March 2019 and won the prestigious Service Desk Institute Managed Service Provider of the Year in 2020.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Optimising IT not only survived but thrived as businesses all over the world turned to remote working. By 2021, we were supporting 2,700 individual users with a variety of services spanning IT support to cyber security.
By March 2022 we had also gained ISO 9001 accreditation; and in October 2022, James Rodgers, one of our apprentices, was a finalist for Apprentice of the Year at the SoGlos Gloucestershire Business Awards.
Things aren’t slowing down in 2023 either, as we appointed Todd Gifford as Managing Director in March 2023 and opened a new office in Exeter, too.
Todd Gifford said: “We’re really proud of how far Optimising IT has come over the last 10 years. The success of the company is fundamentally down to the amazing team and the outstanding service they provide to our clients. Optimising IT is ever evolving and adapting to meet the needs of our clients, and this was especially evident throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. We are excited to expand our business further across the south west and across the country over the next few years in addition to working with more certified B Corporations too”.
Outside the office, Optimising IT supports many local charities through fundraising efforts like inflatable 5k runs and skydives. We also donated a defibrillator to parkrun, providing a vital lifeline in the event of an emergency.
