Redcentric still fits kitchen giant

Leading UK IT managed services provider Redcentric has announced that it has been awarded a further five-year contract extension by Howdens Joinery, one of the UK’s leading suppliers of kitchens and joinery products to the trade professional. The new deal will take the relationship into its second decade and see Howdens become Redcentric’s longest-standing client.

Redcentric will continue to deliver, manage and support key elements of the kitchen manufacturer’s infrastructure: network, hosted telephony, wireless, 3G backup and data centre services to around 680 depots, offices and manufacturing sites across the UK. The current focus is a major networking upgrade into two-thirds of depot locations, with a fourfold increase in bandwidth to support the growing data requirements of Howdens’ in-house kitchen designers and customers.

For Clive Cockburn, Howdens’ CIO, the reappointment has been one of his easier decisions.

“I have been in the business a long time and heard many potential suppliers parrot the line about partnership and supporting a client’s business; sometimes the reality doesn’t live up to expectations. Not so with Redcentric – they deliver solid services consistently and professionally, and they free us up for the added-value work without any of those fire-fighting distractions. They’ve been able to grow with us, indeed they’ve been pivotal to that growth, and the conversations we have are the ones any CIO wants to be having: what do we do next, how do we make what is good even better, what can we look at on the near and far horizons. It’s a hugely positive experience and they are people you can actually engage with and welcome into your business.”

Suppliers often talk about ‘going the extra mile’. To me, actions are always louder than words. Redcentric have been proactive and for some time now have set themselves up, unasked, to meet the needs of our October Period 11, which is the busiest of the year. They commit to doing everything they can – such as rescheduling upgrade works or increasing support resources – to ensure we get the performance we need during this critical time.

“Looking back we’ve come a long way together. And we’re delighted that we can take that partnership into the next phase of our digital journey.”

“Suppliers often talk about ‘going the extra mile’. To me, actions are always louder than words. Redcentric have been proactive and for some time now have set themselves up, unasked, to meet the needs of our October Period 11, which is the busiest of the year.” Clive Cockburn, CIO, Howdens Joinery.


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