SA1 Telecoms and its sister company, SA1 Solutions, are continuing their sponsorship of a number of local sports teams and facilities as the companies pledge to promote healthy lifestyles in the community. In line with the companies’ value of advocating healthy living and maintaining a positive wellbeing, SA1 Solutions and SA1 Telecoms are continuing to sponsor a range of local sporting groups. Its support of these groups is also one way in which the companies give back to the community. Over the last two years, the companies have sponsored the team kit for Newton Athletic FC, an organisation that provides football and sports training to children in the area. The companies have also sponsored a team at Langland Bay Golf Course, Briton Ferry Llansawel AFC, the sister companies are also a member of Swansea City AFC’s City Business Network. In addition to supporting sports teams and therefore active lifestyles in the area, the companies are proactive in ensuring the health and wellbeing of its staff is held with high regard. The companies promote flexible working for its employees and have a ‘chill out’ room for staff members who need to bring their children (of a suitable age) into the office when childcare arrangements have failed. Free fresh fruit from a local supplier is also provided to staff to encourage healthy eating. Simon Ahearne, managing director of SA1 Solutions and SA1 Telecoms, said: “Giving back to the community is extremely important to our businesses and doing this in a way that supports active and healthy lifestyles aligns with our organisation’s values. We place great emphasis on having healthy and happy employees, and providing benefits like flexible working and healthy snacks to staff help to encourage this. We believe a business’ productivity can be negatively impacted if the health of staff is not prioritised, so supporting active, healthy and balanced lifestyles is one way to avoid this.”

Three established communications-based companies in Swansea have officially launched as a business group, offering companies in the South Wales region and beyond a one-stop-shop for business communications. SA1 Solutions, a leading managed IT support provider; SA1 Telecoms, a telecommunication and broadband supplier; and SA1 Creative, a digital and graphic design agency, have recently launched as SA1 Group. Each company has also launched a new website in line with the introduction of SA1 Group. SA1 Solutions offers its IT services to over 200 customers across the UK. It experienced significant growth during 2018, with the company already anticipating further growth during 2019 due to securing significant contracts. The company is a multi-award winner, most recently being named business of the year (0-25 employees) at the 2019 Swansea Bay Business Awards. SA1 Solutions is pleased to announce a new department, SA1 Software. This department offers bespoke software development to businesses, including the design, build and implementation of tailor-made software. The department has an in-house development team collectively boasting over 30 years’ experience in providing development and legacy support to businesses across the UK. A further product of SA1 Solutions, called SA1 Training, is in the pipeline. This service will provide training to businesses wanting to fully utilise their communications systems, whether telecoms or IT. SA1 Telecoms was established in 2015 as a result of a demand from SA1 Solutions’ customers for a reliable telephony provider that complements IT services. It has been a fast-growing telecoms business since its inception and currently supports over 5000 extensions across the UK. SA1 Creative, formerly Picseli, is a digital and graphic design agency offering bespoke website and digital design, SEO, social media marketing and graphic design, as well as creative consultancy. Picseli has been running independently as a well-established business since SA1 purchased it in 2013. It is run by Creative Director, Mike Walsh, and has been rebranded as SA1 Creative in order to make it more aligned with other organisations within the Group. In addition to its UK clients, the agency also has an international client base, with projects completed for businesses as far afield as Miami, USA. Simon Ahearne, managing director of SA1 Solutions, said: “The amalgamation of these three well-established companies enables us to offer a one-stop-shop communications service to businesses in South Wales and beyond. From listening to our customers, we have learned that many want all their business communications needs under one umbrella. This makes it easier for businesses to have a provider that covers all areas, whether that be for IT support, telecoms, a new website, IT training or a software solution. “The services provided by these businesses complement one another. This has allowed us to build up each company, as satisfied customers using one of the company’s services often want to use the services of a sister company. We are confident that officially launching SA1 Group will only enhance this growth, and ultimately ease and streamline communications management for businesses.”

SA1 Telecoms and SA1 Solutions are delighted to announce their sponsorship of the under 15’s teams at Newton Athletics FC. As an organisation we have sponsored the club for the last three years and are pleased to continue this support, especially during these uncertain times. Newton Athletics is an established organisation that provides football and sports training to children in the area. Established in October 2017 the club has gone from strength to strength and now boasts over 230 registered players, and over 12 FA Wales trained coaches. The club is very community focused and over the years has organised many family and community activities, including BBQ’s, sponsored walks, beach football and quiz nights, in addition to weekly coaching sessions and matches. Simon Ahearne, Managing Director of SA1 Telecoms and SA1 Solutions: “Supporting our community is something that is extremely important to the SA1 Group, this is something the businesses have always felt strongly about and believe this is even more important now more than ever. It was great to see the kids back on the pitch, training and playing again!”

Swansea based telecommunications firm, SA1 Telecoms, has been instrumental in implementing a state-of-the-art system to improve the internal and external communications of a leading UK van leasing and van contract hire company, Low Cost Vans, based in Neath. The technologically advanced communication system, installed by SA1 Telecoms, ensures that Low Cost Vans is fully equipped to maintain its commitment to high levels of service, despite the potential impact of more local and national lockdowns. The two South Wales based companies have worked in partnership to implement the innovative VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone system, which keeps all 30 employees at Low Cost Vans completely connected, whether they are remote-working or not. The VoIP system means that all the business’s phone communications are now cloud-based, and individual handsets can be taken home when staff are required to work remotely, with the office line being directed to their home address. As well as saving employee’s money on their own phones when home-located, it is set to make a saving to Low Cost Vans of around £500 per month, from their older, less efficient system. The new system is also integrated with their CRM, meaning that all calls are recorded, and notes can be made automatically. As well as accessing the system on the new portable handsets, it is also accessible on employees’ mobile devices through an app, meaning important customer details and requests are saved in one central cloud-based location, accessible to staff online from anywhere and on any device. Rod Lloyd, managing director at Low Cost Vans, said: “We decided that this investment was necessary to ensure that our staff are able to work efficiently and productively, and continue to provide the superb service our customers have come to expect from us, despite being forced to work from home during lockdowns. “All staff now communicate far more effectively, and not at the expense of themselves personally. The system is able to integrate with our CRM system, the clarity of calls is much better, and it allows us to better replicate the office environment for our employees, avoiding the potential for important communications to be missed due to lack of proximity to one another.” Alex Kamil, technical director of SA1 Telecoms, said: “The VoIP system we have installed for Low Cost Vans gives them enormous flexibility and functionality, ensuring the business can work very efficiently wherever staff are located. It is just one of many solutions we can provide to help businesses to avoid disruption and run smoothly during lockdown periods. “At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, we put in place a plan to ensure that we were able to fully support all of our clients needing assistance through this difficult period. Our team of engineers have been working hard to make sure there has been as little disruption to our customer’s businesses as possible, and that they have had full access to the support, hardware and software they required to maintain business connectivity.”