Midlands-based Small to Medium-sized Businesses get an IT boost

Great news for Small to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) in the Midlands has arrived in the shape of a merger between two specialist IT Managed Service companies, First Class Technologies based in Lichfield and Red Cloud IT Solutions of Castle Donington.  The result is a company with an unrivalled portfolio of services specifically aimed at the SMB community. The beginning of February marked the completion of the merger.

Richard Hinton, MD of First Class Technologies said “This new partnership strengthens our portfolio of IT Managed services with the addition of Red Cloud’s specialist Cloud knowledge.  This means we can now offer our clients an enhanced level and range of services, including in-house, hybrid and cloud solutions”.

Tim Rookes, MD of Red Cloud IT Solutions said “I believe that our proposition to the market place is one of the strongest in the area and I’m really looking forward to working with the First Class team.  We both have ambitious plans for growth throughout the Midlands.  By focusing on local businesses, we believe we can bring a much needed range of advanced support services to this sector, often ignored by the bigger players in the region”.

The company will continue to trade as First Class Technologies, with the Head Office in Lichfield, along with the addition of an East Midlands office in Castle Donington.  Richard Hinton said “First Class Technologies has a successful heritage stretching back over 19 years and has always prided itself on providing excellent customer service and building long term relationships.  This merger makes perfect sense for us and our clients, so I and the management team couldn’t be happier”.

Tim Rookes commented “We’ve already started work on streamlining our support service to ensure we continue to provide an excellent customer support experience.  We have also invested in a new cutting edge monitoring and help desk system to enhance our customers’ experience, as well as rebranding the company and launching a new website. This will focus on our strong partnerships with Microsoft and their cloud solutions, such as Office 365 and Azure, and also with Datto, one of the industry’s leading hybrid cloud backup and business continuity systems.

The Company will continue to focus on small to medium-sized businesses and not for profit organisations located within the East and West Midlands.  The managed IT market is growing at a rapid rate due to the adoption of cloud technologies and less reliance on in-house IT teams.  With the excellent team we have at First Class, we aim to be the region’s leading managed IT provider, adding significant value to our clients.”