This month Editor Ian Hunter talks to Freddie Hawker, Managing Director of Midlands based reseller Best 4 Business Communications.
Best 4 Business Communications Ltd (B4BC) opened its doors in 2006. Started by Freddie Hawker, who is still the current Managing Director and from its humble beginnings of selling telephone systems and calls and lines, the company has grown organically by keeping a strong focus on customer service, retaining close to 100% of its clients.
Through a strong and dedicated team along with keeping up to date with industry developments, B4BC now enjoys annual turnovers in excess of £1m. Today, employing 16 full time members of staff, B4BC offers their clients telephone systems and maintenance, calls & lines, internet connectivity, hosted telephony services and mobiles.
B4BC has seen a shift in the market as customers are looking for a zero capital outlay, but feature rich options along with flexibility from their communication platforms. Hosted telephony is able to fill this gap. As the UK economy slowly improves the country’s data network and prices are coming more within the reach of everyday business for FTTC, EFM and Fibre to the Building this application can be deployed.
Now that we have robust departments in place with tried and tested procedures and SLA’s, over the next 12 – 24 months B4BC plan to more than double in size through a structured and well supported growth plan. We will achieve this by focusing on recruiting a winning team of new business managers and adding to our extensive and happy base of clients.
Married? Yes, I have a wife, Lucy, whom I met in a bar when I was 19.
Kids? We now have 4 children together – Ella, 11, Anthony, 9, Jack, 3 and Hayden, 1.
Lives where? We all live together in our family home in Solihull in the West Midlands.
What is your favourite car? Just buying an Aston Martin DB9 Volante as a reward for my hard work and sacrifices over the years.
What do you drive? Just buying an Aston Martin DB9 Volante as a reward for my hard work and sacrifices over the years.
Where do you stand on Electric cars? Going by the above… good for people who like that sort of thing I suppose…
What really gets your goat in business? Bull Shi**ers and people who don’t have the ba**s to say what they mean and skirt around the issue.
Sport? Moto GP
What’s the best thing you’ve brought the last 12 months? My i-Pad – Converted to Apple last year, hardy use the laptop that I am writing this on!!!
And what have you wasted money on? Don’t really want to say…
If you could pick anyone to go to dinner with who would it be and why? You Ian, (you are paying, aren’t you)? Maybe Alan Sugar, I rate self-made businessmen who are down to earth.
What could you not live without? My Phone (of course)
Apart from your father, who’s been your greatest inspiration? Winston Churchill, the man was a workaholic and made many personal sacrifices leaving a legacy behind.
If it all went belly up tomorrow, what would you do? Learn from my mistakes, make changes and start again with an even bigger commitment to succeed.
If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be? Dan Bilzerian – Can I be him for longer please? (In case you didn’t know Dan Brandon Bilzerian is an American professional poker player, actor, and internet social media subject.)
Your best blag ever? At the F1 last year, I blagged a lift out by helicopter to Weybridge in Surrey by two guys we met at the next table. Taxi home was a few quid though!!!
What is on your iPod? Or Spotify playlist etc. UK Top 40, sorry, don’t want to admit to anything else.
What Gadgets do you have? Apple stuff, Sonos, electric bikes and a deep fat fryer!
Where do I find you? Facebook, LinkedIn etc. etc. Linked in is best…
THE DECIDER: I like reading Comms Business Magazine because…. It has a brilliant editor who is funny in an otherwise overly boring and anal industry.