Four successful years for Exeter IT firm

Business is on an ever-upward trajectory for innovative Exeter-based IT firm Hosted Desktop UK (HDUK), which is currently celebrating its four-year anniversary.

The firm’s virtual desktop solutions were an instant success when launched by Managing Director Adam Chetnik in 2010, following two years of rigorous research and development into cloud-based technology by the entrepreneur.

Designed to enable more flexible working by replacing the traditional, in-house IT infrastructure, the firm’s tailor-made hosted desktop system quickly attracted users, particularly within the world of accounting.

However, the firm soon evolved to reflect market demands by expanding the types of services it offers as well as its client base, and as a result has seen turnover increase exponentially year-on-year despite a challenging UK economy. The company has even surprised itself with the speed at which it has been able to grow.

It is now checking an average of 5.5 million emails and blocking 2.7 million emails per month, with 54TB of data backed up on its systems every hour.

Adam says: “We have experienced such an increase in the demand for our innovative IT services that we have been able to take on a number of new staff members at our office here in Exeter. As a fast growing national business, we are always on the lookout for highly motivated individuals that offer excellent customer service skills and an ability to work in a fast-paced environment.”

Hosted Desktop UK’s efforts to innovate and elevate its position as an industry leader have been rewarded, with recognition at regional business awards.

Adam continues, “One of the highlights of the past four years was winning Start Up of the Year in the Western Morning News Business Awards 2012 and being presented with the Express and Echo Business Awards for Excellence in Customer Service this year. We believe, one of the main reasons we have experienced such phenomenal growth is our customer-centred approach, customer satisfaction is our top priority – which our 96.4% all time ticket satisfaction can attest to. It was our commitment to making sure that all our clients have a positive customer experience that led us to develop the fully transparent star ratings system that impressed the judges so much.”

Hosted Desktop now boasts over 500 clients across the UK and is looking to grow again by 50% within the next year. Its customers cover a wide range of industry sectors, but a unifying desire is that their data is held securely, is easily accessible and reliable.

Kevin Salter of HDUK client Glover Stanbury & Co Chartered Accountants in Barnstaple says: “Moving everything from in-house servers to Hosted Desktop UK has been far more beneficial and successful than we ever imagined – and has removed all the “hassles” of daily backups, such as losing server connections, setting up and configuring software etc. Highly recommended!”

Although initially targeting the accounting sector, which has embraced HDUK’s services with open arms, the company is expanding every day into new industries, from estate agents to solicitors and from charities to local and central government departments. Plans for the next 12 months include investing in new equipment, ensuring the company continues to offer the most cutting-edge of cloud-based technologies.