Ask most business owners what they want from their internet and phones and the answer is simple: for them to work, every day, without a second thought. Andrew O’Neill, director of FibreServe, has built a business around delivering exactly that, with the backing of one of the biggest names in British telecoms.
FibreServe is a franchise of BT Wholesale, part of the wider BT Group. It is contracted exclusively to BT and delivers the full BT business portfolio, but at a price most businesses do not expect.
“We provide the BT services with the BT engineer, the full BT maintenance, the full backup and support, but typically around 35% off the normal BT pricing. Our strapline is essentially everything BT but the price.”
Everything BT, But the Price
BT is split into divisions. The retail side looks after residential customers and everyday businesses, while the wholesale side deals purely with business. FibreServe sits firmly in the second camp and does not deal with residential customers at all.
Every product it sells is delivered, maintained and managed by BT engineers and technical staff. In an industry Andrew admits does not always have the best reputation, that matters.
“The stability, the security, the safety of the brand. That’s what many customers out there need.”
The core of the business is business internet connections and telephone systems, from transferring calls and remote working to fully integrating mobile phones into the system, alongside mobile connections and handsets.
Whether the customer is a multinational bank, a small office or somewhere in between, the principle is the same. “It’s never to provide a service that doesn’t quite fit the need. It’s always to tailor everything so it gives them enough capacity for what they need, and then reduce the cost accordingly.”
Why a Business Line Is Different
One question Andrew hears often is why a business connection can cost ten times more than home broadband. The answer lies in the infrastructure.
“A residential connection is a shared infrastructure. Everybody in the local area is taking a piece out of it, like a reservoir everybody comes to take a drink from. A business connection is a private infrastructure, purely for you as a business. It’s kind of like a private road.”
Home broadband is sold on a “best endeavours” basis. A dedicated business line comes with a guaranteed service level: a response within around two hours and an actual fix within five.
And when the worst happens, which usually means a digger cutting through the fibre in the road outside, there are options. Once the fault is diagnosed, a BT engineer can install a temporary wireless connection to bring a business back online, often within an hour, while the permanent repair is completed.
“Every business these days is solely reliant on its internet connection. It’s good to know that somebody’s got your back, somebody’s at the end of the phone and somebody can get you back up and running.”
Built on Twelve Years Inside BT
Before setting up FibreServe, Andrew spent more than twelve years inside BT, where no two days were the same.
“I could go to a plumber in the morning, ICI at midday and somewhere very nondescript at the end of the day. The variety of customers was immense.”
Rather than calling that a challenge, he sees it as the heart of the job. “You need to listen. You need to understand people’s businesses and their needs. Then once you’ve absorbed all that information, you deliver the best possible solution for them.”
What Comes Next
Growth has been relentless, year on year. Andrew puts that down to a combination of the BT brand, the quality of the product, the pricing and the technical ability of the team.
Although FibreServe works nationally, with customers in Scotland, the south and soon Northern Ireland, its focus has been the North West and Manchester in particular. The next step is a new office in the Midlands, run by a new team.
“That won’t be to the detriment of any of the North West services in any way. Ultimately, the focus is just to continue the growth.”
Life Outside the Business
Away from work, Andrew keeps active with the gym and boxing, alongside restaurants and time outdoors with friends.
Every now and then, his son talks him into a Thai boxing session. “He kicks my knees and gives me some bruises.”
The Advice He Lives By
Andrew describes himself as a student of successful people, always listening and absorbing whatever they are willing to share. The lesson he keeps coming back to is simple.
“Always believe in what you’re doing. As long as you have a good plan and you’re willing to knuckle down and put the work in, nine times out of ten it tends to go your way.”
There will be knocks along the way. “You have to be consistent and you have to be quite resilient. Just keep driving forward, and things tend to get there in the end.”
Connect With Andrew
Part of FibreServe’s ethos is doing away with faceless departments and being passed from team to team. Where possible, everything flows through Andrew or one of the people who work alongside him.
You can reach him by email at info@fibreserve.co.uk, through the FibreServe website, or simply grab him for a chat around Ministry of Work.
