News from ITZone247

New Premises for ITZone247

Managed IT Services specialist, ITZone247 has announced its move to a new head office in Blackburn following a busy period that has seen several new contract wins, the collection of a business award and the introduction of new support services and capabilities.

The company’s new premises are on the Castle Way Business Park on Preston New Road and they are expected to provide improved communications infrastructure and more room for expansion. They were officially opened on 6th January 2012.

"2011 has been a very eventful year for us,” explains ITZone247 Managing Director, Mustak Patel. "For several years we have been very strong in the social enterprise and charitable sectors but, more recently, we have diversified our services and expanded our client base into new markets such as construction, the hospitality sector and the financial services.

"Much of our work is still very firmly based on providing IT help-desk support and monitoring but, as new technologies have evolved, we have added to our portfolio. Cloud-based solutions, mobile computing and virtualisation are good examples, but we’re also diversifying with the introduction of local computer service centres for domestic customers.”

Winners of Business Growth Award 2011

Not only has the expansion of ITZone247 prompted a change of head office, it also recently earned the company an award from the University of Central Lancashire and the Northwest Regional Development Agency. Following his completion of an NWDA-funded leadership development programme earlier this year, Mustak Patel was presented with an award for Best Growth Business for 2011 at a special ceremony held at UCLan's Burnley campus.

Originally launched in London, ITZone247 has had its head office in Blackburn since 2005 but it also operates satellite offices in Manchester, Birmingham and London. It serves clients throughout the UK, providing IT support, consultancy and network design and installation services.

ITZone247 Wins My Home Finance Project in West Midlands

My Home Finance is a new high street service offering affordable loans, money advice, bank accounts and linked savings accounts in the West Midlands supported by the National Housing Federation. ITZone247 is now the backbone IT network infrastructure management company for all their WAN, LAN and WEB services. My Home Finance invited Iain Duncan Smith to the launch in September 2010 as guest speaker and he congratulated My Home Finance.

Iain Duncan Smith said: "The very people that can least afford it end up paying interest rates of staggering, shocking figures."

My Home Finance set up a pilot scheme in the West Midlands in the hope of diverting people away from borrowing from loan sharks. However, the interest being charged is higher than the maximum by law that credit unions can charge. It will charge 29.9% APR in the pilot scheme, rising to 49.9% APR in April.

Mark Lyonette, chief executive of the Association of British Credit Unions welcomed the new initiative, but pointed out that his members could offer loans at cheaper rates. "By law credit unions are allowed to charge no more than 2% per month interest (26.8% APR) on the reducing balance of a loan," he said. "This means that a £100 loan will never cost more than £2 per month to borrow."

My Home Finance has been set up by the National Housing Federation (NHF), with 10 branches opening as part of the pilot project. Customers would have to go through a 45-minute interview to check they would have a realistic chance of repaying the loan before being allowed to borrow sums of about £500. This would then have to be paid back weekly. People would also be offered debt advice and help in opening a bank account - in a bid to prevent them using loan sharks. Rates in the legitimate doorstep lending industry tend to be higher, but one of the leading lending companies - Provident - said it welcomed the pilot project. "This initiative broadens further the range of credit options available to those on lower incomes and introduces yet more competition, which we welcome," a spokesman said. "More needs to be done to give consumers a real choice.”

The pilot scheme was launched by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. The "vast majority" of the set-up costs for the scheme have been met by the Department for Work and Pensions, according to the NHF. There has also been input from local housing associations and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Some 38 members of staff have been taken on and four branches - in Hereford, Worcester, Walsall and Northfield in Birmingham - are up and running.

By the end of October, others will be open in Coventry, Tamworth, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Birmingham city centre and Erdington. They will be run by East Lancashire Moneyline. "By offering fair loans at fair prices, we hope to offer an alternative to both loan sharks, who cynically prey on hard up families, and doorstep lenders, who are all too willing to lend cash to the desperate at hugely inflated rates of interest," said NHF chief executive David Orr.

The Federation is planning to open branches across England and it aims to write up to 150,000 loans to people on lower incomes in the next 10 years. However, the cost of these loans, through interest, will be increased to 49.9% to cover costs when the scheme is expanded across England, a spokesman said.

Mick McAteer, of the Financial Inclusion Centre, said: "While this is a welcome step, it should be put in context. We estimate there are four million people in the UK without access to mainstream affordable credit. "More needs to be done to give consumers a real choice." He said the poorest people in the UK had very little choice of loan providers.

Phil Hardman,
Hardman Plastics

"Delivering a first class customer service is essential to our business so it’s very important that we can rely on our IT and communications systems at all times. ITZone247 play a very big part in ensuring that’s the case."