Rapidly expanding IT specialist robertson technologies has just increased its exposure to the crucial South of England market with the appointment of a veteran IT expert as its sixth franchisee.

 

Liverpool-born Jim Callaghan, who now lives in Wokingham, Berkshire, will be at the helm of the West Berkshire and North Hampshire territory, centred on Reading and extending as far as Newbury in the west and Basingstoke and Winchester to the south.

 

Jim, who has 30 years experience in the IT sector, said: “This is an excellent territory, with enormous potential. It has significant pockets of commercial and industrial activity surrounded by some of the most efficient agricultural businesses in the country. Its diversity will be its strength.”

 

Jim is the latest recruit to make the grade in the Scottish-based company, which has established a nationwide reputation for quality and service and has extended its computer support business out of its Central Belt homelands to win business across the UK.

 

And his background made him an ideal candidate for the franchise, which specialises in helping small to medium enterprises with effective computer support delivered in plain English.

 

In his three decades in the sector, Jim has specialised in IT management, application development, pre-sales, customer relationship management, product management and marketing.

 

He set up and ran his own IT consultancy which, ironically, became a victim of its own success. Jim said: “It was doing really well and I was winning lots of contracts outside the UK. But that meant continual travelling, and I had a young family at the time, so I had to go in a different direction.”

 

Jim then took a position with Computer Associates (now CA Technologies), the 15,000-employee multi-national, and then Ingres, the database company. He spent the past 15 years with these two companies, but felt it was time for a change in direction.

 

He said: “I started looking at options and a recruitment website took me to franchising. I spent several months researching the concept and created a shortlist of four companies, out of which robertson technologies easily came top of the list.

 

“It is a proper, professional management franchise. A lot of the others were much more hands on and, while I can converse with and understand computer engineers, I am not a qualified engineer myself.

 

“robertson technologies gives me the chance to bridge the understanding gap – and to explain complicated concepts within the latest technology to the layman without bamboozling him with the science.”

 

Jim’s West Berkshire territory is strategically placed in the Home Counties, bordering the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire, and, since 1995, it also has a boundary with Greater London.

 

Its sectors include, in descending order of importance, services, industry and agriculture, and Reading in particular has a significant historical involvement in the information technology industry. Financial and professional services firms as well as energy and telecoms companies have a significant presence in the region.

 

Jim said: “All the ingredients for an outstandingly successful franchise are in place. I fully intend to be the biggest and best IT support company in the area within the next five years.”

 

Hamish Robertson said: “It has always been part of our business model to seek out people who have experience of the world outside IT and who can manage IT professionals and provide a quality service.

 

“Jim Callaghan fits that bill perfectly and I think he will be well suited to deliver exactly the kind of tailored IT support for SMEs that the West Berkshire and North Hampshire areas have been waiting for.”