Former head of sales SMB for Virgin Media 02, Angie Ablard, will spearhead a new refurbished handset company – urBusiness.
The company, launched by ur.co.uk, offers its Business Premium+ range and a new intuitive portal to address long-standing issues of quality concerns, inconsistency, reliability and trust.
The Business Premium+ range includes 24 months warranty, a case, protective screen and minimum of 90 per cent battery health, as well as the more traditional refurbished graded handsets, with the same commitment to quality and customer experience.
All of the handsets have premium packaging to reassure quality of product for all business customers.
The newly-designed platform, urPortal, is tailored to provide users with a streamlined and seamless experience, enabling them to add to their product portfolio with confidence and have all necessary controls in place.
The portal is designed for easy navigation, allowing users to purchase refurbished handsets and trade-in and repair, while having full transparency and confidence in supply, with the ability to tailor or integrate as necessary.
"We're excited to unveil a game-changing solution that tackles the biggest challenges telecoms and IT partners face when buying refurbished devices and embracing the circular economy," said Barry Poke, CEO of ur.co.uk.
"Our portal empowers partners to buy, trade-in, and offer repairs with total confidence —delivering premium devices at competitive prices, without compromise. This has taken years in the planning to empower the telecoms industry to have more confidence in making the right steps towards a more sustainable future."
In addition to solving consumer pain points, urBusiness is committed to its sustainability practices by planting a tree for every handset bought and five for each traded in. Through promoting refurbished handsets, the company, its partners and customers can reduce e-waste and extend the lifecycle of smartphones, providing a cost-effective, eco-friendly alternative to new devices.
Ablard, director of channel development for urBusiness, said, “Breaking the stigma around refurbished phones and devices for business is smart and essential for driving a more sustainable future, but most people know this and that has not necessarily been the problem that needed solving. Historically, the inconsistency of supply and quality has made opting for the sustainable choice unnerving in the past, with confidence of the experience for the B2B customer being low. It's time to shift that confidence—in our case refurbished doesn't mean second-rate; it means commercially smarter, greener, and just as reliable.”