And so it is for Digital Exchange (Yorkshire) Ltd. Celebrating their 10th birthday on 8th September 2005, they can look back at their exciting formative years with a little nostalgia and heaps of pride knowing they have firmly kept to their values, stuck to what they are good at, and certainly achieved their goals.
Digital’s success started with a set of strong and definite values and it is these values which enabled an idea, two staff, no computers and a small office in a central Sheffield location, to grow into the innovative business success they are today.
Digital Exchange was founded by Roger Cotton in 1995. The company had two aims: to challenge the telecommunication industry's reputation for bad practice and bad service and to run a company that looked after its staff - and just look how they grew!
1995: Set up shop…
Roger Cotton founds Digital Exchange (Yorkshire) Ltd to promote a broad range of telecommunications solutions to SME’s within Sheffield and the surrounding region. Roger employed Digital’s first member of staff, Claire Gater who stayed with them until last year (Claire left in 2004 to travel Europe for a year).
1996: A family affair…
This was the year Digital became a true family business.
Matt Cotton, Roger’s oldest son joined to assist in the establishment of Digital’s first subsidiary business, Digital 2000, dealing in the supply of printed consumables to large retail outlets (Digital 2000 continues to succeed today, dealing with multi-national organisations such as French Connections and Gap). Nick Cotton, Rogers middle son joined as a self-professed “telecoms novice” with the task of generating telephone system sales for Digital Exchange.
1997: Accreditation secured…
Digital Exchange were awarded the status as direct partner to Samsung Business Communications, able to offer an ever-expanding range of business communication solutions.
1998: Threw away the card files…
Digital implemented their very first computer network, running a bespoke database contact management system and accounts package containing just a few records. Their Goldmine database and Sage accounts package now contains over 15,000 records and 1,000 trading accounts respectively.
1999: Business was booming…
Digital experienced a real growth during this year, mainly driven by the dreaded “millennium bug”. Telephone system sales grew by nearly 200% over the previous year, and staff numbers increased to six.
2000: Expanded offering…
To complement their telecommunications solutions, Digital began to promote structured voice & data cable networks to run business telephone systems and IT networks. This was the start of things to come!
2001: A major milestone…
After an absolutely amazing year, Digital finally reached the £1million turnover mark. Major celebrations ensued, and new goals were set for the forthcoming financial year.
2002: A new direction…
Capatilising on their wealth of experience within communications, Digital researched the possibility of branching out in to IT.
This became a reality in March, 2002 when they secured their very first IT network installation and support contract.
2003: Doubled in turnover…
Continuing the success of previous years, and aided by the addition of IT solutions within their portfolio, Digital reached a turnover of £2million for the first time ever. Digital thanked all their staff by throwing a huge party at a Sheffield city centre venue.
2005: Time to reflect…
In just 10 years Digital Exchange have evolved from a one-man-band business selling entry-level phone systems, to a turn-key provider of Telecommunications and IT solutions to organisations throughout Sheffield, Yorkshire and indeed the UK.