Building sites were once the stomping ground for Darren Boyce, CEO of Proximity Communications, so it's no surprise that he's laid firm foundations for one of the comms industry's highest risers.
Scroll down Boyce' CV and you'll look back to a time when he made a living out of tree surgery, hod carrying and driving a JCB before an opportunity arose to join a cabling company 21 years ago. He soon found his feet and moved into a sales role, and after a run of healthy deal wins he was approached by LANBase to build up its sales operation. More success followed and a place in the management team beckoned ahead of a promotion to Sales Director. "It was during this role that I learnt a lot about managing a mixed but successful team of sales, project management and pre-sales," recalled Boyce. "After growing the business from inception to £25 million in seven years we sold the organisation to a listed company that was later acquired by a leading Tier 1 telco in 2000."
This experience infused Boyce with enough confidence to take the plunge and start his own business. Proximity Communications was created in 2009 following a merger between Applinet and the Unified Group. Boyce was Managing Director of Applinet at the time, and in a joint arrangement with the Managing Director of Unified Group, Michael Lloyd, the pair bought the two companies together. Boyce then took the role of Group CEO while Lloyd assumed the MD position.
"It was unusual at the time for close competitors to merge, but Applinet and Unified Group shared many cultural similarities and both teams were striving towards the same goals, so it made perfect sense," said Boyce. "The merger allowed the company to provide nationwide coverage to more than 200 loyal, growing customers. Combined, the two companies also had a turnover of well over £10 million and a far more comprehensive portfolio."
Through keeping a sharp focus on its core strengths and building an effective team Proximity has gone from strength to strength over the past three years, with EBITDA rising rapidly over this period. The company closed FY2013 with £3.8 million in the bank and forecasts this year point towards 25 per cent growth. This success has resulted in Proximity being listed in the London Stock Exchange: 1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain and the Thames Valley Top 250 Companies.
Proximity caters for small SMEs and enterprises, tailoring solutions as required while not over promising or under delivering. "Our medium and long-term ambition is to keep striving for success as we introduce new skills and services to our client and partner base," added Boyce. "We aim to be seen as an extension of their team and not just another supplier."
A major challenge for the entire industry is the lack of talented resource available, a point on which Proximity has no immunity. "Five to ten years ago the market overflowed with very capable people who were able to make a great living in the IT sector," commented Boyce. "Now, most of those people are either retired, running their own business or have taken some of the industry's most prestigious roles. I believe we've failed in bringing in new talent from the next generation to fill up the positions that have become vacant. We could learn a lot from the Premiership where many of the most successful football teams have a youth programme and academy that allows them to develop and nurture the stars of tomorrow."
Despite the recruitment headache, last year proved to be Proximity's most successful in terms of new business secured, both in contract value and client numbers. The company came out of 2013 debt free with a 21 per cent rise in net profits. And having secured talented people into its management team, Proximity is able to harness their diligence and passion on its organic growth journey. "We're also looking at acquiring, where the skills that we believe are required can maximise the accounts we have today as well as attract new ones tomorrow," added Boyce. "Finding the right skill sets, areas of interest and the size of organisation that we're comfortable with will take some time and won't happen overnight. However, it will be an interesting journey and as the merger has demonstrated, we have the necessary experience to get the best out of bringing organisations into the Group."
To prove the point Boyce cited a milestone deal win that he believes puts Proximity firmly on the map. "In February this year, against all the odds, our team was awarded the contract to help a major LSE business move its premises," he enthused. "This proves Proximity has some of the best people the industry has to offer. When you start a company you have an idea of what it will hopefully become, and this February my vision became a reality. There's something special in that. That was a defining moment for me.
"My biggest achievement was also realising that there are great talents out there who can care about the business as much as I do. Also, me learning to let them get on with it, without getting in their way, is a massive achievement. It's hard to let go when it's been your baby for the last 10 years."
Having learnt these lessons, hindsight demonstrates that there are a number of things Boyce would have done differently. "A big regret is not having enough faith in myself earlier," he explained. "If I could go back I would definitely start my own business much sooner because if you believe in what you're doing and in yourself anything is achievable. Another regret is not employing the calibre of people I now have from the very start of the business. It's a fact that finding a good team and getting them to work as a team are two very different challenges. But now we've ticked both of those boxes."
As well as building a winning team, having a clear view of where Proximity performs best and playing to those strengths is also a priority. "It's not rocket science to understand what you are good at but it is amazing how many successful companies are swayed by the market and diversify significantly, too quickly, only to fail and then revert back to their core competency," commented Boyce. "Like a house, a company must be built on sound foundations and then be erected brick by brick."
Boyce has also adopted a step-by-step approach to developments in the market such as virtualisation, public and private cloud. He believes it is difficult to make money from the cloud unless the infrastructure is owned and funds are available to invest over a long period before getting the returns. "That said, all the typical topics of voice and data infrastructure, be it on-premise or a hybrid of both physical and virtual solutions, are still very much happening," he added. " We are watching with interest the development of some platforms that will complement, not replace, our current business. When we feel it's right for the enterprise client, we will push ahead with gusto to ensure we deliver these requirements for our customers."
Boyce urges his counterparts to continue focusing on client needs and to do so with the right level of structure. "As time moves on, VARs and SIs will be expected to provide services that clients truly recognise," he commented. "It's the value added extras we do as part of a package that the client is really wanting to pay for. I have worked in a number of large organisations and one in particular had its face to the boss and its backside to the client. Needless to say the company never made it through, even though it was successful at the time."