Shunning the new comms technologies that are always on the tips of our tongues, small business comms provider Unicom has recorded significant growth by giving small firms exactly what they need, according to Operations Director, Chris Earle.
Unicom is the trading name of Universal Utilities, founded in 1998 as a result of a small utilities sales partnership growing in a more substantial organisation. Universal Utilities is privately owned and originally sold gas and electricity contracts to small businesses on behalf of Enron Direct and then British Gas. Wanting to build its own customer base rather than sell for others, a new telecommunications division of the company was formed in 2001 to take advantage of the emerging competitive market due to deregulation, and was subsequently branded Unicom.
"Over the past 10 years, across the major products we have sold - gas, electricity and telecoms - Unicom has helped nearly 300,000 business to save a total of £500 million off their bills," claimed Earle. "Through consistent organic expansion we now employ approximately 500 staff across 10 offices. We have not made any acquisitions to assist with this growth."
For the year ending April 2009, Unicom reported pre-tax profits of £11.2 million on a turnover of £44.5 million (with profits up 14.3 per cent and turnover up seven per cent from April 2008). According to Earle, Unicom expects profits to be in excess of £12 million on a turnover of more than £48 million for the current year.
Unicom has achieved these impressive results by being sharply focused on its core markets. "We target the small business market as it is difficult to get to these customers. We are small business specialists, with our customers having an average of 1.5 lines per address," added Earle. "We target all business sectors within the SME market, and consider the market to be stable and becoming more stable. Our direct sales to SMEs works because it is so difficult to achieve efficiently, which means there is limited competition."
Significantly, Earle believes that VoIP, LLU, and fixed-mobile convergence are industry buzz topics that do not deliver additional value or cost savings to an average small business, citing Unicom's product kit bag as a win-win proposition. "Our primary product is fixed lines and calls, following which we sell broadband into the customer base," commented Earle. "We have focused on becoming the best telecommunication provider available to small businesses. We only want to provide products that the vast majority of small businesses already use. We do not plan to be involved in niche markets."
Unicom's major competitor is BT, which supplies more than 50 per cent of all small businesses in the telecommunications market. "BT has these numbers primarily because of customer apathy in not actively attempting to switch away from the incumbent," says Earle. "We are currently signing up a new customer every three minutes due to our competitive pricing and customer service. Including our subsidiary Titan Telecom, our new customer sales have increased 50 per cent this calendar year."
Earle attributes much of Unicom's growth to a string of differentiators that come together in a formula for success. He points to a UK-based call centre, calls answered in under four seconds on average, no automated answering services, while offering cost effectiveness with simple tariffs and prices fixed for the duration of the agreement. "We will continue to offer our service at a very low cost," confirmed Earle. "In April 2008 we launched Titan Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary which gains new customers via independent sales teams, rather than utilising our existing sales force. Titan Telecom has been successful and is providing us with a boost in new customer acquisition."
Earle is an economics graduate from Manchester University and joined Unicom in 1995, benefiting from the company's graduate development programme, and growing his experience across all sectors of the business. He has been involved in every major development from a new start up to a £44 million turnover business. "I continue to take an active role in Unicom's graduate scheme, which the company has maintained despite the economic climate while other major players in the industry have withdrawn this type of recruitment," he observed. "Unicom strives to give all its graduate recruits a firm understanding of all aspects of the business to best enable them to develop their careers."
Corporate Social Responsibility is an area that Earle is developing as Unicom continues to play an active role within its operational regions. He is spearheading a Community Support Programme which will financially benefit local community groups, and Unicom remains a patron of The Outward Bound Trust, making an annual donation to a local high school which enables all Year Seven students to take part in an outward bounds team building experience. In such a spirit of outward bound adventure, Earle revealed that Unicom is currently looking at two more ‘exciting' areas of expansion - mobile phones and electricity.
"Our aim is to be able to offer customers one easy to understand bill for the essential utilities they require to run a successful business," he said. "It's vital to know your own business inside out, and look at every part of it in different ways. We make changes on a daily basis that make us more efficient. Be proactive, don't expect new business to come to you, go and get it."