Lancashire Digital Technology centre, Burnley

Scott Cassidy, MD of IT Solutions in Burnley, is now part of a rare and elite group of IT experts who have received the highest standard of training and official accreditation in the maintenance and consultancy work for any Apple Mac products.

Scott is now one of only seventy IT consultants in the UK to have achieved the official Apple Accreditation and be added to the prestigious list of official Apple authorised maintenance contractors, and is proud to be the first in the North West to achieve this status and the first to qualify outside of London.

Scott says: "I studied hard for 8 months to achieve this status. The accreditation cost me £8,000 to attain and it took a lot of time and commitment to achieve. But I recognised the importance of investing in this training in order to grow the business and to work within the huge growth market with Apple products.

"Apple are one of the world leaders in the manufacturer of IT and one of the best known new age brands in the world and to become an approved consultant and maintenance expert for them is an achievement I am really proud of."

Adding, "I originally trained as a welder when I left school and worked at several local engineering companies.

"After a back injury I had to move away from engineering and decided to retrain in IT and following several courses at Burnley College I got a job with a local PC sales and repairs company.

"Following a year with the local company I decided to go self employment and focus on PC repair work. I put an advertisement in the Burnley Express and never looked back!

"I invested in an Apple iMac a couple of years ago to assist with web design and quickly realised the potential of the machines and the professionalism of Apple as a company. I don’t do things by halves so wanted to gain as much training and experience as I possible could. Having the Apple accreditation has given my business the opportunity to work in different areas in the UK rather than just east Lancashire.

"When I gained my accreditation I was one of only thirty-four in the country though this has now risen to about seventy.

"As a business we now have a number of Apple Macs and are now using the iPad to assist our engineers while out onsite.

I.T. Solutions are based in Burnley’s prestigious Lancashire Digital Technology Centre, providing I.T. support, computer repair, PC maintenance and network installation for both home and business. They offer full ICT support contracts to schools from standalone workstations to full network configurations.

BCW engineering has signed a major contract with Aston Martin to make chassis parts for Aston vehicles. Only weeks ago the Burnley company secured a £75,000 Business Investment grant from the North West Development Agency. Founded in 2002, the firm has carved out a niche in supplying precision components to aerospace and automotive firms including BAE Systems, Aircelle and Jaguar. www.bcw-engineering.co.uk

BCW Engineering has been awarded a £75,000 Grant for Business Investment from North West Development Agency, which it said will help towards building a new warehouse in Burnley or expanding to another unit in the area.

Paul Biggs, co-founder and technical director at BCW Engineering, said: "We are using the NWDA grant as investment for equipment and with that comes a need for somewhere to put the equipment so we're looking at a number of sites in Burnley.

"We've had an offer on a brownfield site, which the NWDA owns, but are still in discussions with them over it. We're looking at a greenfield site as well and are in negotiations about leasing an existing unit belonging to one of our customers. I can't say more than that really.

"The provision of this grant will be the springboard for us to realise our strategy for the next phase of our development. It is essential that BCW invest in new equipment to enable us to meet our customers' needs which will not only secure the position of our existing employees but also bring further employment to the Burnley area."

The firm, which has 80 employees over two existing sites at Phoenix Way and Bancroft Road, provides aerospace, automotive and marine components.

Investment will assist BCW Engineering in creating 15 new jobs over two years. The firm was established in 2002 and in 2008 became suppliers to Jaguar Cars and received approvals from BAE Systems and Aircelle.

Following the Grant for Business Investment, BCW Engineering will invest a further £861,000 into the business to ensure it can meet growing customer demand. The new equipment will increase the company's production capacity and ensure work is more efficient.

The NWDA grant is part of 'solutions for business', the Government's package of publicly funded business support designed to help companies start and grow.

At the helm of Burnley’s £4 million state of the art business centre, the Lancashire Digital Technology Centre, is Alan Williams, centre manager.

Alan’s been the dedicated centre manager at the Lancashire Digital Technology Centre for just over two years, and is the linchpin at the heart of this flagship business facility.

Providing a range of support services to tenants in the centre, and ensuring the businesses have a well maintained, comfortable and secure environment in which to do business is Alan’s responsibility.  His personal touch is highly regarded by the tenants and is influential in securing new tenants looking for that extra level of support from management business space.

With a long career in customer service Alan knows what it takes to help businesses thrive, and his dedication to the centre has helped secure 3 new tenants in the last 6 months.

Alan says: “We currently have 14 tenants in the centre, with some of our businesses recently expanding into more space, which is a sign that businesses are thriving here. The centre has a good atmosphere and companies here don’t work in isolation they support one another wherever they can. We can offer businesses flexible lease terms and introductory packages for new businesses moving into the centre.”

Adding : “This purpose built business centre offers fully serviced, managed office and business space ranging from150 sq.ft. to 5,000 sq.ft over two floors, an impressive reception area, and superb conference and meeting facilities. The centre is owned by the North West Development Agency, and the role of managing agents is provided by partner in the site Burnley Council.

“We are currently investing in the centre to upgrade phone and broadband connections with even faster dedicated broadband connectivity, offering business increased capacity.”

If you would like to take a closer look at the Lancashire Digital Technology Centre and the facilities on offer give Alan a call on 01282 872502.

Proud winner of the Outstanding Young Person of the year Award at the Burnley Business & Innovation Awards 2009/10 is 21 year old Marc Hardisty from Denwa Communications.

Mark joined Denwa, a high tech telecom systems business based in Burnley’s Digital Technology Centre, at the age of 18, after completing an I.T. course at a local college.

Denwa have enjoyed continued growth since its inception 3 years ago, and has grown to be one of Lancashire’s largest telecom equipment suppliers, and attributes a lot of its success to Marc’s contributions.

Rob Stott the Managing Director of Denwa, trained Marc on site for 9 months, and due to Marc’s excellent technical skills and ability to communicate with customers, he was soon given his own company car and tool kit to start installing systems himself.

Marc’s willingness to learn, and continued external technical training to stay on top of the latest technology, led to him being given the responsibility of supervising four engineers, teaching them the ropes, and encouraging them to develop and expand their skills.

At 21 this is a major achievement, and Rob puts Denwa’s business growth very much down to the Marc’s commitment and drive for the business.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, attended the Lancashire Digital Technology Centre on an official visit to Burnley in 2008. During his visit to the centre he officially opened BCW Engineering’s new facility and met with the staff of this hi-tech business which has flourished and grown in the centre.