IT partnership with Pinnacle is key to Arthur Hough & Sons' continued success

For a company with its roots deep in the Victorian era, Arthur Hough & Sons shows an unceasing determination to stay ahead, recognising that, in a highly competitive industry, the strategic deployment of technology, both in production and in back-office functions is vital to staying out in front.

The business has relied on Pinnacle for many years for IT maintenance and support services. These include cover for the core server and storage infrastructure, the network and desktop environment and the Microsoft Windows platform.

This relationship has further strengthened with the retirement around eighteen months ago of Richard’s co-owner in the business. Richard comments, “When Brian retired, he took his knowledge of IT and his keen interest in it with him. I stepped forward to take on responsibility for our IT infrastructure, recognising that I would need to rely on Pinnacle for support and guidance. I simply don’t have the time to get involved in the day-to-day detail, so I knew that the relationship would become even more critical to our continuing commercial success.

For Richard, it made better business sense to have a team of experts at Pinnacle providing a flexible service, rather than looking to employ a dedicated in-house specialist.

As well as day-to-day support, Richard knows that he can also depend on Pinnacle for infrastructure design and implementation. He says, “Rather than doing a massive leap every twenty years, we believe it’s better for our business to make incremental changes every three to four years. Our Pinnacle Account Manager, acts as our eyes and ears on the IT world and helps to keep us up to date. He identifies ways to improve the infrastructure on which our business depends absolutely.”

This latest infrastructure refresh was financed through a leasing contract. “It’s the first time we’ve gone this route,” observes Richard. “Pinnacle pointed out that with our commitment to keeping our IT current, it made sense to consider a leasing arrangement. It was a no brainer, as it spreads the cost, assisting our cash flow, and makes our outgoings on IT predictable.”

Richard and his team seek to exceed customers’ expectations wherever possible. He gives an example: “In these brand conscious times, certain customers want our labelling to match their corporate identity. With Pinnacle’s help, we’re looking to install a new printing system that will allow us to print bespoke
customer labels in colour more efficiently. Pinnacle will source and install the printers for us and also the software to drive them.”