CASE STUDIES

• Add Juice
• AG Design
• Altcom Ltd
• Atlantic FM
• Business Cornwall
• Channel Computing
• Clarity
• Design for Sport
• German IT Development
• Go24
• InfoTeam
• IntoArt Solutions LLP
• Leap Media
• Niddocks
• Outside the Box
• Richard Quick Design
• Roskear Holdings
• Seed Brand Communications
• Webfooted Designs
• Wild Card PR

REPORTS

ICT and Media

Overview
Peter Graves started out his career as a Grand Prix motorcycle racer, and being based in London he decided that IT skills provided a more predictable source of income when sponsorship revenues were low. Peter became an IT consultant, which initially provided a steady financial foundation on which he based his racing success, and later became his full time occupation. In doing so has developed a wide range of IT and business skills including software development, database construction, website creation, Business intelligence & reporting, analysis and project management, e-commerce systems and marketing tools such as web optimisation and e-marketing.

However, Peter was looking for a new challenge and in 2001 moved to New Zealand, where he used his IT expertise working as a contractor providing imaging and workflow solutions for large New Zealand corporate, banks and insurance companies.
Peter explains "New Zealand provided me with a fantastic opportunity to work for myself and get a feel for what running my own business would entail. Technology evolves so quickly that working in the industry changes year on year, which is great as your job always varies."

Peter met Cornish born Anna Barrington while he was working in New Zealand and in 2006 they decided to make the move back to the UK. Peter said "We chose Cornwall to come home to, not only because of Anna's family connections, but also as we felt it is the only place in the UK that provides the same lifestyle and quality of life we had grown to love in New Zealand. I was also aware from early on that there is not a great market for retired motorbike racers in the county, so setting up our own business seemed the best choice!"

Channel Computing provides a variety of IT services, including project management, analysis and design, software design and coding, web site design and optimisation, e-commerce solutions, hardware installation and configuration, trouble-shooting, training, bug-fixing, consultancy and advice.

The business has been trading since January 2007 and has acquired an impressive number of clients. Peter says "We have actively marketed ourselves across the UK. Not only are we looking to secure our own clients, but are also looking at how the county can benefit from providing our clients with their services as well. Cornwall has a fantastic business community, whose members are very supportive of one another. This has made the first few months of our business that much easier."

"We are already looking forward to the summer months when, if we can tear ourselves away from our computer screen, we can divide our time between being out on the water sailing and working. What more can you ask for from a business location?"

Recruitment
Like Peter, Anna is trained in web design, and is also responsible for the sales, marketing and administrative side of the business. Peter is hoping to recruit between two to three people in the next few months to develop applications for clients as they grow the business and to meet the increasing demand for their services.
 
Clients
Channel Computing is working with a number of clients including: Frenchgate shopping centre in Doncaster, Land and Liberty Magazine and the Henry George Foundation The have also worked on projects such as the Stop Right Now campaign to help people stop smoking, and have developed a bi-lingual site for an Italian company.

Technology
Due to the variety of work the business undertakes on behalf of clients a number of technology packages are used including: Opensource web software, content management systems and Microsoft packages such as Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Sharepoint Server.

Support
Peter has attended some of the business networks and is now an active member of Business League. He says "Being new to Cornwall the networks are a great way of getting yourself known among the business community. Whether it's for work locally or referrals across the UK, they are very effective."

Cornwall Pure Business has provided Channel Computing with support with marketing, networking and searching for premises. The company has also been in touch with actnow, and is taking advantage of some of the useful incentives for businesses establishing themselves in Cornwall.