The journey to SA1 Group

Successful businesses seek opportunities through continuously assessing a need in the market and fulfilling that need while maximising customer satisfaction. Our business’ growth from its humble beginnings as an IT support start-up to a Group entity has taken a lot of hard work but is something we are extremely proud of. But how exactly did SA1 Group come into formation?

Back in 2005, Simon Ahearne, the leader of what is now SA1 Group, started an IT services business in Swansea after recognising a gap in the market for a reliable, professional and approachable IT and communications support provider. Meeting this market demand enabled this company, SA1 Solutions, to grow at an impressive rate, with a portfolio of clients that began in the Swansea region soon expanding into the wider South Wales region and later throughout the UK.

A key approach taken by SA1 Solutions was its jargon free manner, which allowed its customers to really understand what they were getting from the services SA1 Solutions provided rather than being sold a service without knowing why. This transparency has served the company well and has allowed for strong relationships to be built between the company and its clients. SA1 solutions was therefore able to understand client’s needs, which often went beyond IT support and into telecommunications.

That was when SA1 Telecoms was born. A sister company to SA1 Solutions, SA1 Telecoms launched in 2016 to offer bespoke telecoms services to all manner of businesses in the Swansea region and further afield. Its introduction offered a more enhanced communications service to customers through enabling telecoms services to run alongside IT and communication systems. Again, an opportunity was recognised by founder Simon Ahearne to meet the needs of customers and this intuition has led to another successful aspect to the business.

A clear requirement for businesses is the functionality of their IT systems. Many organisations operate with widely used software, but many have very specific software needs, which is an area our experts at SA1 thoroughly understand. From listening to existing clients and considering what would work for them to make their businesses work more effectively, a realisation to provide a bespoke software service became obvious. As such, SA1 Software came into fruition as an additional department within SA1 Solutions. SA1 Software focuses on the design, build and implementation of tailor-made software, and offers the ideal solution to clients already using SA1’s services who need software that works seamlessly with their IT systems.

However, just because our team understand how communications systems work, it doesn’t mean those who will be using them do. This is something many companies don’t pay attention to but what SA1 prides itself on. That’s why we are preparing to introduce SA1 Training, a product of SA1 Solutions. To complement the services already being offered by us, SA1 Training will offer customers expert training on communications systems to ensure they are confident using them and have the opportunity to seek advice and guidance on any technology they are unsure on or want to develop using.

In addition to IT, telecoms, software and training, digital solutions including websites and SEO are another key area for businesses that tie in with SA1’s offering. SA1 has had a strategic partnership with a digital and graphic design agency Picseli for many years and is now proud to say it is part of SA1 Group as SA1 Creative. SA1 Creative’s offering of bespoke website and digital design and build, SEO, social media marketing and graphic design, as well as creative consultancy, makes it a valuable addition to the business and adds to its vast experience base.

The journey to SA1 Group, which has brought together the innovative business offerings of SA1 Solutions, SA1 Telecoms, and SA1 Creative, has allowed for a fully rounded service offering. It means customers can easily manage their communications needs through this new one-stop-shop and therefore receive a reliable, knowledgeable and easily accessible service. We are very proud of reaching this milestone in our business journey and are pleased that through listening to our customer, they can now receive an integrated, complementary service through each business offering.

To find out more about SA1 Group and its many services, please click here