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In our building better series, we sit down with some of our team members to reveal how we've built a very different type of commercial internet company.
Our CEO, Tim Creswick, is committed to maintaining company culture as we scale.
Maintaining company culture
220 was an important employee milestone for us. Learn why it matters in terms of our employees' experience at Vorboss.
Looking ahead
We want Vorboss to be the best job our employees ever have. We talk to leaders in the organisation to ensure that topics including diversity, equality, and inclusion, development and training, and company values always remain at the top of the agenda as we scale.
Sound like a company you might like to join? We're hiring!
Meet Millie, our wonderful People & Culture Assistant. Millie works alongside the People & Culture team to ensure our workforce are successfully onboarded and setup for success here at Vorboss. Millie joined Vorboss late in 2020 and we've seen her go from strength to strength!
Millie leads all our induction days, which keeps her pretty busy as we've hired and on-boarded over 200 people in 2021! Millie's friendly nature and understanding manner puts our new starters at ease, whilst ensuring everyone understands our company policies and procedures so they can hit the ground running from day one. Millie also leads our benefits program, meaning she's our go-to for any questions about the perks that come with working at Vorboss, these include Vitality Health, access to free therapy, financial well-being advice and much more.
We make two commitments to our staff when they join our team; firstly, that we'll work to make Vorboss the best job you'll ever have, and secondly, that we'll never lose track of our staff as individuals. Millie's work is so important for us delivering on those promises and we'd be lost without her!
Millie's favourite thing about working at Vorboss is seeing people settle into their new roles. Seeing the skills, talent and personality that they bring to their teams, the awesome things they can achieve once they’re here and how that all relates back to the business plan.
Below she gives us a small insight into what our onboarding process is like, why we know it's important to look beyond a CV and what her team look for when hiring for new roles.
Vorboss is a fast moving, dynamic organisation building a high-capacity enterprise fibre network across the UK. We are doing things differently by challenging the status quo and we are proud of that. Our mission is to build better connection, and our customers’ needs are at the core of everything we do.
To best serve our customers we never accept the default. We always ask questions, and we take pride in our small, everyday innovations that translate into very real differences and changes for our customers and employees.
If Vorboss sounds like a place you'd like to work, check out our vacancies section for available roles and details on applying.
At Vorboss developing people is built into our DNA. Since our inception 15 years ago we've always prioritised training our teams, and we've never been afraid of hiring junior people and training them up. At the start of 2021 we launched The Vorboss Training Academy, a four week intensive program that takes people with no previous experience and teaches them everything they need to know to graduate as a Vorboss Installation Technician.
We work with The ITP to recruit apprentices and trainees to join the academy, with 20 people joining the academy each month. Alongside the ITP we are working to get more women into fibre, an industry traditionally dominated by men. Our Female First campaign aims for a 50/50 gender split with our academy intakes, but the campaign goes beyond a quota.
Internally we're working hard to make the build environment a more inclusion place for women. Initiatives include creating a welcoming environment for women out in the field by sourcing tools designed for women, finding uniform that is sized for women, introducing Period days, part-time working patterns and ensuring we have a welfare van out with teams each day.
As 2021 draws to a close we look back at the incredible success stories that have come out of our academy and share a few highlights below.
Are you looking for a new challenge? Find out more about joining our academy here, or email academy@vorboss.com for more information.
You may think this can be organised after you have moved in but leaving your connectivity until this late stage can have some upsetting consequences for your finances, productivity and sanity.
That is why you should consider how you will be connected several months before moving day; not during the weeks after. In this post, we are going to cover the perks of preparing for your connection in advance and the painful drawbacks of not doing so.
Moving Day
Picture the scene: you are a couple of weeks away from moving into a bigger and better office. With your company growing rapidly, you could not have picked a better time to move. This action tells the world you are attracting talented employees and prestigious clients, and you have got the ambition to match them. After all the stress that came with finding a place in the right location, that fits within your budget, you are finally ready to reap in its rewards.
As the day gets closer, you have been ticking off the items on your moving day to-do list: who sits where, who gets which office, where the printer goes and so on. But there is one item you have not crossed off yet: your internet connection. You may have assumed you can take care of this after you have settled in. Connectivity is everywhere these days, so how hard can it be to set up? As it turns out, this is not always a straightforward process.
Fibre connections, which provide the speeds most people expect, take around 30 - 90 working days to install. Roads have to be dug up in order for the cables to be laid down and connected to your building. And before that can happen, you have to get permission from the relevant authorities. It is an administrative headache and one you do not need after you have just settled into your new workspace.
Read more: leased line comparison - what you need to know
Connectivity Chaos
Here is the situation you will be dealing with: you will move into your new office, only to find there is no connection. Or there might be, but it is far from suitable for how your employees need to use it. We have seen this happen plenty of times and the consequences are always punishing. One company we know had to move into a temporary workspace while they were waiting for their connection to be installed. So they ended up paying for two offices, one of which they could not even use for a couple of months.
Their phone lines depended on this connectivity too. So the delay in moving meant they were uncontactable as well. And the ripple effect that came with no phone connection was drastic. Productivity began to plummet, as did the amount of revenue they were bringing in. Pile this on top of the costs they had already paid for moving - twice - and as you can imagine, they were feeling pretty stressed.
But this horrible situation is totally avoidable. With some careful planning and research in the months before you move, you can install the connection you need to run your business on a day-to-day basis. A good conversation or two with your new building’s landlord can go a long way in helping you to be prepared and avoid any connectivity chaos.
Plan, Plan, Plan
Before you even consider signing for a new office, you should find out what kind of internet connections it can support. And what kinds of connection it cannot. Cost and location become irrelevant if you cannot run, or have to pause, the day-to-day activity of your business while you wait for the internet to be connected.
Once you know what your options are, your next step is to find out how long it will take for it to be connected. Like we said before, most fibre connections take around 30 - 90 working days to install. wibre™, our signature wireless internet service, can be installed in as little as 7 working days. Timing has to be part of the equation before you move, in order to avoid a connectivity disaster.
Get Connected In Time
You cannot just assume your new office will support the connection you need and come with an easy install. Plan for it in advance and you can avoid suffering unnecessary stress and extra financial costs.
We have got several connectivity options at Optimity and we can help you find the right one for your business. We will get to know what you do and how you use the internet, so that we can recommend the best connection for you. Take a look at our full range of connectivity services.
In this blog, we’re going to introduce you to our new senior team, give you a rundown of our new services, and hear what the senior team think of this new direction.
Who’s Joined?
Recently, a new senior management team joined Optimity. Here’s an overview of who’s who:
Leeland Pavey, CEO
A veteran with over 25 years in the telecoms industry, Leeland combines significant experience with inspirational leadership that makes for successful organisations.
Andrew Frome, CFO
A highly commercial and entrepreneurial finance director. Andrew’s managed all aspects of global revenue and equity-backed businesses.
Matt Wise, CRO
Matt has over two decades’ experience of working in the IT technology sector. In that time, he’s been responsible for transforming organisations through metric management and a strong sales process.
As you can see, all of these individuals have an impressive track record in successfully scaling technology organisations.
What Are Our New Services?
We’ve broken up our new services into four areas, each headed with the ‘opti’ theming. Each area covers a faction of our IT and internet expertise.
The services are:
opticonnect
This is the home of our managed internet services. It includes wibre™, our signature wireless internet service that delivers the speed of fibre but can be installed in as little as 7 working days.
optisecure
The service where we keep business networks secure. This includes content filtering and managed switches, firewalls and threat protections. All of these efforts can help prevent malicious activity affecting your network.
optihost
Eliminate all that confusing paperwork by rolling your IT, WiFi and telephony services into one bill. All of these services are flexible and easy for you to control.
optisupport
The home of our IT services, which can cover all of your issues and resolve them quickly. It covers everything you need, from support to hosting.
What the Senior Team Think
Leeland, our CEO, had this to say about our recent developments:
Learn More
To find out more about our new services or ask any questions you have, get in touch.
Cost, availability, speeds, support and installation times all play a part in making the most appropriate choice. One might be faster than the others but speed should not be your only consideration.
In this post, we are going to discuss the three types of leased line connection that are available to you. These are fibre to the premises (FTTP), fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) and ethernet first mile (EFM). While cost, availability, speeds and installation times vary between them, they are all capable of providing you with a faster connection than broadband.
By the end of this post, you will feel more confident in choosing a connection that is right for your business. You will be able to consider your budget, timing and demand in order to make a wise investment. Before we go into more detail about the three of these options we will offer you an explanation of what leased lines are and how they work.
What is a Leased Line?
A leased line is a dedicated connection that works on a static bandwidth. Put in other words, you have an uncontended connection. You are not sharing your internet with anybody else as you have a private circuit that directly connects your premises to the internet. This enables your connection to support the day-to-day activities of your business and perform at a reliable speed all of the time.
Talking of speed, your uploads and downloads will be symmetrical on a leased line. Another way of saying this is that you can upload files as quickly as you can download them. With these high speeds and reliability, you are able to use the internet for a great range of tasks, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Leased lines also come with low latency, which means websites can be accessed and load at a fast pace.
Having a leased line connection is not the same as using broadband. With the latter, your connection is competing with the activity of lots of other web users. Whatever they are doing will have an impact on the speeds you can access. This can make downloading files a sluggish process during peak time. For businesses, peak time is anytime so a broadband connection simply will not do.
Read more - before moving office, plan your internet connection in advance
Leased Line Comparison: FTTP, FTTC and EFM
With the definition and benefits of a leased line connection all fleshed out, let’s take a closer look at the types of leased lines available. As we said earlier, these are FTTP, FTTC and EFM. Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages and there are scenarios where one is more well-equipped than the others.
FTTP
FTTP, also known as a fibre leased line, provides an internet connection directly to your premises from the network supplier using a fibre optic cable. It is usually capable of providing the fastest possible speeds to your business and is completely uncontended. Another reason why it is liked so much by businesses is that it is scalable. They can invest in more bandwidth and overlay other services on the cable when they need to, plus reduce their spending and usage when they do not need as much.
If you work in a large office, a small office or an office of any size where lots of people depend on cloud services, transferring large files and using VoIP to do their jobs, then FTTP is what you need. It will give you enough bandwidth to get everyone online and doing the things they need to do in order to keep your company running. The uncontended factor will mean you are not disrupted by unreliable connectivity in the middle of an important task.
Advantages:
- Speed. With the right bandwidth, you are capable of doing anything over the internet and there will not be any delays.
- Uncontended bandwidth. Your connection is dedicated to your business. It is impossible for disruption to be caused by a user on the outside of your network.
Disadvantages:
- Installation times. FTTP can take between 30 and 90 days to install
- Cost. This is often a barrier that prevents many small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) getting connected as they simply don’t have the budget.
Right now, however, SMBs can apply for a government voucher granting them up to £2,500 towards the cost of a gigabit internet installation with us.
Latest from the press room
The experience driving our growth
David has been central to our success as our Chief Financial Officer. Drawing on his experience at Zayo Group and RBC Capital Markets, he brings strong insight across large-scale infrastructure, investment banking and managed services. As our CFO, he’s been instrumental in shaping a commercial model that supports businesses as they grow, giving our customers the certainty and simplicity they expect.
Rhod has played a pivotal role in operations at Vorboss since 2020. He led the build of our network, now spanning over 900 km, and has raised industry standards across quality and efficiency, making sure our customers have a flawless experience. With previous roles at companies like Arup and WeWork, Rhod understands the complexity of London commercial real estate and knows exactly what it takes to deliver world-class technology in a fast-paced city.
The next chapter
Under David and Rhod’s leadership, we are doubling down on our commitment to keep things simple for our customers and remain the transparent, accountable provider ambitious businesses rely on as they grow.
“Vorboss is on path to becoming one of the UK’s leading B2B connectivity and managed service providers,”
says Adam Dunlop, Operating Partner at Octopus Capital and Chair of the Vorboss Board.
“With David and Rhod’s leadership, and the strength and commitment of the team across the business, I am genuinely excited about what lies ahead.”
Vorboss is part of the Fern Trading Group, managed and advised by Octopus Investments. This partnership, backed by £250million in funding, enabled us to build an independent, 100Gbps London fibre network and connect thousands of businesses across the capital. Having expanded our offering with a range of cybersecurity and managed technology solutions last year, we continue to do things differently by delivering everything end-to-end through our in-house teams.
As companies grow, so does the technology behind them. Connectivity, IT and cybersecurity often end up spread across multiple suppliers, contracts and support models. Simply Connected brings it all together under one provider, making it easier to manage, easier to support, and clearer to understand costs.
At the heart of it is Vorboss’ own fibre network spanning over 750km across London, built, owned and operated in-house, with the same team designing, installing and managing the full setup end-to-end.
“Office technology has become overcomplicated,”
said Rhod Morgan, Chief Operations Officer at Vorboss.
“Many businesses have the right services on paper, but the experience feels disjointed. We wanted to remove the grey areas. Customers manage one relationship, have access to local support and receive one predictable monthly bill. The same team that builds the solution runs and supports it day-to-day.”
Simply Connected includes modular services that flex around each business and scale as it grows:
- Dedicated internet connectivity from Vorboss
- Fully managed office networks
- Managed IT and hardware provisioning
- Cybersecurity
- Ongoing support delivered by local London experts
