An example of their partnership’s achievement is retail motor group Tustain Motors, headquartered in Alnwick and with dealerships across rural areas of England and Scotland, including Hawick in the Scottish Borders and Haddington in East Lothian.
Since launching in 2010, Managing Director Brian Baxter and Finance Director David Storey have built the business into a Northumberland success story.
But David Storey said that the digital revolution has changed the way the industry operates, especially with customers. Thanks to Commsworld and Alncom, the vastly improved ultra-fast connectivity that reaches rural locations has allowed Tustain Motors to keep pace with what is a highly competitive industry.
He said: “Previously, and in particular over the last few years, internet connectivity hasn’t been great. As the industry continues to change, it’s vitally important we have good connectivity, as people do most of their searching for vehicles online. It had been difficult with poor connections.
“But now the improvements we’ve had with connectivity have been a great help to us. That’s because, with the help of Commsworld and Alncom, we now have fibre in all our sites which has improved the connectivity we have and has boosted our business.
“The change to fibre has enabled us to take our web presence to the next level, and improved the message that we can get out to our customers. It’s really important, as the industry is developing all the time, and our business is developing all the time to match that. It’s been a massive help to us in our quest to stay ahead of our competitors.”
Gary Ross, Commsworld North East Account Manager, said: “We are delighted that Tustain Motors has benefitted from the greatly improved connectivity that we have brought to Northumberland’s rural areas with Alncom. The partnership’s goal was always to connect businesses, organisations and communities, no matter how remote, to high capacity, resilient and future-proofed fibre connectivity. This new connectivity is fulfilling our joint vision to bridge the digital divide between rural and city so businesses, community organisations, residents groups and schools enjoy all the social inclusive benefits that better broadband connections bring.”
Stephen Pinchen, Managing Director of Alncom, said: “Alncom and Commsworld’s partnership has been truly transformational for Northumberland. Our knowledge on delivering fibre broadband to rural areas coupled with Commsworld’s resilient national infrastructure has seen us deliver the fastest fibre available, as well as building capacity for the future that will help rural communities keep pace with the best connectivity that other more populated areas receive.”
