2020 has certainly been a year for the history books. The COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe and changed the way we work forever. Whilst this year has been filled with loss and difficult times, we wanted to take a moment to share some positive reflection from our year.
15 Years in Business
We did not get to celebrate the way we would have wanted, but 2020 marked 15 years in business from Breakwater IT. We each received a box of chocolates and shared a beer on Teams to mark the occasion instead.
New Team Member
This year we welcomed a new team member. Sam Brown joined in February as our Marketing Coordinator.
In addition to this, two of our team, David and Amy, welcomed a little boy in the year. As well as our Technical Director Stuart welcoming a son.
Jordan and Jordan Promoted
Both Jordan Getley and Jordan Lamb received promotions in 2020. Jordan Getley was promoted to Level 1 Service Desk Team Leader. A huge achievement since joining us as a trainee just two years ago. Jordan Lamb was then promoted to Business Services Director. Having made the business more efficient and streamlined in her three years, this was a well-deserved promotion.
Online Events
The start of the pandemic in the UK meant our Platform to Share event in March was moved online. This was the first time we’ve hosted an online event. The topic was Microsoft Teams. With so many businesses moving over to Teams to aid working from home, we were pleased to welcome 200 attendees to the online training session. We then made the content available by a new YouTube Channel.
Freaky Clown Joined our Next Online Event
Due to the continuation of the pandemic, we held our annual Cyber Security Conference online. We were pleased to welcome Ethical Hacker FC (Freaky Clown) as our keynote speaker. FC said education is “the biggest thing that you can do to protect your company”.
Striking Gold in Certifications
Continual training of our team is core to our business. This year saw multiple exam passes including MS-100 by Toby and Jordan G. This contributes to our Microsoft Gold Partner Certification.
We also had an exam pass from Will, completing his Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certification.
As a business, we were pleased to achieve our Microsoft Gold Partnership, ISO 21001, Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus.
The Hub Launched
The Breakwater Hub has been in development for a while. This year we were delighted to roll-out the Hub to all existing and new clients. Using an installed desktop application or web browser, each individual staff member can login to their own platform and give a detailed report of their issues. They can also shop, view invoices, create quotes and more.
New Clients Welcomed
Whilst we’re mentioning new clients, we welcomed three new great ones this year! A big welcome to Breakwater goes to Steeles Law, LSI Architects and Home Instead Care.
Redecorating Our Office
Whilst staff were working from home, this gave us a great opportunity to redecorate our office. Big shout out to the following businesses for their hard work:
Flooring – MJC Flooring
Painting – ITER Services
Stand-up desks and chairs – Norwich Office Supplies
External building signage – Signs Express
COVID internal signage – CiM Signs & Graphics
Office signage and graphics – Image Display and Graphics
Norfolk Business Award Finalists
We were incredibly proud of our hardworking team this past year. Therefore, we decided to enter the Norfolk Business Awards for the first time. Making it to the shortlist stage for Customer Care and Small/Medium Business of the Year was a big enough achievement for us. We then made finalists in the Small/Medium Business Award!
