Case Study: The Media Centre

“To us and our clients, IT is more important than running water” says Ann Storey, client manager at The Media Centre.

The Media Centre is a state-of-the-art property in the heart of Huddersfield town centre, offering modern and stylish office and meeting space.

The centre, which features four buildings and includes a chic onsite café bar and a range of meeting spaces, is a hub for businesses within the creative and digital sector, also attracting clients from a range of complementary industries.

Ann added, “Every potential client mentions IT services and facilities to us – it is vitally important. All enquiries about The Media Centre feature questions about IT, whether it be a basic question about how quickly they can connect to the internet or a technical question about line speeds.”

“IT is one of the key factors in businesses deciding to move here. We have a great location, package deals and creative spaces, but it’s also the IT that we offer that attracts potential clients. We offer them a superb standard of IT and support – and that’s what most businesses are looking for.”

There are a total of 121 offices, across more than 43,000 sq ft in the four buildings.

The total office space of the Media Centre currently accommodates up to 70 companies, with around 250 People working there, and there are also facilities for businesses to hire offices by the hour, day or week on very short term deals in the innovative Connect hosted hotdesking space.

Clare Danek, marketing manager, says, “The Media Centre is a business centre for creative and digital companies. We offer managed, office space, full IT and telephony support, creative activities and networking opportunities. We like to say ‘welcome to our creative community’ to clients and encourage links between companies within the centre.

“We also offer virtual services, hot desking facilities, telephone answering and postal collection services for businesses that operate from home, and we’re also here to signpost business support and make connections between clients.”

The Media Centre has achieved Leading Edge status under the ict active assessment and is keen to promote their IT services and support as a key attraction for potential clients.

Steve Turner, IT manager at the centre, explains the site’s approach to IT: “At the Media Centre, as soon as a client agrees that they want to move in, we establish what level of support is needed based on their company, their plans and their knowledge.

“We can give clients as much, or as little, support as they require to get going once they move in. This can range from helping them download software, acquire laptops or set up security to literally plugging in their laptop, turning it on and configuring it for them.

“We want to be able to provide the highest level of ICT we possibly can for our clients, and do this through a process of annual service reviews and a program of internet and telephone service upgrades. This gives clients peace of mind that they don’t have to concern themselves with upgrading their systems in the future – we are taking care of everything for them, so that they can get on with their business.

“We are offering Leading Edge IT and telephony and we are committed to continuing to do that – and this is shown by our planned upgrades.

“We are very proud to have achieved ict active Leading Edge status. To be independently assessed and awarded such a high mark by a national industry standard is a real bonus for us. It highlights the strength of our ICT infrastructure.

“The ict active reports also proved useful, as it gave us some information about lighting that we used when we had to renovate one of our offices. We referred to the ict active report in order to ensure we installed the best lighting for the space.

“We want to keep ahead of our competitors and at the forefront of ICT developments. Our planned upgrade and being ict active Leading Edge goes a long way in ensuring our place as a state-of-the-art business centre.”