Combining 40 Years of Castle and Talon
After many years of trading as Castle and Talon, in addition to our two companies merging following the acquisition, we knew it was time for a transformation. Accordingly, we are very pleased to announce our new name and brand Kick ICT Group Ltd.
Over the past year, a number of consolidations have been carried out following the acquisition meaning we have moved into an exciting transformation phase of our business journey. The 1st of October marked the first momentous day as Kick – our new website launched, our helpdesk and reception now answers the phones as Kick ICT Group and we enjoyed our first proper day in our new home.
Kick will be organised into 3 divisions; Microsoft Dynamics, Infor and Tech which will underpin and continue to build upon our position as the leading independent “single source” IT business HQ’d in Scotland.
New Headquarters
As our lease on the Castle Office expired on the 7th of October, we have taken this opportunity to acquire a new corporate HQ – Solais House, just a few yards down the road from the Castle office in the Strathclyde Business Park.
This will become the primary operational hub for our customers and be the base for all group employees. Our premises at Finneston are still being kept for another few years and Kick will continue to support flexible and home working as a “modern tech workspace” company.
Alongside this, we have also made significant investments in our own datacentre capability. In partnership with Lenovo and Nutanix we have built a rapid and secure state of the art facility which as well as providing significant operational benefits for our existing datacentre customers will provide our own operational backbone as we transition our own Castle and Talon servers from the server rooms to the cloud.
Fresh Branding
We have moved away from our existing Castle and Talon branding and have a new updated logo entailing a platinum and red Kick ICT cloud logo. However, we will continue to keep our history and legacy prominent through all our communications providing the “Combining 40 years of Castle and Talon” strapline. In addition, we are planning to use our legacy brands in certain specialist sectors such as the “Castle Housing Division”.
New Website
Our new website Kick website launched on the 1st October which combines features of the Castle and Talon sites and essentially removes any duplication. It will also provide the platform for the introduction of relevant and fresh new content as we seek to enhance the experience of our customers – both existing and new!
Growth and Sustainability
We have come a long way since Kick ICT invested in Talon back in April 2015. We have acquired 4 businesses with a 40-year heritage and now employ over 100 highly skilled and talented individuals.
We have also witnessed financial growth of our business – our annual turnover has gone from £7m last year to in excess of £13m this year. With continued business development, Kick will continue to grow, acquire and maintain a sustainable business of scale across the UK through our profitability, cash reserves and outstanding backing of HSBC.
Customer Service
Undoubtedly, the integration of acquiring businesses takes time, nevertheless, at Kick we are well on our way to establishing a single group culture.
We are committed to providing outstanding customer service. Accordingly this will be at the forefront of our plans in 19/20 which will involve formal training sessions through to updated project methodology, communication systems and documentation.
FAQ’s
We have put together a document of FAQ’s which you can find here and should assist with any questions you may have. However, should you have any further questions or would like to discuss any aspect of our plans and journey please get in touch by calling 01698 844 600 or speak directly to your Account Manager and we’ll be happy to discuss.