A FORMER telecoms worker who set up his own phone firm a year ago is ringing up big sales selling to other small firms.

Andrew Rowley, 34, established Frontier Telecom in North Shields after ten years employed in the telecommunications industry, and now the firm is about to take on its sixth member of staff.

“When I was in my previous job I was at a crossroads – do I work for someone or take the plunge? I’d been thinking about setting up the business for a couple of years, so I went and did it,” said Rowley.

Frontier specialises in providing mobile phones to small, medium and large businesses, supported by high level account management services.

They work with all the major mobile networks and phone providers, ensuring their clients are getting the best possible deals matched to their business needs.

“Our growth in the last year has been rapid,” said Rowley. “From a standing start, we’ve got 85 customers and in 12 months have turned over £250,000 – not bad for our first year. We’re taking on five new customers every month, so we’re continuing to expand.

“The telecoms sector is very competitive. Vodafone is our main partner, they give us a lot of support and we’re able to offer our customers the best deals. We find that customers are increasingly looking to streamline their business processes, such as on their Blackberry. Our ethos is about service.

“Providing the product is just the start. What happens when it goes wrong? Customers want it resolved immediately. We had one customer who lost his iPhone – we were able to go straight out immediately and deliver him a replacement. Customers also want to talk to real people and they want flexibility.”

Business Link supplied advice on business growth, turnover, and ways to get the best deals out of the banks and advised Rowley on cost-effective methods of recruitment when he found himself inundated by agencies looking to charge him a premium for finding staff.

“They were great, 100%,” he said. “I can’t complain.

“They didn’t just come out and see me and then disappear, they followed it up to see how I was doing. It was very straightforward.”

Business Link Adviser Paul Brown has been impressed with Frontier’s progress. He said: “Andrew has achieved so much during his first year of trading. He is a hard-working, ambitious person and I look forward to working with him in the future to further assist the development of his business.”