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Interview: Steven Forrest, CEO of Forfusion

As the North East looks to establish itself as the technology vanguard of the government’s Northern Powerhouse programme, Jamie Hardesty is uncovering the region’s pedigree in the sector by talking to some of its most successful IT companies and figureheads.

Steven Forrest, CEO and co-founder of Forfusion, is first up in a new, in-depth series as he explains how his IT and business consultancy has been able to flourish from its Tyneside base.

Specialising in unified communications, the company provides telephone and internet connection infrastructure for large businesses. Services chiefly include voice connection, instant messaging, remote access and cloud computing.

How and why was the business formed?

Steven said: “Forfusion was first established when the world experienced the worst financial crash in decades. For many, this economic meltdown was devastating, but for Forfusion it presented a fantastic opportunity. Businesses were forced to ask questions of their incumbent suppliers and demand more for less, which opened doors for a new breed of systems integrator, and that’s how it all started.

“To make the most of this opportunity, we [the directors] immediately set out to instil an ethos, a culture, a certain way of thinking and working. We knew we needed to build our own presence, whilst preserving identity and personality in order to differentiate. We felt strongly about feeding lessons learned into our strategy, further developing proven methodologies, but perhaps more importantly, evaluating and quickly discarding anything we felt could hold us back.

“It may sound a little corny, but making profit was secondary, and still is, which is ironic when you consider we’ve been able to maintain double-digit growth year-on-year since 2011, and the fact we’ve secured more business in six months than we closed in our previous financial year. These results are down to the team; each and every person has trusted and believed in Forfusion’s wider objectives, they’ve worked tirelessly towards achieving something we all believe is very special.”

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a company?

“Launching our business during the economic collapse was undoubtedly our biggest challenge. There’s no dressing it up, it was an incredibly difficult time, and a time of uncertainty; however, it was this uncertainty that opened doors that were previously closed. We were absolutely penniless at the time; we had to use flexibility and agility as primary weapons to disarm our competition, which allowed us to change direction quickly and move forward without bureaucracy.”

What have been some of the company’s biggest achievements over the last 12 months?

“I’m inclined to mention our compelling numbers, because it’s generally what an organisation’s level of achievement is based on; however, I’d rather make reference to the team we’ve managed to build. It wouldn’t be right to continually shout about turnover and profit without mentioning the team responsible for creating the numbers we’re so proud of.

“In terms of our products and services offering, we’re evolving rapidly. Forfusion partners with some of the biggest technology vendors in the world, to design, implement and support their market leading products. We have a diverse mix of skills, from networking to application development, which has allowed us to deliver true end-to-end solutions. We have remained vendor agnostic and continued to offer our customers the best solution available, not necessarily a solution or product driven by a specific vendor.

“We’ve been able to win large high-profile contracts with multinational finance houses, retail giants and public sector organisations, and in the process we’ve been able to displace some of the biggest most successful systems integrators in the world. We can attribute some of these wins to our multi-vendor skillset, unrivalled work ethic and determination to deliver tangible results for our customers.”

What are you hoping to achieve over the coming year?

“The entire team is all absolutely focussed on continued exponential growth and it looks like we’re set to take on up to ten heads within the next eighteen months, most of which will live local to our HQ in Newcastle – we feel we’re giving back to the North East of England, something that will be further supported by our trainee and graduate employment scheme. I genuinely think that we’re fast becoming a real contender in the IT space, not just regionally, but nationally and with aspirations for an international presence, to better serve our customers overseas.

“We’ll continue to build on our penetration of finance, retail and PR sectors, as well as in the public sector by further bolstering our Government Secure Services business unit. There is so much going on at the moment, but we are determined to remain stable and focussed with our core values firmly in tact, they have always played a huge part in our decision making and they always will.”

What excites you most about the industry and where do you sit in the sector?

“Technology is such a fascinating industry to work in. It’s constantly changing people’s lives for the better and helping businesses realise opportunities previously unimaginable. We thrive on optimising efficiencies and helping businesses gain competitive advantage. It all comes back to our multi-vendor approach which enables us to be unbiased and more effective when putting our customers’ needs first.”

What’s the next big thing in your industry and how do you plan to handle it?

“Every man and his dog are talking about Cloud, which is something we’re taking very seriously. So much so, we’ve launched a pillar dedicated to all things Cloud, details of which will be available when we launch our new website.. The primary purpose of this pillar is to support our customers during their transition to cloud, helping them every step of the way, by dispelling myths and determining smarter and more economical ways for them to conduct business, as well as building on our own IP around our custom cloud applications, such as Pragmatist (CRM for the PR industry launched in partnership with Microsoft).

“Flexible working is a topic that is proving to be of huge interest across al sectors, which we feel is a perfect opportunity for us to assist our customers in adopting the right infrastructure to facilitate flexible working policies to improve the quality of workers’ lives, from a technological standpoint, but also from economical and societal perspectives. This is why we’re hosting an event at The Baltic on 29th October titled ’What does Flexible Working mean for the North East?‘There’s so much rhetoric about a ‘skills shortage’ in the North East – well let’s do something about it to ensure the region is attracting and retaining the best talent.”

How much do you enjoy the role and working in the North East?

“I absolutely love working in the North East. I mean, what’s not to love? Competitive business rates, thriving economy, great bars and restaurants, not to mention the clean air and wonderful beaches.

“We’ve been able to flourish since we moved here and back to our roots. It’s a myth that business need to be based down South and near the City in order to win lucrative and rewarding contracts – we’re proof of that!”

With a current headcount of 26 and a turnover just shy of £3m, Forfusion is continuing to rise as a fast-growing company, proudly operating in the North East’s tech sector.

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