Further expansion for Tyneside interiors firm with new IT partnership

A Tyneside-based interior design company is set for further expansion through a new IT partnership following a move to larger premises.

Bernard Interiors has relocated from its existing base in Ponteland to Jesmond in Newcastle after doubling its headcount, and implemented a new IT infrastructure with support from IT specialist Opal to support further growth.

In the last two years, Bernard Interiors has doubled its annual turnover and significantly increased staff numbers, and hopes that the partnership with Opal will support its continued expansion.

Les Irving, finance director at Bernard Interiors, commented: “We’ve expanded rapidly in recent times, and that in itself brought some major challenges. We didn’t have enough space in our old offices and our previous IT network suddenly became ‘yesterday’s solution’.

“Thankfully, due to our partnership with Opal, we’ve managed to completely transform our IT and now the network is quicker and more reliable.

“That’s hugely important to us as workload has increased significantly, we have more staff to support and we need to work smarter to meet deadlines and achieve our business goals.”

Helen Hardie, business manager at Opal, added: “We enjoy working with ambitious, fast-growing companies and our assistance has enabled Bernard Interiors to position itself for future expansion.

“The IT infrastructure we’ve put in place has given them the ideal platform with which to further improve their productivity and ensure they have a more robust business continuity plan in place.”