From bedroom-based start-up to soaring success, the story of Best 4 Business Communications (B4BC) is one of hard work, entrepreneurship and partnership.
The Birmingham-based business employs 30 staff and provides hosted voice, connectivity, mobile and fixed line to SME customers, taking pride in its outstanding customer service and the range of products and solutions it offers.
B4BC has worked with the team at Onecom Partners for more than 15 years, and the relationship has supported the business’s growth organically and through M&A, most notably the acquisition of a group of telecoms companies which completed in 2021 and increased revenue by 40%.
Managing Director Freddie Hawker entered the world of telecoms at the age of 22, selling lines and calls, PBX systems and maintenance for a local telecoms business. He struck out on his own in 2005, working from his bedroom at home, which he named ‘Telecoms House’. The following year he took on his first employee and the business grew from there.
B4BC first switched to Onecom Partners for WLR (Wholesale Line Rental) after experiencing issues with its existing provider. That was the start of a long and productive relationship that has helped power growth.
Moving into their current premises in 2013, and with support from Onecom Partners, the business has shifted away from PBX and towards reselling hosted voice communications on a subscription model – generating more consistent revenue for the business.
B4BC also provides broadband connectivity and mobile with a total customer base of over 3,000 end users.
After enjoying continued years of growth which saw the business often doubling turnover year on year, Freddie began to explore opportunities to expand through acquisition, completing several deals.
The most notable transaction came in May 2021, when B4BC acquired a group of telcos in a deal which added 10 staff and around 1,000 additional business clients. This in fact included the company where Freddie started his telecoms career.
As well as supplying hosted voice, connectivity and mobile from Onecom Partners range of leading networks and carriers, the business also utilises Onecom Partners Managed Billing service to invoice all B4BC customers on a monthly basis. B4BC also reap the benefits of having access to Onecom Partners industry specialists keeping Freddie and his team up to date with the latest products, services and innovations in the market to support their continued growth.
With assistance from Onecom Partners, B4BC has entered and won a string of industry awards, including the Comms National Awards Reseller of the Year, Best SME Cloud Solution and Comms Business Reseller of the Year, multiple times.
Freddie Hawker, MD, Best 4 Business Communications (B4BC):
“Onecom Partners are fantastic to work with. We have a very strong relationship and that’s massively important to us. We value that closeness, and the ability to easily contact people when we need them. Good service makes money, and if anything ever does go wrong you know people are looking into it with the same level of care that we have for our customers.
“This relationship and the buying power Onecom Partners have make it an absolute ‘no-brainer’. The billing platform is excellent and just works. The value-added services give us far more than we could get by going direct, and when it comes to headaches like number porting, dealing with overseas call centres and resolving incorrect charges, Onecom Partners fight those battles on our behalf. They are an extension of our team.
“It’s not just about the prices we get – it’s also things like credit terms, introductions to potential acquisitions, and sound advice when we pick up the phone. It’s a fast-paced industry and a big part of the job is staying ahead of the technology to enable us to offer the best solutions and services to our customers.
“There are alternative partners we could potentially work with but because our relationship with Onecom Partners is constantly evolving and they are always expanding their portfolio of products and services, there isn’t a compelling reason to go anywhere else.
“We’ve achieved a lot together and there is plenty more success ahead. In the last 20 years I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like the opportunities within the industry at the moment, and the support we have from Onecom Partners is instrumental in supporting B4BC to make the most of those opportunities.”
