Overview

Client: Bolesworth

Industry: Hospitality / Property

Services: Project-driven structured cabling design and installation, infrastructure provisioning and accompanying project management.  Ongoing support and managed security services, strategic consultancy and hardware / software supply.

Bolesworth originally engaged with Highstream in 2018.  We carried out an audit of technology and infrastructure in use across the business, making recommendations to improve resilience and security.  This led to an agreement to provide ongoing support and strategic advice.

Challenge

Bolesworth Castle, built in 1826, has been home to the Barbour family since 1856 and is the impressive headquarters of the Bolesworth Estate Company, a leading provider of commercial real estate and world-renowned sporting and entertainment events.  As part of a refurbishment of office space within the Castle, Highstream was asked to design and install technology infrastructure, to future-proof the environment for years to come.

Solution

Installing data cabling and IT infrastructure in a Grade II listed building is a challenge, requiring forethought and a sympathetic understanding of the building’s structure.  As provider of Managed Services to Bolesworth, we already knew how the team liked to work, and understood their existing technology situation.  We spent considerable time on-site during the build-up to the works, understanding the requirements of the team and planning an installation which would both deliver on current needs and provide future expansion potential, as well as complying with strict design and aesthetic requirements.

Installation of structured data cabling, WiFi provision throughout and new core network routing and switching was staged throughout the refurbishment programme.  At various times we commissioned equipment to provide temporary working environments for the team and worked out-of-hours in order to minimise operational impact during key implementation phases.

Bolesworth required the use of modern meeting spaces, providing ease-of-use conferencing facilities within a beautiful yet functional working environment.  Building on our success installing Microsoft Teams Rooms equipment with other clients, we specified this solution for a number of spaces as part of this project.

Results

The Bolesworth Team now work fully and effectively from their refreshed office space, benefitting from seamless and robust connectivity and taking advantage of conferencing facilities which are fully integrated with their Microsoft 365 and Teams-based platform.  This builds on the Support and Security services Highstream have provided to the team since 2019, allowing the dynamic nature of the Bolesworth business to thrive and cementing the highly valued relationship between both companies.

Marie Hughes, HR & Strategic Projects Director at Bolesworth said, “Our plans for our refurbished office spaces involved technical complexities which, having worked closely with and trusted Highstream for a number of years on all aspects of IT, we had confidence they could address.

“This project wasn’t just about a final result. Equally, it was about working with us, and our main contractor, to stage the implementation to allow our team to continue to operate throughout the development programme. This required professionalism and lots of flexibility. We were able to count on the Highstream team to be there when we needed them, and to fully understand and accommodate our changing business requirements as needs arose.

“Our new working and meeting environments have contributed to our ongoing success, and our transition into these spaces earlier this year was extremely smooth, down to Highstream’s relentless desire to deliver to us the best solutions and service.”