CHRIS Thomas took over Incovo, which provides technology products and services to businesses, in 2017 after his father died of a stroke. He has since adapted the business to fast-changing technology and given it a more contemporary branding.
Name: Chris Thomas
Age: 21
Position: CEO
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS CALLED?
Incovo
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Livingston
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
I TOOK over my dad’s company two years ago when the directors left. I was working in a shoe shop in Edinburgh before that. I left school at the end of fifth year and I started working with my dad at a property development company building homes in South Queensferry.
It was a big change from school as it involved early 6am starts. Three months after that my dad had a stroke and passed away. He had no will and I had to sell his houses. I had to act as a landlord. I had no experience and there’s an emotional side to it as well.
Lots of what I do is guesswork and lots of it is about simplifying everything. It started in 2002 and the processes were quite old. I came in with a fresh point of view. I changed the branding and everything and we joined up with lots of companies like HP. We thought about what we need and how to push it forward.
We took on Andy Taylor who is the ex-manager of Simple Digital which is a competitor of Incovo. It’s common sense – if you have a problem you look for a solution.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
WE provide products and services to businesses. It can be SMEs or global enterprises. If a firm’s computer breaks we get an engineer to fix it.
We deal with printers and telecoms as well – the biggest thing for us is providing phones for call centres like Cigna is in the UK, Madrid and Dubai.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
IT isn’t industry specific. We could have a legal firm, a knowledge company, a cinema, a hotel and an engineering firm. We’re not focusing on specifics but on a telecom-wide focus on call centres because we have highly skilled engineers.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
LOADS of reasons. If you look at people who own our competitors they are in their 50s and 60s.
We are going through tech changes and I have been growing up through that. We resell products from HP, BT, etc. Customer service matters. We’ve got the ability to do stuff straight away.
Other companies have so many levels of escalation but if someone needs something we run a 24/7 helpdesk.
The team really care about customer service, that’s our focus. We’ve got more engineers and fewer sales people which is different to other companies.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
PEOPLE. Our customers and employees. We’ve got a really good team so there aren’t a massive amount of issues. There’s nothing I haven’t managed to overcome – we have overachieved on everything.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
INTERACTION with customers, employing people and giving a good image. When customers have problems we deliver solutions.
When you’re running your own business everyone is in collaboration, we all work together to help people out.
We have flexible hours and people can work from home. We’re always a step ahead. It’s all about flexibility.
IS SCOTLAND A GOOD PLACE FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS?
YES, 100%. Scotland and the UK is a thriving economy. We’ll see what happens with politics but running a business here is a really good opportunity.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
I FEEL old turning 22. Nobody knows what happens tomorrow. Incovo will be bigger in size and will continue to work with big companies. Cigna is one of the biggest companies in the world and we will continue to work with them as a goal. We have worked with Royal Bank of Scotland and Scottish Widows in the past.
We have a growing team and customers – we have a new office and in 2020 our focus is on sales and new customers.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here