20 01732 759725 Armstrong Bell’ without the support 9 Group provided as the young company developed its telecoms services. Unconventional beginnings Copley’s own route into technology was unconventional. Before starting the business, he spent a decade touring Britain and America as the lead singer and guitarist of Stourbridge band Fretblanket, signed to PolyGram. During gaps in the band’s schedule, he learned the telecoms trade with a friend’s company, travelling around the country installing systems and cabling. The work included putting additional seasonal tills into Toys “R” Us stores before Christmas and returning in the spring to remove them. Copley says that engineering background has shaped the way he wanted his own company to operate. “As an engineer, you see the customer’s problems and their journey very clearly. I felt the important part was engaging with the customer on the day, and then over the next two or three days, making sure that they had a seamless transition. We felt we could do that part of the job better.” Anniversary celebrations Armstrong Bell will celebrate its silver anniversary at 24 Stories, on the 24th floor of 103 Colmore Row in Birmingham, close to the city’s now largely redundant BT Tower, the top of which sits almost at eye-level across the skyline from the venue. Copley remembers the tower and its microwave dishes from childhood, when his father worked in Birmingham, but today describes it as ‘a monument to a previous age’. The view neatly frames 25 years in which Armstrong Bell has moved from physically wiring businesses for communications to managing technology in the cloud and using AI to handle the conversations themselves. “I’m proud of still being here after 25 years,” explains Copley. “I think we’ve done a good job. Our customers say they enjoy doing business with us, and that’s not a given. “We’re well set for growth. We’re well set for the future. I’m really excited about what the next five years brings in IT, AI and cybersecurity, and we’ll follow what our customers need.” business technology, moving from physical installations and conventional telephone systems through hosted voice, mobile and unified communications to cloud services, managed IT and cybersecurity. Even the Armstrong Bell name was chosen with technological change in mind. When the business moved on from its original Ocean Data and Voice identity, Copley says he wanted a name that sounded established, but which wouldn’t associate the company with a technology that might quickly date. “I wanted to find a name that sounded like it had some heritage and some weight behind it, but which didn’t necessarily tie us to a particular technology. Technology changes so fast,” he says. Acquiring expertise One of Armstrong Bell’s most significant commercial moves came in 2022 with the acquisition of managed service provider Control & Shift. The deal brought an established IT helpdesk, Microsoft 365, hosting, technical expertise and additional customers into the business after Copley concluded that managed IT and cybersecurity should become a primary focus. “Rather than build that from the ground up,” he explains, “we were able to acquire the smallest viable unit of a fully functioning MSP with heritage, history, knowledge and experience, bring that in and then develop that offering within Armstrong Bell.” A subsequent partnership with global technology distributor Arrow gave Armstrong Bell a scalable platform for Microsoft, Sophos and other cloud and cybersecurity services. Enduring relationships Some of the relationships behind the business have lasted almost as long as Armstrong Bell itself. Ian ‘George’ Emmett, one of the company’s longest-serving employees, joined around 23 years ago to install systems and cabling. According to Copley, “he still treats the business like it’s his own and is irreplaceable”. Armstrong Bell’s relationship with 9 Group, now Onecom, also stretches back more than two decades. Copley has previously said there ‘wouldn’t have been an Traditional telephony accounted for around 90% of Armstrong Bell’s business as recently as 2010. Today, the Bromsgrove company supports more than 400 organisations with managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud and communications services, and is building AI voice agents capable of completing customer transactions. The contrast captures the scale of change Armstrong Bell has navigated since William Copley founded the business in 2001, when its work centred on cabling and office telephone systems. Armstrong Bell now employs around 20 people from its Greenbox headquarters, with managed IT and cybersecurity at the heart of a business that has expanded through acquisition as well as organic growth. Its latest work includes AI voice agents that can answer calls using natural speech, understand enquiries, collect information and, crucially, carry out actions within customers’ systems. “Truly useful AI still seemed like witchcraft not so long ago, and now it really is here as a reality,” explains Copley. “The most important thing is that it can take an action. If you can take an action on a website, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do it on a phone call with an AI agent. It should have exactly the same capabilities.” Rapid change Armstrong Bell has developed and grown through successive generations of Managed IT provider Armstrong Bell is still evolving after 25 years of change From phone lines to AI MSPs Armstrong Bell founder Will Copley at the MSP’s Bromsgrove HQ
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