2023, The Year of Big Wins

What a year it's been! From a fresh new rebrand and multiple award wins, to new partnerships and tender successes, we’ve certainly had a year to remember here at boxxe. All the while continuing to nurture great relationships with our customers, so we can deliver the best solutions for every one of them, every time. What better way to celebrate than a roundup of the brightest, biggest and best boxxe experiences from 2023?

Drum roll please… In June we dropped our boxxe brand refresh!  And unveiled our new mission: to make tech human.  Why? Because our market research uncovered a lack of customer centricity in the tech market, and overall low customer satisfaction. 

We want to change that.

With a renewed focus on putting people first, we’ve bagged some incredible awards and serious recognition of the commitment we’ve made to care for our customers, our people and our planet:

• CRN’s Channel Awards 2023 – Public Sector VAR of the Year – with the tech industry experiencing exponential growth, we’re delighted to stand loud and proud as a human-centric organisation – committed to setting the industry standard and making life better with tech.

• Dell Technologies Partner Awards 2023 –Services Partner of the Year and Sales Person of the Year, Tarah Mason – the awards recognise our capability in supporting Dell Technologies across their whole portfolio. 

• VMWare Partner Awards 2023 – Power of Partnership award – presented by Dell Technologies. We are so incredibly proud of our boxxers, who truly deserve this win!

• Bitdefender – Partner of the Year – the award recognised our multiple contract wins with our customers and how we successfully adopted Bitdefender into Endpoint opportunities.

• Verkada – Emerging Partner of the Year – the award celebrates our commitment to providing our customers with the most advanced and comprehensive physical security solutions with Verkada’s help.

• CRN Women & Diversity in Channel Awards – Sales Employee of the Year, Unsung Hero and Mental Health Champion of the Year – not one, not two, but three of our amazing colleagues were shortlisted in recognition of their positive contributions to health, wellbeing and DEI, not solely as women in the tech industry, but as leaders and changemakers in their own right.

Our boxxers have been working behind the scenes to make some partner magic!

We’ve been busy developing our partner relationships and improved our statuses:

1. Citrix Platinum Partner

2. Palo Alto Networks Platinum Partner

3. Fortinet Advanced Partner

4. Cisco Sustainability Specialist and Security Sales Specialist

5. And we also reached Zoom’s Performance Level

We’re also delighted to have onboard new innovative tech partners, which include;

Vonage – providers of UCaaS and CCaaS solutions which will help businesses to embrace cloud communications ahead of The Big Switch Off – the pivotal moment in December 2025 where analogue telephone systems will become obsolete as all companies switch to cloud based systems.

NetClean – the only developer of technical solutions which protects both private and public customers against those who obtain and view Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in the workplace.  We all have a social, corporate and legal responsibility to detect, block access to and report CSAM swiftly, which is why we’re really proud to partner with NetClean to offer you another critical weapon in your organisation's security arsenal.

Plus, many more… 

In a rapidly changing tech environment, keeping abreast of the latest tech trends, advancements and challenges allows us to continue delivering the right solutions for you and your business.  We’ve attended:     

• VMWare Explore – their flagship event for all things multi-cloud: facilitating new relationships, inspiring learning, and providing hands-on training and access to thought leadership in the multi-cloud space. Plus, we hosted our own incredible customer party, with requests for the same next year. Win!

• Dell Technologies UDS Partner Summit - the focus buzzed around Generative AI and its pivotal role in catalysing exponential data growth, sparking discussions on its transformative potential to innovate and reshape businesses.

• Microsoft Envision - Thanks to insights from Clare Barclay, Judson Althoff, Satya Nadella, and Steven Bartlett, our team gained valuable knowledge on leveraging GenAI and Microsoft's Co-Pilots, ensuring we provide top-notch technology to our customers!

• Cisco Partner Summit - we joined Cisco's executive leadership team and top global partners in Miami Beach for more innovation, more collaboration and uncover new ways to do business, solving challenges together, helping customers succeed in new ways, and changing the world for the better.

• Canalys Forum - joined to catch up on the latest industry news, forecasts, and strategies. The hot topics of discussion revolved around Security, Cloud, with the standout themes being AI and ESG.

We’ve also met you around the country;

• Scot Secure – where our team shared the latest developments in Cyber security with attendees.

• Excellence in Healthcare – we teamed up with Cisco/Meraki to bring together Senior Leaders and Decision Makers to network, share, engage, and learn from each other.

• Convenzis In Patient Flow Conference South – we teamed up with Zoom and James Irving, meeting healthcare customers and chatting about some exciting tech projects. 

• Convenzis NHS Virtual Wards Conference North – we had the chance to demonstrate how technology can be seamlessly woven throughout an NHS Trust to provide a stronger patient experience.

• Defence, Procurement, Research. Technology & Exportability (DPRTE) – we connected with customers from across the defence procurement and supply chain and showcased our partnership opportunities. 

• York Sustainability Week 2023 – our boxxers got to talk with local organisations around their sustainability journeys, and network with other committed businesses who are striving for a greener future.

• Excellence in Blue Light – we gathered with leaders from Police, Fire & Rescue Services, and Ambulance Trusts to brainstorm ways to make public services even better through innovation and teamwork.

• Digit Expo – we had the perfect opportunity to connect with potential new corporate customers at Scotland's largest enterprise tech event.

• Women Empowering Defence – having served the defence sector for 30 years we were delighted to support the organisation they work towards creating an inclusive environment for all.

• Dell Tech Forum – from connecting with partners and customers to listening to inspiring keynotes, leaving a lasting impact on attendees, plus F1 McLaren memorabilia - a day to remember. 

It's been a great way to meet so many of you too, putting faces to those we work alongside and getting to know more about who you are, what you need and what makes you tick – so we can help and support you at work in the best way possible.

We brought together leading technology vendors and business decision makers from some of our largest Public and Corporate sector customers, to build and strengthen relationships, generate meaningful business opportunities, and discuss how we can all do more, with less.  

Our awesome keynote speaker, Preet Chandi, took the stage and wowed us with tales of her epic solo journey to the South Pole, breaking world records along the way.

A massive shout out to our boxxers whose hard work and dedication allowed us to make boxxe Pulse an epic success. 

We’d like to take a moment to shout about three incredible tenders wins. The process of bidding for tenders is long, complex and challenging but thanks to the tenacity of our bid teams, we successfully renewed our ISO accreditations and went on to win:

1. A place on all 8 Lots of the TePAS2 – as suppliers for the Crown Commercial Service’s new Framework for Technology Products and Associated Services (one of only seven suppliers to achieve this)

2. A place on the Servers, Storage & Solutions National Agreement (SSSNA) framework – as trusted providers of hardware solutions to Higher Education institutions. 

3. A place on the Cloud Compute 2 framework with CCS – as suppliers of all core cloud computing services for all central government and wider public sector organisations.

In February we launched our boxxe shop to make buying easier with self-serve features including: 24/7 access account, next day delivery and quality products from our key partners.​

As a human-centric organisation, going above and beyond is what we do, whether that’s for our customers, partners, community or planet. 

We made tech human for many organisations, from setting up IT Infrastructure and configuring tech solutions in new store launches, future-proofing data by migrating to a cloud based Infrastructure, to installing cloud-based, IoT CCTV cameras. Throughout extensive project timelines, our unwavering support, reaffirms our commitment to delivering tech that speaks human.

We volunteered an incredible 2,700 hours to our communities this year…

• In honour of Stress Awareness Month, we held a month-long campaign in April, sharing tips and tricks on how to improve your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.  This drove the launch of a company wide Wellbeing Hour every month.

• Our boxxers came together with the spirit of community and did their part to keep Bridlington Beach beautiful and clean.

• We gathered food donations for the York Food Back to give a helping hand to those in need.

• We hosted 15 students at Artemis House in partnership with Career Ready, all about getting 'Interview Ready'.  We shared our expertise and gave them practical tips and guidance on how to ace those interviews.

• Throughout November we walked, ran and jogged in memory of our colleague James Eaglen, raising £1,200 to support the groundbreaking research and care provided by Bowel Cancer UK.

• ‘What the tech?’  A couple of our boxxers delivered a workshop at Acomb Explore library to develop the community’s technical knowledge and boost their confidence in the online world.

• With our longstanding partnership with York Cares, we’ve been creating transformational change in our local community and green spaces.

• We also raised over £6,000 in the Dell Challenge for The Brain Tumour Charity and Bowel Cancer UK.

• Amanda, our Partner Technology Manager has completed 60 hours of community work this year with local charities.

It’s been a fantastic year thanks to our renewed focus on making tech human; contributing to the community, recognising and celebrating those making a positive impact and setting the standards for how tech transformations should be done – with your needs in mind.