A year of milestones. Not just for pure IT but personally too.
As pure IT enters its 20th year in business this summer, I also coincidentally turned 40. So whether the need to reflect is coming from a midlife crisis or a quarter-life moment for the business, I’ll let you decide. Either way, I’m stepping out of my comfort zone here. More of a speaker than a writer, as per the EBS podcast (here if you missed it), but 19 years of refurbishing IT feels like a moment.
The early days
Since the podcast went live, I’ve had a few surprised questions on recent calls about the rally connection. And yes, pure IT has been around for a little while, but it didn’t start there.
From about the minute I could walk I wanted to be in a car and moving to a farm as a kid didn’t exactly fix this. Quad bikes, cousins, neighbouring farm kids, always an old car to fix up and play around with. Then, as no real surprise to those around me, from my mid-teens I was set to be a full-time rally driver, which was a dream worth chasing for some years. The one I’m still quietly proud of is a win in the Czech Republic, part of the European Rally Championship.
As much as rallying was successful, there came a point – and as you can tell from the above pictures not very recently – where the side business at the time, pure IT recycling, seemed the more realistic route.
Admittedly not the most exciting swap, rally stages for pallets of second-hand computers, but some journey it’s been. Pure IT began as an IT recycling business, in a shed. With friends helping out and health & safety not really being a thing yet, it was rather maverick beginnings. But I could see the vision – and there certainly was plenty opportunity. And handling that much equipment we quickly spotted a gap in the market: so much of the kit still had years of good use left. Simply getting rid of it made no commercial sense, so refurbishing became the focus, and then it became everything.
Growing over the years
Nearly 19 years on, that’s added up to over a quarter of a million devices refurbished, an over 10,000 sq ft warehouse, a good amount of budget saved for customers, and a lot of kit kept out of landfill. I don’t often stop to take stock (of life, not the warehouse, that happens weekly to everyone’s delight of course) but not bad for something I fell into sideways, I guess.
Did I ever have a moment where I knew it would work? No. Even now it’s about twice a week I think “what am I doing”, and maybe three times a week “this is actually going to work”. The vision still outshines the worry that no doubt comes with running any business.
But to be able to keep going, is down to people choosing refurbished, and choosing pure IT, again and again. So, genuinely, thank you.
Here is to the next 20
We are now over 40 people. 30 of them in the warehouse, working to a streamlined process, unique to pure IT. We have technicians, leads, painters, Apple experts, a sales team, buyers. Finance and even marketing. And yes, health and safety has changed a fair bit since the early days, the processes are a little more strict (sorry guys!), but what hasn’t changed is the vision: too much kit is being retired early, and we have a way to extend their lives and save budget for organisations. So we’ll keep at it.
And will I ever go back to rallying? Maybe one day. Although neither my health insurance nor my family would like it much, so IT it is for a while longer yet.
Standing still has never been the plan, however. Some exciting changes are coming this year as pure IT enters a new era. There have been hints at a few in previous emails already, and maybe even in this post, but we’ve got even more up our sleeve. We think you’ll love it all and I can’t wait to show you.
Until then, thank you. I am so excited to have you as part of pure IT’s journey.
Bobby
Refurbished IT is one of the easiest ones your organisation can make – better for the planet and better for your budget. Browse our current stock and see what’s available today.
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