A year of milestones. Not just for pure IT but personally too.
As pure IT enters its 20th year in business, I also 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 (link), but 19 years of refurbishing IT feels like a moment.
Table of Contents
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 one, and moving to a farm as a kid didn’t exactly cure it. Quad bikes, cousins, neighbouring farm kids, always an old car to fix up and thrash about in. It went a bit further than that in the end. From my mid-teens I was set to be a full-time rally driver. he one I’m still quietly proud of is a win in the Czech Republic, part of the European Rally Championship. As much as it was successful, there came a point – and as you can tell from the above picture, they are not very recent – 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, you couldn’t ignore it: so much of the kit still had years of good use left. Retiring it early made no 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 I think “this is actually going to work”. But as we know, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
And 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
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.
That said, standing still has never been the plan. 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, but we’ve got more up our sleeve. We think you’ll love it all.
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.
Contact us today and we’ll be delighted to help. And for more info and insights from pure IT, scroll down to sign up to The Byte, our biweekly newsletter.
