How Astley Hire went from reactive IT firefighting to planning 18 months ahead
INDUSTRY
EMPLOYEES
18
LOCATION
Leigh, Greater Manchester
SERVICES
Managed IT Support, cloud migration, Safe Launch
Astley Hire is an industrial equipment rental company in Leigh, where IT underpins everything from taking an order to getting equipment on site. Before Focus, every IT change was reactive and last-minute, pulling leadership away from the business.
Focus used the Safe Launch process to manage a seamless transition, migrated Astley Hire’s server to the cloud, and introduced Quarterly Business Reviews. Now Martin and his team plan their IT 12 to 18 months ahead, and they’re in a far better place than they were a year ago.
IT planning horizon (was zero)
Disruption during transition
Server migration completed
Astley Hire is a fast-paced industrial equipment rental company in Leigh, where timing is everything. From the moment an order is placed to the instant the equipment arrives on site, IT is involved in every step. If systems go down, customer demands cannot be met.
Behind the scenes, IT was a constant source of stress. There was no planning, no forward thinking and no strategic oversight. Changes were made on the fly, sprung on the team at the last minute, and everyone scrambled to react.
Behind the scenes, IT was a constant source of stress. There was no planning, no forward thinking and no strategic oversight. Changes were made on the fly, sprung on the team at the last minute, and everyone scrambled to react.
IT changes were never planned. They’d get sprung on the team at the last minute, forcing everyone to react under pressure.
From order to delivery, IT underpins everything. Downtime meant failing customers, and Astley Hire couldn’t afford that risk.
There was no roadmap, no strategic thinking, and no proactive guidance on what needed to change before it became a crisis.
Time that should have been spent on customers and growth was being consumed by IT firefighting that should never have reached Martin’s desk.
Astley Hire needed a partner who could help them take back control, someone who would work with them, not just fix problems as they came up. From day one, Focus used the Safe Launch process to make the switch simple and stress-free, taking care of the entire transition.
Once in place, Focus introduced Quarterly Business Reviews: structured sessions that gave Martin clear visibility over where things stood, what was improving and what was coming next. Instead of reacting to problems, Astley Hire started planning 12 to 18 months ahead.
The standout project was the server migration. Focus’s technical team took Astley Hire off their ageing in-house server and moved them to the cloud. Martin described it as transformational: faster, more reliable, and no longer a single point of failure.
For Astley Hire, the change has been fundamental. IT is no longer something that happens to the business. It is something the business controls.
Martin no longer spends his time reacting to IT emergencies. Instead, he sits down with the Focus team every quarter, reviews where the business stands and plans what happens next. Decisions are made carefully, with time to research the best solution rather than the first one that comes to mind under pressure.
“We’re in a far better place now than we were a year ago. We’re more confident as a business now that we know we have more robust technology in place.”
Martin Doran, General Manager, Astley Hire
“The server migration where Anthony and the technical team took us off an in-house server and put us into the cloud, that’s been transformational for our business.”
Martin Doran, General Manager, Astley Hire
SUPPORT MODEL
Friendly, fast and always on the end of the phone
When you call Focus, you reach a team that knows your business, answers quickly and resolves issues without fuss.
SAFE LAUNCH
Transitions handled end to end with zero disruption
Focus manages the entire handover behind the scenes. Astley Hire’s transition caused zero disruption from day one.
QUARTERLY REVIEWS
Forward planning, not just break-fix
Regular Quarterly Business Reviews give you visibility, a clear IT plan, and the time to make the right decisions, not rushed ones.
COVERAGE
Serving Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire
Focus supports SMEs from 5 to 100 users across the North West, including equipment hire, manufacturing and professional services.
Martin Doran, General Manager of Astley Hire, explains what changed when they moved to Focus and why the server migration was transformational.
My name is Martin Doran. I’m the general manager at Astley Hire in Leigh. We are an industrial equipment rental company.
Our biggest issue before working with Focus was purely being in a reactive mode all the time. When there were IT issues, we wouldn’t really plan any IT infrastructure changes and it would get sprung on us at the last minute, and then we’re kind of reacting to whatever’s going on at that point in time.
It touches every part of our business now, from first taking the order to the equipment landing on site – IT is involved in that process. So if we have IT issues we can’t meet our customer demands and it’s as simple as that for us. We need to make sure that our systems are functioning, that our uptime is 100%, and that IT systems are doing the jobs they’re designed to do.
Focus Technology have helped us dramatically since joining the business. Now instead of looking backwards and trying to solve an issue as it comes up, we’re kind of looking forwards and looking 12 to 18 months in advance at issues that may come up, so we can put changes in place now, take our time, make the correct decision and research the best possible solution for the business – not the one that we thought of that day.
Switching over to Focus was really easy using their Safe Launch model. It ticked all the boxes we needed. We made sure we picked everything up and the transition was seamless.
When you ring the Focus team they’re always friendly when you answer the phone, which always helps. Issues normally get resolved quite fast, which makes my life a lot less stressful.
The main thing that stands out is really doing the quarterly check-ins with the Focus team and just coming in, reviewing where we’re up to as a business, looking at our IT plans and putting plans in place for future development.
We’ve done multiple projects in our IT, but the one that stands out is the server migration where Anthony and the technical team took us off an in-house server and put us into the cloud, and that’s been transformational for our business.
The full Astley Hire story: reactive IT, the switch to Focus, the server migration and the results since. Download it as a PDF to share or keep.
For an equipment hire company, IT underpins every stage of the process – from taking the order to getting equipment on site. If systems go down, customer demands cannot be met. Focus Technology Solutions helped Astley Hire in Leigh move from reactive IT firefighting to proactive planning, ensuring uptime, seamless operations, and the confidence to grow. Call Focus Technology Solutions on 01942 318 070 to discuss how managed IT support would work for your business.
Reactive IT support means you only deal with problems after they happen, often at the worst possible moment. Proactive IT support means your provider is monitoring your systems, planning changes in advance, and helping you make the right decisions – not the rushed ones. Focus Technology Solutions helped Astley Hire go from constantly firefighting to planning their IT infrastructure 12 to 18 months ahead.
A cloud server migration moves your business data and applications from an on-site physical server to a cloud-based environment. For Astley Hire, the Focus Technology Solutions technical team managed the entire migration, replacing their in-house server with a cloud setup that Martin Doran described as transformational for the business. To find out whether a cloud migration is right for your business, call Focus Technology Solutions on 01942 318 070.
Quarterly Business Reviews are structured sessions where Focus Technology Solutions sits down with you to review your current IT, look at what is working and what needs improving, and plan ahead for future development. For Astley Hire, these check-ins became the main way they shifted from reactive to proactive IT management – giving Martin and his team the visibility and confidence to make better decisions.
Yes. Focus Technology Solutions uses their Safe Launch process to manage the entire transition behind the scenes, ensuring nothing is missed and your team experiences zero disruption. Martin Doran at Astley Hire said switching over to Focus was really easy and the transition was seamless. Call Focus Technology Solutions on 01942 318 070 to talk through how it would work for your business.
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