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Hello.  My name is Angela John, I live in Southam and am a Town/Parish Councillor for Southam Town.

I worked in the IT department at Warwickshire County Council for over 30 years, so have a good knowledge and understanding of technology.  But technology is fast-moving and changes so rapidly that unless you are in it every day, you can be left behind by the speed of that change!

As I always had access to work devices and support, I never really paid much attention to the technology at home. I didn’t invest in updating or upgrading as much as I should as there was no real need. When I was elected to Southam Town Council, most of the meetings were face-to-face. But when the pandemic hit we were suddenly forced to use remote platforms for meetings of the various committees and working parties.  My home technology wasn’t going to present a professional or reliable platform for Council work.

So, I called Gary at Cool Breeze. He knew my situation, assessed what needed doing and suggested, as an immediate solution that he lend me a laptop so that I could start using Zoom and Teams for my Council meetings (instead of my phone).  I was immediately equipped with the technology to allow me to get on with my job.

But I needed my own laptop so again I asked Gary if he could help. He quickly managed to source a Dell (I had used these at work so was very familiar with them) at a really good price, set it up, installed it within a very short space of time and with little interruption to my work.

I had very little knowledge about OneDrive and what it could do and Gary helped me with a tutorial, enabling me to keep files and documents organised and safe. He has been there for me at every stage and is always on hand for help and advice.

Gary goes over and above to help.  He has given our Town Clerk advice and support on our social media (that we are not very good at). I do hope that the opportunity will arise for us to use him in the future to help the Town Council as he makes it his job to find out about how we need to use technology so that he can always advise us appropriately.

Gary puts you at ease and explains things clearly and simply. He is never patronising. I have introduced him to a couple of my friends, and they have been really happy with his service. Gary’s customer care is second to none.

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Schools have been keen that every child is supported to learn at home and that they do not feel excluded or isolated by not having access to the technology that helps this to happen.

When Gary Harvey heard that there weren’t enough laptops for every child, he decided to do something about it. He asked his customers and local community if they had any devices that they no longer used and would be happy to donate.  He expected to have a few.  But the response has been so overwhelming that Gary now has over 170 laptops and other devices that he is now cleaning of data and reconfiguring with the latest Window or IOS Software.  Then they are ready to go.  To the people that most need it – our children.

This is a story that connects people in so many ways.  One story in particular was from one of Garys’ customers.  He had looked after this particular couple, David and Theresa for over 5 years, but very sadly Theresa died in March last year. Her husband David donated her laptop, so that Gary could reconfigure and update it.  The laptop was to go to Clapham Terrace school in Leamington.  When he dropped it off at the school and was talking to the them about who the laptop had belonged to, it emerged that they knew Theresa and that she had worked there for 30 years before her retirement. Serendipity!

Julie Miles, the Headteacher at Clapham said:

‘you are a great example of community spirit we seek to foster at Clapham Terrace. Your generosity helps to illustrate to our children the real benefits to them and their peers that consideration for others can bring.  Having a tangible example such as this to point to when discussing looking after one another will be an additional benefit of your extremely generous donation’

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Mark Griffin – MAG Consultancy and Binswood Media

I am Mark and I have been running my own business, MAG Consultancy for about five years.  Three years ago, I also set up Binswood Media under which I have set up a Business-to-Business trade event called Innovation, Technology and Transport (ITT Hub) for the logistics sector – bus, logistics, trucks etc.  This event that will take place over two days in June/July in Farnborough, and  it will bring together a range of innovative companies to share ideas and plan strategies for the de-carbonisation of transport and how we can achieve Net-Zero together.  This B2B event is one of the first of its kind in the UK and our team is very proud to be part of its creation.   

Technology is so critical in my business and to the work that I do. I have to be confident that my IT is working as it should, is safe and secure and that when I need help it is quickly and efficiently on hand. I don’t have a large company with lots of employees any longer, or an IT department that could, at the drop of a hat, be called on to sort things out for me. You don’t realise sometimes how much you miss something when it is no longer around!! 

Gary Harvey was introduced to me by a mutual colleague as a specialist support for IT. And more specifically he had the skills needed to help with a small business like mine. I use Gary as and when I need help with my IT – so sort of Pay as You Go! He turns up when he says he will, gets to the heart of the problem very quickly, is honest about what he can and can’t do and will normally sort things out with the minimum of fuss and time spent.  He explains things clearly and gets me back up and running in the shortest possible time.

Over the three years that I have used Cool Breeze, Gary has helped me with a whole range of IT issues.  Making sure my home technology is as efficient, reliable and safe as possible to enable me to run my business from home. So, for example setting up new laptops, updating licences, transferring data to the cloud etc.  Recently when our broadband needed upgrading Gary advised us on the best one for our purposes, made us more efficient and had it all sorted out very quickly.

Having Gary on my ‘team’ as and when I need it means that I spend the minimum amount of time trying to sort things out myself.  And it saves me time and money meaning I can get back to the job of running my business with little or no down time. I am Head of IT in my business but I just delegate the job to Cool Breeze!!

I have recommended him to so many other people because I have faith in his ability to do a great job, But crucially, he is just a thoroughly nice guy and it’s clear that he loves his job and loves helping people.  I don’t think that there is anything I could suggest he does differently.  Getting a supplier of any description – whether a plumber or a decorator – can be hard.  You want be people to be honest, trustworthy and reliable.  Gary has this is spade loads!  Giving someone access to your IT means that they have access to some fairly confidential information so having someone that you trust is so important and gives you peace of mind.

I have every intention of continuing to use Cool Breeze in the future – Gary is one of my ‘essential’ support services that helps to keep my business on track and productive.  

February 2021

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