Client Stories

Founded in 2007, Simplifydigital owned and operated the large and fast-growing TV, broadband and home phone comparison sales platform. The platform was used by SimplifyDigital’s own branded business and by a number of blue-chip retail clients who want to offer broadband switching to their customers.

As SimplifyDigital grew, there was increasing need for executive-level input to ensure that a range of issues like cyber-security, data protection, payment card handling, and technical hosting were appropriate, compliant, and properly managed.

SimplyDigital retained Freeman Clarke’s Paul Larner as IT Director. Paul joined SimplifyDigital just three weeks before they were scheduled to move to new offices, so his immediate focus was ensuring the move went smoothly, there was no interruption to the business, and costs were properly managed.

Paul then went on to recommend a number of changes. These plans were accepted, and Paul then led the implementation over a period of nine months. In parallel, Paul undertook a detailed review of the in-house IT team and external partners, while also getting involved in a number of tactical projects to improve sales conversion and customer service.

Dixon’s Carphone, a UK company, successfully acquired SimplifyDigital in March 2016. Paul had a major role in preparing SimplyDigital for the due diligence process and planning the expansion of the call center to prepare for increased demand.

Abbas Jeraj, SimplifyDigital’s Head of People, said:

“Paul became a key player in our IT leadership team, taking responsibility for IT operations and IT security. Paul’s experience was evident from day one, and he quickly got to grips with the urgent issues whilst developing a longer-term plan and carefully restructuring the team. This allowed us to focus on the smooth acquisition of our company by the Dixons Carphone Group. Freeman Clarke was crucial to the successful transformation of our IT.”