Bradford & District | Archive | 2006 | February | 7
From the archive, first published Tuesday 7th Feb 2006.
A company is facing a `David and Goliath' battle in the finals of UK internet industry's competition.
Exa Networks, based at Cottingley Business Park, has been shortlisted for Best Light Business Broadband provider and Best Business Internet Service Provider (ISP).
It is up against against Entranet, Pipex, UKFast and Zen Internet, all of which have multi-million pound turn-overs. Last year Exa's turnover just topped £1 million.
It's founding directors Mark Cowgill, of Skipton, and Thomas Mangin, of Thackley, worked for Legend Internet in Bradford, but broke away to form Exa Networks in 2003.
The company, which has 250,000 customers in just three years, offers home workers and businesses a one-stop shop for reliable, fast and secure internet connectivity.
Exa Networks prides itself on its work in schools, including The Girls' Grammar School, Bradford, and more than 12,000 pupils use the company's services nationwide.
It provides schools with fast internet access, e-mail access, anti-virus scanning and filtering and has also helped set up Wisden Parish Council's website and e-mail system.
Mr Cowgill, managing director, said: "We are absolutely delighted to have been nominated in these extremely prestigious categories.
"The rigorous assessment process of the 2006 Internet Service Provider Awards that selected Exa as a finalist in both categories makes them all the sweeter."
The company's 13 staff work in sales, IT support, research and development and administration. "Anyone who answers the phone can deal with pretty much every situation to a decent degree. We have no automated queuing system - a human will always answer," said Mr Cowgill.
He added: "It really is a David and Goliath situation."
Judged by a board of Government representatives and industry figures, the ISPAs have been awarded since 1999 to celebrate innovation and best practice.
The category for Best Light Business Broadband is tested on several criteria to ensure the fastest upload and download speeds and a high standard of customer care.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008