H&C News meets with suppliers regularly to keep up to date with the latest product and service innovations, aiming to get the inside track on what companies offer to the market and how it is delivered.
We first met with Steve Rac, Founder and Managing Director of ARC Services (UK) Ltd at their offices in Berkshire back in October 2016 to gain a better understanding of the business and here’s the interview feature. ARC is a vendor independent, full range EPOS and IT services provider operating throughout the UK & Ireland, Europe and the Nordics.
We are now revisiting Steve and ARC Services due simply to the reaction of readers, long story short lots of readers spending lots of time reading.
Steve Rac, Founder and Managing Director of ARC Services (UK) Ltd
H&C News – In our first meeting you stated that ‘ARC was set up over a decade ago to provide a full range of EPOS and IT services to businesses operating large and widely distributed estates but who have little or no “boots on the ground” IT staff of their own’. How has that developed over the past ten years?
Steve Rac – We provide pretty much everything now from…initial site surveys through to hardware staging and configuration, cabling infrastructure installation (fixed and wireless), hardware installation, onsite support and maintenance services, line/comms provision and public/private WiFi solutions. This has developed significantly over the years as some of the largest and best known brands in Food & Beverage provision simply want a technology partner they know they can trust. They do the food and beverages and we look after the technology.
As with any partnership it is all about working with our customers and this working relationship is developed over years from results. The results stem from understanding exactly what our customers need and want and ensuring that is delivered as a minimum.
In developing that understanding it is vital that we also know what our customers customers want and need, so we try and step into their shoes. Technology is always evolving and as such we need to make sure we are fully aware of the most recent technology product and service developments.
Food and beverage outlets are everywhere and that means so are ARC Services. We work with our customers at travel hubs (motorway service stations, rail stations, airports and seaports), high streets, shopping malls and outlets, sports stadia, hotels, pubs and night clubs, restaurant chains, coffee shops, cinemas and more – “ARC is Everywhere”.
H&C News – You use the term ‘working with’ how does that service proposition translate?
Steve Rac – One very important aspect is having your customers best interests at heart and central to that is our being vendor independent. We work with our customers to provide the right solution and that requires our working without the limitation of trying to sell them a particular product or application. This means we can work with whatever the best hardware and software is to meet exactly what the customer wants. Independence also helps us to provide a complete end-to-end solution which eliminates the nightmare for customers of working with multiple suppliers to deliver a project or rollout.
We also know that our customers need flexibility – this may be the need to install out of hours or to work with landlords or other third parties such as airport/rail station authorities to gain access and work permits to service trading outlets located there. We deal with these sorts of requests every day and they are second nature to us. Our business is built on long term, mutually beneficial partnerships with our customers – a model that clearly works and one that we will continue to follow.
How do prospective customers begin the process of selecting a service partner?
They will generally already have a good idea of what they want based on either existing outlets or their vision for new outlets. The important part is selecting a service partner that can service those outlets properly in order they can do what they do in the most cost efficient and profitable way possible, be that selling coffee, jeans, cinema tickets or burgers.
This involves understanding the importance of device uptime, first time fix wherever possible and providing a service built around what the customer wants, not what the supplier wishes to sell.
All of our partnerships start with a conversation. We listen to what our customers want and we design solutions that work for them – simple but effective!
Where is the business going?
We will continue to grow the business through doing what we do best – delivering excellent customer service and continually looking for ways in which we can improve. In addition to this, we have recently set up a Network and Security Practice – ARC NetSec – to address the need within our existing and future customer base for independent network and cyber security advice and service. This is an exciting addition to our portfolio, especially with GDPR just around the corner, and is very much in line with what our customers are looking for in terms of innovation from us as their service partner of choice. You can see the range of services that we provide and also upcoming customer events that we are running by visiting arcnetsec.com
H&C News comment
We covered lots of ground with Steve and for us one thing is absolutely clear, the commitment of Steve and the team at ARC Services is total, they want customers to allow them to look after all their needs and wants. Some of what we covered was revisiting our first interview, what shone through was that their customer view and service proposition is fixed on service excellence.
Let’s start a conversation!
Contact ARC Services and one of the team will be in touch
Units 4 & 6 Carlo Court, Marino Way, Hogwood Lane Industrial Estate, Finchampstead, Berkshire, RG40 4RF
0870 066 5569
E-mail us enquiries@arcservices.co.uk
Visit our website here