Liverpool IT expert and entrepreneur James Hamilton says too few businesses are geared up for ‘disaster recovery’ when fire, flood or other calamities hit their operations and their technology. Tony McDonough reports

When the phone rings late at night it is rarely good news, and so it was when James Hamilton’s mobile lit up at midnight.

James, an IT expert and founder of Liverpool-based IT venture Halcyon, was told by the frantic owner of Sovereign Transport, a logistics business based in Knowsley, that the company’s office was on fire.

Sovereign is one of Liverpool city region’s best-known logistics and haulage ventures. Founded by Steve Radcliffe with just one vehicle it now has more than 100, making ‘just in time’ deliveries across the UK for multiple clients.

Logistics is now heavily dependent on technology. Most companies the size of Sovereign have sophisticated systems to make sure it gets stuff to where it should be, on time and in the most cost-effective way.

An electrical fault in Sovereign’s head office had caused a fire which had engulfed the premises and the valuable computer hardware inside.

“I was woken up at midnight to tell me their office was on fire,” said James.

“We have a full disaster recovery policy that our clients get as standard. It lays out what we do and how we do it and it is bespoke for each client.”

Despite having had no sleep himself at that point, James immediately swung into action. By 2.30 am he had cleared a room in Halcyon’s city centre headquarters and had set up a shadow office with desks for Sovereign staff.

At 5am another Halcyon team member arrived to instal a full IT suite with phones and computers, all connected to the company’s systems. This meant that a proportion of staff from Sovereign were able to begin work as usual at 7am and keep business moving.

While that work was going on, James personally drove out to Sovereign in Knowsley in an attempt to rescue their computer servers. He explained: “They had suffered both fire and water damage and we had to try to recover the data.

“When Sovereign’s team came into our office they were able to log on as normal. They handled almost 1,300 calls from customers that day and not a single vehicle was taken off the road. It was a fantastic example of resilience and planning by both ourselves and by Sovereign.”

By that time, of course, the normal working day had started for James and his team and the drama wasn’t over. By lunchtime, James was on his way to another client where a vital IT cable had been severed.

“There are hardly any businesses now that don’t depend on digital technology in one way or another. From your phone, to your emails, delivery notes etc,” added James.

“Too many companies don’t have a proper recovery plan in place. A lot of IT companies will back up their clients’ data. And that is fine but knowing the data is safe, and being able to access it and use it, are two different things.

“Even if everything is backed up and working, how long will it take to get it back on a laptop and get your business back up and running? Where are all the passwords? We have an office and hardware ready and waiting to help with disaster recovery processes.

“In the case of a fire or a flood each disaster is specific to the client. We have enough stock, including servers, computers and telephone handsets, to have a minimum of five of their staff work from one of our offices.

“When Sovereign staff came into our space they were able to log on straight away as if they were sitting in their own office. Very few IT firms can provide that. We really do go the extra mile for our clients and we believe it makes a huge difference.”

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Managing director at Sovereign Transport, Adam Radcliffe, said: “I really can’t thank James and the team at Halcyon enough. There is perhaps no more devastating disruption to a business than a fire.

“The potential financial and operational implications of a fire are truly catastrophic, but with quick thinking and fast action from James and his team, we were very lucky to be able to mitigate any long term disruption or lasting implications.

“Not only did Halcyon provide us with the help we needed when we needed it, but the experience has really given us, and me personally, welcome peace of mind.”