Salcombe Distilling Company (SDCo) is an award-winning distillery which specialises in ultra-premium spirits as well as outstanding customer experiences. SDCo has four sites across the South Hams; a Distillery with a Gin & Rum School and bar onsite, plus retail venues in both Salcombe and Dartmouth along with head office and a separate warehousing and distribution facility located in Kingsbridge.

Founded in 2016, SDCo has grown exponentially, winning numerous international awards, taking on over 30 staff, exporting internationally and welcoming thousands of guests to their customer experiences and events.

Salcombe Distilling Company and IT Workhouse began their partnership in 2018. With only a handful of staff and two sites, SDCo had no support function but had plans to rapidly expand and needed to ensure IT was factored in as a key component of that growth.

The business operated with a single Wi-Fi connection per site and one laptop per staff member.

After meeting with Howard and Angus (Directors & Co-Founders) to align our strategy, IT Workhouse quickly assumed the role of IT department to help facilitate growth and manage staff onboarding.

We introduced Support to all staff for their IT issues as well as implementing key security protocols for the long term, extending file sharing capabilities and upgrading and maintaining devices.

We focussed on a cloud first technical approach to ensure that we were fully equipped to deal quickly with organisational change.

Over the past five years SDCo has doubled its head count and premises. IT Workhouse has served as a constant Support resource, streamlining internal processes and introducing key information security management systems such as two factor authentication, password management and legislative compliance.

Alongside maintaining an umbrella of security, we create and distribute snapshot training to increase awareness at every level of the business. We seek to continuously improve our offering and have evolved alongside SDCo’s changing team and premises with efficiency at the forefront of everything we do.

By integrating into the business we have ensured that all staff feel that they can access our support immediately to troubleshoot any IT issues. Our fast and honest approach means we solve the majority of small queries before they become big problems.

A private residence nestled in the heart of the South Hams, offering stunning views of the surronding countryside.

In addition to farming, the owners also provide holiday accommodation, generate renewable energy and work remotely on business and educational charity interests.

The property hosted two weak broadband lines, which consisently failed and frequently left the property with no connection for days on end. Due to the thick stone walls in all the buildings onsite, the 5Mbps was virtually unusable even a small distance from the router.

None of the farm or ancillary buildings were connected to the internet so there were no smart controls or means to monitor or update equipment.

IT Workhouse conducted an extensive site survey before creating network designs to incorporate the complex needs of each building.

Multiple network tests were completed, ensuring full coverage was achieved. It was decided that a leased line would be the most effective installation for the site.

The effects of the leased line have been transformative. The whole property now has dedicated super-fast fibreoptic broadband, meaning that guests can move between buildings without any network interruption.

IT Workhouse provided a bespoke installation to suit the needs of the very old buildings onsite, ensuring that the results were tidy, unobtrusive and effective.