PICTURE CAPTION: Nicole Markham

A telesales agency has embraced work from home culture by moving out of its Birmingham offices and transitioned to home working as it gears up for a year of significant growth.

Sales Bond is an independent telesales company which specialises in lead generation and until recently had offices in Edgbaston.

The company still holds a registered head office in Cheshire but has now moved all telesales agents to permanently working from home.

Sales Bond was set up in 2017 by managing director Nicole Markham, who has been working closely with Midlands-based accountancy firm Burgis & Bullock, which has offices in Leamington, Nuneaton, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon, to develop the business.

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Prior to the pandemic the company was on course for 270 per cent growth in revenues and while the firm didn’t hit this target it is now back on its growth trajectory.

Sales Bond suspended 95 per cent of its client’s campaigns from March to August, furloughing all employees apart from managing director Nicole.

The firm has enjoyed a business boosting September and October, successfully brought its entire staff back from furlough and is emerging from the initial five months of business downturn in as strong as a position as at the beginning of 2020.

Nicole said: “Despite a difficult few months as a business we are still growing and with the country embracing remote working it has transformed our operations.

“We had been looking at expanding our office premises pre-lockdown, however now all of our agents are working remotely and we only go into the offices in Chester if a face-to-face meeting is required.

“It has completely changed how we recruit and now our IT systems are even more robust and agile than before.

“I’ve been working closely with Burgis & Bullock over the last eight months and they have kept me proactively informed with what I can and can’t do regarding furlough.

“As a company they embrace technology and have introduced me to Fluidly to keep my credit control tighter and sharper. While Sean Farnell has been a great support with practical, no jargon advice.

“In telesales if you’re profitable for your customers then your business will keep growing, we’re proud to be delivering results for our clients and I’m delighted that we are back on track.

Sales Bond started working with Burgis & Bullock in July 2018. The accountancy firm provides a full service for the company including compliance, accounts, tax, VAT and pay roll.

Sean Farnell, partner at Burgis & Bullock, added: “We have a good working relationship with the team at Sales Bond and look forward to continuing to work with Nicole as she drives the expansion of her business.

“It has been a difficult year for businesses across a wide range of industries and telesales is no different. But Nicole has been composed in her response to the crisis, taken advice on board and is now in a strong position to continue with growing the business.”

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