Chris Wyman, Sales Director

1^st April 2020:  we are in a worldwide pandemic, we are working from home, at the beginning of what will turn out to be a 3-month lockdown (and the first of 3 lockdowns!) – Safe to say, not quite the way we envisioned starting our new financial year.

FY20 was set to be a big year for us, we were nearing completion on a 2-year project; the build, fitting and move to our new office. Scheduled for opening on 1^st May, we were excited to have an office that was built for purpose; a professional place to welcome our customers and partners to. All at once, work had to stop, with no indication on when it would be able to restart. This was a blow to us, but of course we were being faced with such uncertainties and fear around health and futures, that we humbly accepted it.

As a company, we have always enjoyed being in the office and we find the buzz and environment benefits us. Working from home was new to many of our team and something we had to learn to adapt to, and quickly. It was important our teams had what they needed to be able to do their jobs, but it was very important to keep people in touch too. We started a companywide Whatsapp chat and weekly quizzes, it gave us all a chance to catch up with one another and try to replicate the team feel. It was also a chance to make sure everyone was feeling okay within themselves, lockdown was a very lonely, scary time for many and we care about our staff’s wellbeing.

Internally, we quickly found our feet and adjusted to the new way of working however we were impacted by external issues. Due to lockdown and the mandatory shift from office to home working, the demand for laptops and accessories such as headsets and web cams, had increased to the point where it became impossible to source any, and on the rare occasion stock did become available, it was snapped up immediately. This was a result of many manufacturing plants being closed due to Covid. Shipping had also been affected with many countries closing their borders and export/import became very difficult. We would continue to feel these constraints through the year, in varying product categories.

As summer came and lockdown started to ease, we completed our office move! We couldn’t wait to welcome everyone to the office! Following government guidance and social distancing rules, we started a phased return. The atmosphere was great, and everyone loved the new office and being back together.

Also, in June, we had a full rebrand, including name change, becoming AMC-IT Solutions. Having grown our technical team and solutions side of the business, our original name, AMC Computer Supplies no longer reflected who we are. With a new brand came a new website, which went live early July.

We progressed over the summer months, finding ourselves a ‘new normal’ whilst Covid appeared to be under control. As September came, it was becoming apparent that the UK was not out of the woods, and it wasn’t long before we returned to home working, with Lockdown 2.0 to follow.

Towards the end of the year, we were preparing for a new challenge, Brexit. This meant reviewing our processes and understanding how Brexit could impact them. It was key to us that we continued to deliver the same level of service to our customers and resolve any problems that Brexit could potentially cause.

As we went into the new year, another lockdown and once again, working from home.

Personally, I am so proud of the individuals we have here at AMC and their resilience over the last year. It’s been inspiring to see everyone come together as a team and push through such hard personal times. We go into our FY21 with the hope of a full return to the office on 21^st June (government roadmap depending).

What has felt at times to be a very long year, reflecting on it, it’s hard to believe we’re now heading into FY21.

With a number of new projects already in scope, we are excited to see what FY21 has to hold – Watch this space!