Category: News & Team

A chat with Craig, our Systems Administrator

A chat with Craig, our systems admin

In continuation of our Meet The Team blog series, we are excited to introduce you to Craig. Craig is the newest member of the team here at The Unite Group having started working with us just a few weeks ago. Craig has settled into our team greatly and always brings a sense of positivity to the office!

We recently had a chat with him to find out a bit more about Craig and the role he will be undertaking here at The Unite Group…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

Growing up, I always wanted to be a soldier. I spent 4 years in the South African Defense Force as an operational medic. I thoroughly enjoyed serving my country, and I am very proud of this.

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

My role here at The Unite Group is a Systems Administrator, it’s a new role but I have worked in IT for almost 30 years now.

I started in sales at an IT retailer after leaving the military. From there I quickly progressed to completing my MCSE on Windows NT, and joined Siemens as a network administrator. I then worked in Saudi Arabia for ARAMCO oil company supporting their knowledge management system. Thereafter, I worked in Botswana for their largest mining contractor as their general manager. We mined Nicol 24/7 and we also built asphalt roads for the government. Back in 2018, I emigrated from South Africa to the United Kingdom with my wife and son.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the United Kingdom, and I am overjoyed to be working with such a brilliant team here at The Unite Group. I also enjoy working with people, and I enjoy working in a team. As a team, we are always on hand to jump on and help one another when needed! I also take great pride in providing solutions to make our customers’ lives easier.

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

My typical day is busy and we always start off with a laugh and a cup of coffee. My main role is to work closely with Mike and Dean on researching and planning projects for our customers. Alongside this, I offer tech support and help wherever I can. I am also working on some very interesting projects, and I want to see our customers pleased with the outstanding service we offer.

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of the job has got to be working with people, supplying solutions to customers, and keeping my brain active. I can’t say I have any negatives. I always try to be positive about everything in life.

What is your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement is stopping smoking cigarettes after 35 years, stopping alcohol, and losing 50 pounds by going back to the gym 6 days a week. I am fit now and have never felt better in my life. This has helped tremendously with focusing, and just being accepted into The Unite Group is a massive achievement.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

The greatest piece of advice I have ever been given is to “never burn your bridges”.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

In 10 years time, I see myself as a success contributing to the success of this company and my team. I want The Unite Group to be successful, and I want to be part of that.

How do you unwind outside of work?

Outside of work, I like to go fishing, you can often find me at some of our beautiful locations like Derwent Reservoir. Also, I enjoy exploring, and being new to the North East there are so many wonderful places to explore, I have not even seen a fraction of them.

If you would like to learn more about how Craig and The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on, 0191 466 1050.

September 13, 2022
A chat with Dean, our Sales and Finance Director

Dean, our Sales & Finance director.

Following on in our meet the team series, we introduce you to Dean. Dean is one of our Sales and Finance Directors here at The Unite Group. He mostly focuses on the finance side of the business.

We recently had a chat with him to find out a bit more about him and his role…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

When I was young, my dream job was to join the Royal Airforce and become a Royal Airforce Pilot. Pilots need to be able to make quick decisions based on reasoning. A skill which I suppose is serving me well in my current role.

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

I am one of the directors within the Unite Group I deal with IT, sales and Finances. From previous roles, I have gained experience both in sales roles and technical roles. So, technical sales just make sense. I love working with numbers and data and so taking on the role of managing the group’s finances is purely because I enjoy it. My role means I work closely with Lorraine on a lot of projects.

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

There is no typical day for me. There are so many things that I deal with on a day-to-day basis. Some days I can be working on sales quotes and completing the onboarding of a new client. On other days I can be right in the middle of a technical job. There are days when I just deal with the data and numbers. There are days when I can be doing all of these jobs within one day. I just do whatever needs to be done at any given time.

What is your most and least favourite part of the Sales & Finance directors job?

Currently, the least favourite part of my job is dealing with supply chain issues. Due to various issues over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a global shortage of materials needed to manufacture devices we typically supply to our customers.

What is your greatest achievement?

Aside from being a part of building a business group to be proud of, my 3 children are my greatest achievement in life.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Don’t be the cheapest, be the best instead. To me, this is ensuring that customers get value for the money they pay. It’s about being customer focused and realizing that there is no point in being the most expensive or the cheapest in the business if what you are providing isn’t worth it.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

Doing what I’m doing now, hopefully in a larger capacity as the group grows.

How do you unwind outside of work?

I have 3 kids, varied in ages and interests. I enjoy spending time with them but there is no unwinding. I’m not even sure what that word means. However, on extremely rare occasions when I am not working or running around after kids, I do enjoy gaming.

To arrange a chat with Dean, or if you want to see how The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on 0191 466 1050.

September 6, 2022
August 2022 – Newsletter

It’s that time of the month again! Our newsletter has arrived! Here at The Unite Group we love to keep our customers up to date with the latest deals, tips, industry news as well as what our fantastic team are getting up to! Read our August issue to see what we have got up to in the past month!

In this newsletter: We wish good luck to Team Unite taking on the Great North Run, we congratulate Rob for qualifying as a Cyber Essentials Assessor, we share a client spotlight on NPS, prepare for the next Network+ event & share how our Social+ team can take your digital marketing to new heights!

To read The Unite Group’s August Monthly Newsletter, click on the image below!

To be added to our mailing list drop us an email, info@theunitegroup.co.uk or to speak to our friendly team call us on, 0191 466 1050

August 23, 2022
A chat with Rob, one of our Senior Service Engineers

Rob, one of our Senior Service Engineers

Continuing on with introducing you to the team that make up The Unite Group. Next up we introduce Rob. We recently had a chat with Rob about his role…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

I always knew I would work in something Technology related, my family on my fathers side have been engineers or similar going back at least five generations. For about a decade I thought I would likely work in the AV field, and did a fair amount of work doing lighting or sound, starting at a youth theatre, and continuing into working in bars and clubs.

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

At The Unite Group I am a Senior Service Engineer. In my role, I mostly work on projects. I started with Unite as an Apprentice, shadowing another engineer for a bit, and then working on the Helpdesk. Since then as the company has grown I have completed various qualifications to get to my role within the company.

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

Most days start with checking the health of a few services that I manage. I’ll run though any alerts that have been generated overnight, I’ll then create support tickets for anything that requires further looking into. I also run a few health tests on demo networks that we have at the office.

From there I then move onto emails. After which it really changes on a day to day basis. I mostly work on projects and installs now. So off to client sites for installs, or planning work.

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of the job has got to be the process of taking apart and re-building a system to trace down a particular fault. I’ll normally do this when there is an actual ongoing issue that needs resolved, but this can also be done when we’re onboarding a new client with limited documentation, to make sure that we can fully understand any issues that might come up.

My least favourite part of my job would be all the paperwork around the jobs. When I worked at the NHS many years ago, one of the medical leads often said “midwife means with wife, not with computer” and I can now relate.

What is your greatest achievement?

I’m very happy how I left a small theatre I volunteered at. When I started, the entire society had a budget of around £300, and about 5 working lights. It was always a fun challenge to get a production on with what we had available.

Over the next 4 years myself, and a new committee managed to improve the situation somewhat. I took over as head of the technical side of the theatre, and managed to build up that side of things, training up new technicians, and managing shows on a weekly basis.

By the time I left the society had working lights, sound system, and a budget plan for fixes and replacement going out for a decade.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

If you can’t explain it you don’t understand it. I always try to understand something well enough to be able to explain it simply to someone else. Often this is reduced to explain to a five year old, which while entertaining may take quite a long time.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

In 10 years time, I can see my role getting a bit more specialised within The Unite Group. I’ve already started working on some more niche things and I hope to grow into more of these. One of the areas I am currently expanding my knowledge into is Cyber Essentials. I am looking forward to seeing where this takes my role within The Unite Group. As well as what opportunities it will offer to our customers to protect their organisations further against possible cyber attacks.

How do you unwind outside of work?

When left to my own devices there is nothing nicer than a glass of whisky and a good book.

Want to learn more about how Rob and The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on, 0191 466 1050.

August 12, 2022
A chat with Callum, our Operations Director

Callum, our Operations Director

Next up in our meet the team series we introduce Callum, our Operations Manager. We recently had a chat with him to find out a bit more about what he does within the Unite Group…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

Growing up, I always wanted to be an astronaut!

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

My role here at The Unite Group is as the Operations Director. This role involves managing the help desk, coordinating the projects, employee well-being and technical support on all things telecommunications related. Being at Unite with Paul from the start, I came into this role as the company grew and we gained 2 more directors. This felt the best suitable role for me to really utilise my skillset and experience (I’ve been in this industry for 20 years!)

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

My typical day consists of lots of coffee, emails, and coordinating the engineers and helpdesk guys as well as planning projects. So my days are often very busy!

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of the job has got to be seeing projects complete smoothly, it’s always great to see when we are able to help our customers seamlessly. Also seeing customer issues being fixed and getting great feedback about our team is always great!

My least favourite part of the job however has to be delays due to unforeseen issues and the lack of available hardware to complete work as it is still an ongoing problem. These issues take matters out of our hands and can make it a bit harder for us to fix our customer’s problems. However, here at The Unite Group, we will always do our utmost to ensure our customers are back online and working without any problems as soon as possible.

What is your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement has got to be landing a plane for the first time when learning to fly. I was in the RAF from 1989 through to 2000, I wasn’t a pilot in the RAF I just fancied giving it a go, great fun taking off after getting the go-ahead from the tower, not much happens in the sky but landing is scary and a massive relief once you are down.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Never give up and stay positive.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

In 10 years time I’d like to hope I’ll be in the same role but with a reduced working week and more free time to enjoy life and chill out more, might even take up golf!

How do you unwind outside of work?

Outside of work, I enjoy socialising with my friends. You can also often find me playing random sports (badly) and listening to music. I love to attend concerts when I can. Currently, outside of work, you will find me training for the Great North Run. I am taking part alongside Paul & Ben raising money for a fantastic local charity Grace House! This will be my 10th time doing the run and I hope to beat Ben (A chat with Ben, one of our Senior Service Engineers) again this year 😊. If you’d like to sponsor us, it would definitely help us make it round, please find our fundraising page here. Cycling the Great North Bike Ride again and also cycling to Edinburgh later this year following the coast and castle and pubs route.

If you want to see how Callum and The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on, 0191 466 1050.

August 5, 2022
A chat with Ben, one of our Senior Service Engineers

Ben, one of our Senior Service Engineers

Next up in our meet the team series we introduce Ben, one of our Senior Service Engineers. Ben has been with us from starting as an apprentice and is an extremely valued member of our team. We recently had a chat with him…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I realised in 6^th form that I wanted to look to work in a trade. So I spent time researching which industry I wanted to work in. That’s when the opportunity to do my apprenticeship with Unite came up it seemed the perfect route.

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

I am a Senior Technician at The Unite Group. Starting at Unite as an apprentice, Unite provided me with all the training and support to get me to where I am now. I was lucky to join the business very early on which has given me a lot of experience in the industry. This has also allowed me to be a big part of the growth in the company.

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

There isn’t a typical day, every day brings different experiences and challenges. My time is split between working in the office, supporting the guys on the helpdesk, working on projects, and attending customer sites. When I attend site visits this can often include installing equipment or troubleshooting faults that have been raised to us.

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

I really enjoy getting out and meeting our customers. It’s great that we get to work with such a wide variety of businesses which makes no day the same. We have a great team in the office which makes coming to work so much easier! I know there will always be plenty of support and laughs.

I think I would say my least favourite is this! The marketing team loves to get us involved in the social media content and let’s just say it’s not my strongest point.

What is your greatest achievement?

It’s hard to pick a greatest achievement but I am most proud of what I have achieved in my career. Over the past 11 years working at The Unite Group I have accomplished so much to progress my career. Working hard to complete training over the years and putting the time in to now have the expertise I do in the industry, is one of my greatest achievements.

I have also completed the Great North Run. 3 times actually over the years with my 4^th one coming up this September. As of yet, I have been unable to beat the time of Directors Paul and Callum (both over 50)! So although this is an achievement, I still feel I can train harder to finally get to the finish line before them!

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Whatever you do give it 100%.

It is easy to be complacent in things but if you know everything you are doing you have given it 100% then you can look back and wonder what if.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Eating, drinking, and football probably about sums it up. I am a Newcastle United fan so it’s not been easy to support them the past couple of years, but better times are coming. I also play 5 a side football when I can to try and keep fit and this year will be running the Great North Run for Grace House, find my sponsor page here.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I enjoy my role here at The Unite Group and the company has provided me with progression throughout my career right from being an apprentice to a senior service engineer. As our company is growing I can see my role changing in the future and I will continue to work hard in order to make the most of my career and continue to be a part of the company striving forward.

If you want to see how The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on, 0191 466 1050.

July 29, 2022
July 2022 – Newsletter

Here at The Unite Group we are always looking for ways to keep our customers up to date with the latest deals, tips, industry news as well as what our fantastic team are getting up to! We are proud to produce a monthly newsletter to do this.

In this newsletter: we share the charity golf days we are participating in, celebrate 1 year of our newsletter, welcome 2 new team members to the Social+ team, showcase one of our fantastic customers Tumble Activity Centre, introduce the next Network+ event, talk all things cyber essentials & are looking for an individual to join our team!

To read The Unite Group’s July Monthly Newsletter, click on the image below!

To be added to our mailing list drop us an email, info@theunitegroup.co.uk or to speak to our friendly team call us on, 0191 466 1050

July 2022 Newsletter

July 26, 2022
A chat with Chris, our helpdesk manager.

Following on in our meet the team series, we introduce you to Chris.
Chris Nichol is our Helpdesk Manager here at The Unite Group.
We recently had a chat with Chris to find out a bit more about him and his role…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

Growing up I always knew I wanted to work in IT and the plan was always to work up to be in a managerial role. I have always had the drive for progression and so because of this I knew I would always want to excel in whatever I did.

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

I am the helpdesk manager at Unite.
I started out as an apprentice 9 years ago and have worked hard to advance to the level I am at now. Having done my apprenticeship set me in good stead to be able to carry out all areas of the job. I knew the management side was a route I wanted to take and so managing the helpdesk was a natural next step for me.

What does a typical day look like as a Helpdesk Manager?

A typical day can change from one day to the next. It can be a lot of support tickets one day and then a lot of project and planning work the next. It’s always changing which keeps you on your toes but at the same time, the office atmosphere and the banter make it a great place to work.

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

My favourite part of the job has to be the interaction with clients and other guys on our helpdesk. This was why progressing through the helpdesk route was important to me. I enjoy the challenge that comes our way and being able to talk clients through any issues they have. We are lucky that we are a close Team which makes such a difference coming to work every day.
I would say my least favourite part is not being able to work out a solution and having to look to escalate an issue as you want to get to the bottom of everything.

What is your greatest achievement?

Being able to say that I have my own car, own house and that I have worked as hard as possible to be able to get to this stage is definitely one of my greatest achievements.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Don’t dwell on things, if you do they will hold you back and keep you from progressing.

But the quote I would always go back to is the following;

“We all change if you think about it, we are all different people all through our lives. but that’s good you got to keep moving so long as you remember all the people you used to be.”

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

I would like to see myself progressing higher up the ladder and taking on more responsibility.

How do you unwind outside of work?

I play tennis for Shotley & Benfieldside, I go on the xbox to unwind with friends or sit and watch tele. The last couple of weeks I have been glued to Wimbledon. I managed to go down for four days this year including getting the experience of centre court. To be honest I do anything but go on a PC in my time out if I can help it!

If you would like more information on any of our Managed IT services, please contact us. The Unite Group on 0191 4661050 or email info@theunitegroup.co.uk

July 11, 2022
A chat with Mike, our Technical Director

Mike, our Technical Director

Following on in our meet the team series, we introduce you to Mike. Mike is our Technical Director here at The Unite Group and mostly focuses on the IT side of the business.

We recently had a chat with him to find out a bit more about him and his role…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

I never really knew what field I wanted to go into when I was younger. However I did always enjoy engineering and problem solving. So naturally I ended up doing tech & sciences which led me into discovering a passion for IT and business. I was told by a careers advisor at school that as I was an early riser and liked the outdoors I should be a farmer, so I’m glad I didn’t follow that advice!

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

I am one of the directors within the group and oversee most technical IT aspects of the company and IT projects. I have worked in IT for 23 years. In roles ranging from IT helpdesk, support desk team leader, IT consultant and GIS analyst. After starting SMT Technologies with Dean we later merged our business with Unite Communications. This formed The Unite Group, combining the IT expertise of SMT Tech with the comms expertise of Unite landing me here amongst a great team.

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

As we service a whole host of companies for comms, IT and social media we don’t really have a typical day in the office. I can end up working on any project if the team escalates issues to me. This is one of the exciting parts of the job! Although to summarise a standard week I will mostly be working on planning projects and meeting with clients to discuss the IT options available to them, working with the team on any escalations and trying to fit in work on the groups IT and systems also.

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

I most enjoy planning and deploying new solutions and systems to overcome issues for clients and our own business, it’s like solving a puzzle!

As for the least favourite part I would have to say, and Lorraine would probably agree, I don’t like completing the finance paperwork we need to keep on top of so I often cause her a headache chasing me to complete or submit information she needs.

What is your greatest achievement?

I would have to say it would be the hard work put into our company which saw us grow from a small 2 man firm into the group we are today. It’s a great source of pride and we really have a great team throughout which delivers a great atmosphere!

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Simply try your best and don’t give up, something instilled firmly by my family as a youth and as a married adult and its very much the theme of my favorite poem, IF, with the line “Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools very much instilling the fact that at times you will hit hardship and see a dream dashed but if you just keep on you can make something better. I think most people can relate closely to that with all the tragedies and hardships recently.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

We have some exciting plans to scale and grow the group and the offerings we deliver so I very much see myself still here, maybe with a 4 day week if I’m lucky! I don’t like having nothing to do so the hustle and bustle of the business is great.

How do you unwind outside of work?

I enjoy zoning out to music. I listen to anything from classical through to country and heavy rock & metal depending on my mood. My current favourite playlist is leaning very heavily to Pink Floyd and Creedence Clearwater Revival for a bit of a retro kick. I also enjoy cooking (when it’s not a rush just to get dinner out) and we as a family enjoy traveling when possible.

To arrange a chat with Mike, or if you want to see how The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on 0191 466 1050.

June 30, 2022
A chat with Chris, one of our Senior Service Engineers

Continuing on in our meet the team series, next up we introduce to you Chris one of our Senior Service Engineers. Chris joined us just over a year ago and is often out the office working on our customer sites solving any IT issues. We recently had a chat with him…

Growing up, what did you want to be?

Growing up I wanted to be a rally car driver. Clearly this dream never became a reality, however, I am so happy with where I have ended up. Each day is very different and there is never a dull moment.

What is your role at The Unite Group and how did you end up where you are now?

My role here at The Unite Group is a Senior Service Engineer. My career started out in an apprentice role, after which I then worked in IT for 18 years. Back in May 2021 I joined the Unite Group and am really enjoying being part of a team that works so well together.

What does a typical day look like at The Unite Group?

There isn’t a ‘typical’ day, the good thing about my role is I get to experience many aspects of IT. From spec’ing and quoting bespoke IT solutions to meet a client’s requirements. To fully installing and supporting them. Everyday is different for me and that’s why I love my role!

What is your most and least favourite part of the job?

My most favourite part of the job is when everything comes together, and a project is completed to the highest standard possible making our clients happy. However, my least favourite part of the job is when stock levels are low as it makes it very difficult to supply hardware, as you can imagine in the world we are in at the moment this makes things more challenging.

What is your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement has got to be buying my first home and my 2 children.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Take pride in what you do and try your best!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

In 10 years’ time, I hope to be successful and to have worked through many new and exciting projects. I wish to have expanded upon my skillset and knowledge within my role. I also see myself making many more fun and exciting memories with my beautiful family.

How do you unwind outside of work?

Outside of work I like to spend time with my family and friends. Also on the rare occasions when I get “me time” I like to watch football or play video games.

If you want to see how The Unite Group can help you with your business technology needs, contact us on, 0191 466 1050.

June 16, 2022