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20

Years and counting of providing IT Support in London

30

Members of staff, since our humble roots of just three.

The history of Online Support is an interesting tale of two people which could have been written by Ernest Hemingway. If you have a couple of spare minutes then we suggest you enjoy reading your way through the historical snippets to understand how the company came to be.

The main characters:

Charlie Wetherall (a Huckleberry Finn type character, full of boyish charm and big ideas).

A Microsoft and Cisco certified engineer and Novell certified administrator, with a mathematical background. Charlie was taking a gap year from working when we start the story.

Tim Page (a Sherlock Holmes type character, analytical and thorough).

Also a Microsoft certified engineer with an accounting background, who at the point the story begins had just sold his business to go travelling

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Charlie Wetherall

Tim Page

Tim Page

 

Chapter 1 – They meet

The year is 1995 and Tim and Charlie meet for the first time on a mountain in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe. Both Tim and Charlie are on separate road trips from Cape Town to London in Volkswagen Camper Vans.

Tim is with his wife to be Andi, and some friends, and Charlie with his friends. Over a few beers together it becomes apparent that they have something in common and a friendship is born. Over the next year of travelling through Africa they repeatedly bump into each other on route to London. They share many adventures on route, including weathering a sandstorm together on the edge of a live volcano, the Ol Doinyo Lengai, in Tanzania.

Chapter 2 – London & Edinburgh

The following year Tim and Andi arrive in London and stay with Charlie for a few months in London whilst they all decide what to do. Tim ends up taking a job in Edinburgh as an IT Manager for the Digital Document Storage Company, whilst Charlie remains in London to work for Société General as a Network and Server Engineer. They both work for a few years but keep in touch as best they can. Charlie meanwhile meets and marries his wife Nicola.

Chapter 3 – Online Support is born

In 2002, Charlie sees an opportunity in the post dot-com bubble era to provide IT support for small companies. At the same time Tim is busy preparing for a motorbike return journey to Cape Town.

Like any true romantic novel, Charlie manages to call Tim just as he is about to set off, and puts to him an offer of a partnership in a new business. Tim of course accepts, and changes his ride to Cape Town to a ride around the Mediterranean.

On their return, Charlie has already forged ahead with the beginning of Online Support by finding a location for the office. ‘The Shed’, Online Support’s iconic first location houses Charlie and Tim as well as their first employee Mageid, a highly trained engineer.

Chapter 4 – Today

Online Support continues to grow year on year and luckily for us we no longer work in the shed. The company has developed a vast selection of SMB clients from all verticals across London and prides itself on the high level of customer service and excellent customer relations. We believe that the length of time most of our clients have been with us is testament to how we treat them.

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