Viatel provides Gieves and Hawkes with a tailor-made VoIP solution

Bespoke men’s tailors implements Viatel Hosted IP Voice and MPLS

About Gieves and Hawkes 

Gieves and Hawkes is one of the most famous men’s tailors in the UK, providing high value bespoke garments. Founded by two individual tailors; Gieves (established in 1785) and Hawkes (established in 1771) they have made clothing for famous historical figures such as Admiral Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington, as well as inventing the first inflatable life jacket, prior to the First World War.  

With twenty five outlets in the UK, the company’s foremost site being at No. 1 Savile Row, as well as a wholesale and an overseas business, Gieves and Hawkes places a high emphasis on the relationship between the suit cutter and the customer. Gieves and Hawkes employs around 160 people and has a turnover of around £20 million. The company recently launched a sub-brand, Gieves, aimed at the thirty-something man, with a flagship store in Sloane Square. Gieves and Hawkes’ main administrative offices are in Esher and onsite at No.1 Savile Row.  

The Challenge 

Previously using a traditional telephony system, Gieves and Hawkes wanted to ensure that the system they had was the most efficient and modern available to them. The IT team were aware that in the future, VoIP would become commonplace and were keen to adopt it for both this reason and its cost saving potential. Furthermore, the two offices were connected by a leased line, which was becoming increasingly expensive, and an alternative was required.  

In addition to finding a more cost effective alternative to their existing systems, Gieves and Hawkes wanted to simplify the provision of their voice and data services. The company was using Cable and Wireless for national calls, Easynet for the leased line and BT for its main telephony system. The team believed that by using just one provider, its voice and data systems, would prove more cost-effective and fault reporting would be simplified, speeding up problem resolution. 

The Solution 

Gieves and Hawkes contacted both BT and Viatel about their VoIP services. After a consultation period, the company found Viatel’s offering more comprehensive and chose to implement Viatel’s Hosted IP voice service with a 2Mbps MPLS connection between the two offices in Esher and Savile Row.  

“As a premium brand, we’ve always needed to punch above our weight and make sure that every single aspect of our service is flawless, and voice communications are a critical part of that,” said David Collins, Financial Director, Gieves and Hawkes. “Our brand is our business, so by simultaneously future proofing and streamlining our network, we can ensure that we stay ahead of the pack and reduce our costs at the same time. Using one provider for all of our networking needs, and implementing VoIP at the same time is the perfect solution for us.” 

Results  

The solution was implemented in around three months from the initial consultation to making the first call. The primary benefit to Gieves and Hawkes of adopting VoIP has been a significant reduction in cost. The company is now saving around 7.5% on the line rental and just over 20% on its call costs, as well as being able to route all calls via just one receptionist rather than having one in each office. Internal calls between the two offices are now free, which has led to further cost reductions.  

“Our receptionist in Esher has been with us for some years, and really understands the company,” explained Collins. “For her to be able to handle all of the calls for the company is a great asset. We did have a few teething problems with the VoIP system initially, but were very impressed with the speed at which the team at Viatel handled these and everything now works perfectly.”  

Staff can move around between the two offices and are easily contactable on the same number. Employees comment that the call quality is not compromised from the more traditional analogue telephones. They are also able to use features such as remote voicemail access and can divert calls to home phones or any mobile phone, which provides far greater flexibility than the previous system. Calls can even be diverted to mobiles in foreign countries, which means that enquiries can always be handled by the right person, wherever they are. In addition, the new MPLS network enables Gieves and Hawkes to back up its data via the network.  

“I’m frequently in the Esher office for a few days, and then back in Savile row, and it’s really handy that our phone numbers move with us,” continued Collins. “The speed of accessing our servers has also improved significantly, and we’re saving between 5 and 10% percent on our line rental, and around 22% on our call costs, which is great.” 

The team is now seeing considerable improvements in network speeds using the MPLS network and has also reduced its network management costs because it is simpler to administer than the leased line. Furthermore, because the VoIP system runs over Gieves and Hawkes’ network, the IT team can run analytics tools examining call volumes at the click of a mouse and adapt the call plan accordingly so that Gieves and Hawkes always gets the best deal on its phone calls. In the future, Gieves and Hawkes will be able to forward voice calls to users’ Outlook, so that they do not have to be near a phone to listen to voicemail.

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