We recently caught up with Greg Buchanan, Managing Director of IT and Telecoms specialists Mango Tech, and asked him to share his story from watery beginnings to pioneering business solutions.
Greg, you started your career in the Navy and now you’re a Director of your own business – please tell us about your journey?
“I was never very interested in school, and joined the Navy at 15 as a communications rating in the submarine service. For the next 6 years I travelled the world – not necessarily seeing much of it as we rarely docked! There was also very little room to move around in the subs. This taught me many life skills – including patience and tolerance. After leaving the Navy, my first role was at GCHQ as a technical consultant. From there I travelled around the UK as an IT Contractor working for many large businesses and organisations, including BT and the MoD. In 2012 I then set up my own business providing IT and Telecoms, and followed that by going into business with a partner in the same field. After 3 years we started to get a lot of attention from an acquisition point of view. We then sold the business to Intec in 2019, and I spent the next 12 months as Managing Director of Intec. After the year with Intec I decided to start again as a new business – and this is where we are today with Mango Tech.”
How does Mango Tech differ from your previous businesses?
“A lot of the concerns I had with running a larger business was the lack of closeness to our clients, and it’s something that I realised I really missed. When I set up Mango Tech I spent 6 months building the whole business around customer service. We’ve ensured this is at the very heart of what we do. Everything had to be perfect before we launched, including the helpdesk operation and specifically any area that customers relied on to have a great experience.”
What services do you provide, and what kind of customers are you working with?
“Mango Tech provide IT support, On-premise desktop solutions and a full suite of business IT. We also provide telecom services such as business broadband, business mobile and telephony, such as VOIP, and the idea is that we are a one stop shop for any business requiring IT. We have a particular focus on the legal and accountancy sector, in fact any business that requires strict regulatory accountability. My background is in secure IT, in some instances top secret situations where the utmost security is required for the installed systems.
“As well, we are finding a niche with home broadband, especially with all the movement recently to home working. This is where we enjoy working locally as we have far more local knowledge that the national suppliers and can offer much better deals. Having run a business and sold a business of a certain size you realise that you can’t be all things to all men. And that also means you can’t be everywhere for everyone. So focusing locally, on the Greater Manchester region means that we can provide that dedicated onsite and support without stretching ourselves too thin. This includes making ourselves available as quickly as possible to fix things where necessary.”
How has your experience with the Armed Forces influenced your role operating and growing an independent business, and what are your affiliations with Ex Service personnel?
“Learning positive attributes like tolerance, patience and authenticity from my time in the armed forces have set me on a very steady road throughout my career. Mango Tech have signed the Armed Forces Covenant. This means we will promise to treat all past and current members of the forces and their families with respect. This is actually very easy to uphold as this is the basis on which we engage with all businesses and individuals.”
You have spoken about the importance of running an ethical business. Can you elaborate?
“Technology, particularly IT and Telecoms, can be very a very misleading place. There are many people out there that will attempt to confuse people in order to make money. We run our business ethically and ensure complete transparency so customers see us and trust us as part of their business structure going forward. By operating with authenticity and being ethical in our business dealings we are aiming to ensure long lasting relationships.”
Where are you intending to be with the business in 5 years?
“I’ve got a particular route, and that is not to overtrade, or to grow too fast. I’ve got no desire to be a huge business. I think within 5 years I’d like Mango Tech to be a local go-to solution for IT and telephony requirements. The brand so far is pretty strong, and the enjoyable thing I’m seeing is that by finding similar clients who have the same ethics as ourselves, we are appreciating great partnerships with those ‘like-minded’ businesses.”
To find out more about Mango Tech, call us on 0333 358 2012
