Values Driven Success | Kevin Towers on Techbuyer and Sustainable Technology

Techbuyer is a global provider of sustainable IT solutions, however, just as with any business, we had to begin somewhere! In a recent podcast episode our founder and CEO, Kevin Towers, chats to Scott Challinor from the Leaders Council about how Techbuyer started and what the future looks like for the sustainable technology industry.

Listen to the podcast below, access the transcipt here, or continue reading to join the conversation.

Techbuyer Background

The story of Techbuyer is very much a human one that has been overseen by Kevin from its origin in 2005. Techbuyer has retained its friendly, yet professional approach, expanding that company personality globally to each of our seven facilities around the world.

Techbuyer evolved from very humble beginnings. Launched with a team of two from Kevin Towers parents’ garage almost 18 years ago, the company now has nearly 300 employees and provides sustainable IT solutions around the world.

Kev’s vision to provide IT products and solutions with an emphasis on quality and affordability has never wavered. The business now offers a full range of sustainable IT services, from IT refurbishment and IT Asset disposition and buyback, to spare parts provision, full enterprise software and hardware solutions and consultancy. The business culture and ethos remain rooted in Techbuyer’s commitment to help people, companies and organisations do their ‘work’ better.

That outlook is reflected by the fact that many employees have long-standing relationships with the business, such as our Global Sales Director Josh Kidd who has recently celebrated his tenth year at Techbuyer. Find out about Josh’s experience here.

As the business has developed from those early years the cornerstones of our values and our approach have remained. A concern for people, communities, and the planet stands at the forefront of how the company creates and measures success.

With this focus on the planet and community, we help those within our business to put a sustainable twist on their career and explore new approaches to traditional practices. Find out more about the sustainable-focused careers of our employees here.

Kev’s enthusiasm for “helping those around you to grow and develop” has gradually widened and now we consider our communities to be far ranging, spread across more than 100 countries in several continents.

Looking at Success Differently

In the past few years, we have seen exponential growth for our business; we have been growing at 25% year on year in recent times, a trend that we are looking to continue.

Our people-centric view has always been a cornerstone of our business’s success and development; we want to help our employees to become their best selves, we recognise passion, we promote teamwork, fairness and honesty, and we offer support for continuous development.

As Kev says: “There is no point in having huge growth if you do not have a happy team, because at some point the wheels fall off. I very much, personally, look to make sure that we have a happy team in place that fuels growth.”

Caring for and building excellent relationships with our employees has paved the way for our growth.

A Tech Company with A Sustainable Focus

Technology and sustainability are often seen as mutually exclusive. It is no secret that the tech industry is one of the largest producers of carbon on our planet and that e-waste is one of the world’s fastest-growing waste streams. However, with the right approach, technology does not have to cost the earth.

Moving into sustainable IT solutions was a natural progression for our business. Refurbished technology has been the mainstay of the business from the very beginning – originally motivated by the tenets of affordability and accessibility. But when we started to investigate some of the negative impacts of the technology industry on the environment, we quickly recognised we were in a unique position to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

And now this is a primary element that is expected by our customers. They come to us not only for high-quality technology but also for the sustainability factor of what we offer. Find out more about what sustainability means to our customers here.

Techbuyer began talking about the circular economy even before it was a recognised term. Today, our sustainability credentials are so deeply embedded in the business we have a specialist Sustainability team with a Sustainability Lead, who is a Chartered Environmentalist and we consider ourselves a circular economy champion.

Our commitment to change for the better is long-term - we are not here to take shortcuts.  Our determination to make sure our work has a positive impact goes far beyond the present moment. This is more than a marketing fad or gimmick. For example, our world-first machine-learning software tool, called Interact, is instrumental in what it can do for organisations that want to reduce energy consumption in their data centres. And we are not stopping there – we have a full research team who are committed to ongoing innovation in the area of IT sustainability.

We want our efforts to have a positive effect on the industry and the environment. We are about the business of transformation and the impact that this creates. The ongoing and consistent nature of this impact is what will be seen as our legacy.

Seeing into the Future

The future for Techbuyer is bright!

We have ambitious, audacious and aspirational goals that will continue to bring positive change - alongside our commitment to inspiring and supporting our employees. We have individual development plans for our staff and our teams – and we are looking to expand and grow the business very significantly.

We are committed to being the leading global provider of sustainable IT solutions. Not necessarily the biggest in terms of revenue or staff numbers – but the best in terms of quality. Quality is what drives our business. So, we will continue to look to new territories, products, and services. This includes, for instance, implementing slicker, faster online services and promoting internal systems development, continually improving our customer relationships and investing in our people.

We will continue to invest in our websites, making it easier for organisations to access our products and services in other countries outside the UK where we have a presence. And we will continue to diversify our product range – offering a wider portfolio to our clients. In the short term – over the next couple of years - industry shortages are going to continue to drive customers to organisations such as Techbuyer - organisations that have the best products readily available to supply immediately.

Whilst our business’s future is never set in stone, looking at how we have developed so far offers some insight into where our company is heading. Discover the past year of Techbuyer and our developments here.

However, preparing for the future is an integral aspect of our operations and we aim to futureproof our business through a dedicated focus on the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Read more about this focus and what the triple bottom line means to us here.