Dozens of jobs are to be created at the new headquarters of an expanding cloud telephony specialist working for hundreds of companies in the UK.
Circle Cloud Communications Ltd – circle.cloud – signed a 10-year lease on a 9,500 sq ft office over two levels at Town Quay, Southampton.
The business has set its sights on increasing head count from the current 62 to 100 within a year at its new premises, having just moved from nearby four-storey Queen’s Terrace.
Axel Molist Cordina, Managing Director, founded the technology firm nearly seven years ago in Southampton.
He said: “Demand for our services is growing rapidly, with a record 10.2 million calls, made over the internet through our technology provision, in the latest month alone.
“circle.cloud is the market choice of more than 500 companies and organisations which rely on high-volume phone use, from the retail automotive and hospitality sectors to accountancy and recruitment agencies.
“We’ve expanded so quickly that colleagues, had we stayed put, would have ended up on one another’s laps for want of space.
“Our aim is to generate 40 or so new jobs at our new headquarters this year – we have deliberately leased larger offices with plenty of headroom for expansion.
“Key to us is a vibrant working environment which attracts the right candidates – our new premises in Town Quay, which is being fitted out and installed with new office furniture, brilliantly reflects our culture and employment X-factor.”
Before setting up circle.cloud in Southampton in 2015, Axel cut his teeth in audio technology at the city’s Solent University and telecoms engineering in Barcelona, Spain.
He added: “We’ve grown because we help businesses improve their communications infrastructure, and therefore customer offering, by providing the latest broadband and telephony available.
“Our focus is to move companies with one or more sites to the cloud, enabling enterprise-grade telephony features to businesses of all sizes.
“Furthermore, we believe in challenging conventional technology whilst guaranteeing a reliable service which is easy to use and set up.
“This is about improving operational efficiencies for SMEs, allowing their workforces to communicate from anywhere, using any device such a laptop, tablet, mobile phone, or any desk or cordless phones available from our compatible handsets.”
“We are about providing the most complete cloud communications solution for business – and our new HQ will help us take our services to the next level in the market.”
Current vacancies at circle.cloud include six positions in operations, two in finance and three in field sales.
According to industry data, Southampton has a workforce of 132,000 with a median age of 32; just over one-third of the population of 252,520 are aged between 18 and 35.
“It is from this pool of talented individuals that we look to,” said Axel.
The company is also preparing companies for the big switch-off in January 2025, when decades-old analogue telephone systems and ISDN lines are replaced by full fibre technology.
Latest data by circle.cloud, which has an off-site data centre, showed 200 terabytes (TB) of data usage by customers – equivalent to 200 trillion bytes.
By way of data power, one TB can hold 17,000 hours of music, 40 days of video, 310,000 photographs and 500 hours of streamed movies.
Games consoles and a pool table are among relaxation facilities being put in at Town Quay, which is by the Red Funnel ferries terminal.
Vibe Business Interiors is leading the design and fit-out project for circle.cloud.
Last year the company formed The circle.cloud Foundation, with the aim of focusing on empowering children from any background to help them become “who they want to become or achieve want they want to achieve”.
Having raised nearly £3,500, circle.cloud has set a £10,000 target this year through events such as Tough Mudder, mountain climbs, cycling and running and other challenges.