Surrey: LAN2LAN celebrates 20 years of network success

Specialist network and IT security business LAN2LAN, started by four friends with a capital investment of just £10,000, is celebrating its 20th anniversary along with a worldwide client base, a staff of 50 and a turnover now exceeding £10 million.

Surrey-based LAN2LAN was formed in 1994 when Gary Duke, John Goodman, Pankaj Vekria and Steve Bunce spotted the market potential for providing IT and network professional services and specialist consultancy. Today, the company operates from a dedicated HQ and technical centre in Leatherhead and counts major names such as John Lewis Partnership, Aviva, Virgin Trains, Balfour Beatty, GDF SUEZ Energy International and Toyota among its client list.

Sales director Duke explained: “When we started the business 20 years ago, it was clear to us that hardware and software were fast becoming commoditised and that the real opportunities were in professional IT services and consultancy.  We’re now asked to provide insight and support right across the collaboration and messaging (stay in touch), wireless (stay connected) and security (stay safe) spectrum. We’re particularly proud of our 95% client retention rate – which we put down to our strong values and consultative approach to projects.”

LAN2LAN has also gained a reputation for innovative thinking – for example its recent Hacker Awareness workshop was twice over subscribed and attracted clients and prospects from all business sectors who were concerned about cyber security and IT disruption caused by security breaches.

This innovation is set to continue with the company’s growing expertise and market penetration via its SaaS and mobility offer.

Said Duke: “We’ve assembled a team that includes some of the most talented IT and cloud-informed professionals in the UK. They are the backbone of our highly successful managed services offering – LAN2LAN Assist – which we see as a key part of our growth strategy over the next 20 years.”