Christmas Spotlight: John Blackburn

As we near the end of a landmark year following the gradual return to ‘normality’ post-Covid, we grab 60 reflective seconds with John Blackburn – operations director at Central Networks and Technologies Ltd – in an exclusive for the p.ublished group of online newspapers…

1. After a difficult time for many businesses during the pandemic, what was your primary objective at the start of the year?

As always, we needed to make sure our service offerings matched our customers’ needs, and to also educate them about the IT challenges they were likely to face.

2. Looking back on 2022, what have been the 3 biggest highlights for Central Networks?

1. Persuading several key customers to move from legacy systems to the cloud
2. Enhancing and skilling up our team
3. Migrating several key networks to SD WAN

3. And the most difficult challenge for your business?

Dealing with extraordinarily long lead times on some IT equipment.

4. If you had to sum up 2022 in one word, which would you use?

Solid.

5. What’s Central Networks’ key goal for next year?

Being a dependable partner for our customers, and to continue making IT as headache-free as possible.

6. Name another Northern firm that hope will have an outstanding year in 2023…

Yorkshire Water – in terms of supply at least!

7. How do you think the regional business climate will fare overall?

We are resilient up north, so will work together to pull through any external pressures, large or small.

8. It’s perhaps the first opportunity to celebrate a ‘real’ Christmas post-Covid – what will it look like for you?

It will be great to get together with family and friends for a true yuletide celebration.

9. What’s the worst Christmas gift you’ve ever been given?

A green, mouldy packet of twiglets (the seal had broken!).

10. Describe Christmas at your house, in three words

Fresh twiglets aplenty.