From a team of two at a dining room table, the Nottingham-based specialist WiFi consultancy has grown to a thriving team of 20 and continues to grow year-on-year

A venture that started out as just a team of two working at a dining room table in a flat, Performance Networks has achieved every start-up owner’s dream after celebrating a decade in business.

Founded by Will Evans and David Ballard in 2012, the Nottingham-based business has grown to become one of the leading specialist WiFi consultancies in the UK, winning contracts at huge venues, including the iconic Alexandra Palace and the Manchester Central Convention Complex.

In that time, Performance Networks, which predominantly works within the logistics, retail, education, and leisure sectors, has also developed into a team of 20 and continues to grow year on year since becoming a £1 million turnover company by its fifth year in existence.

The company is also ISO27001 accredited and recently navigated a stringent vetting process to join the growing list of global businesses that have signed up to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), an organisation dedicated to tackling the issue of child sexual abuse content and imagery being shared online.

Will Evans said:

“We started the business back in 2012 and during that time we’ve had to overcome some interesting trials and tribulations. It certainly wasn’t easy. The first two or three years were really difficult as we tried to compete with established players in the industry. But by year three, we really started to get a hold and have just grown from there.

“But it’s been a journey and we’ve had a great time with it, growing a business that started with just myself and David at a dining room table, a server humming away in the corner, into what is now, a thriving team of 20.”

Incomparable to other sectors, smart technology and WiFi have grown at a significant rate over the last decade.

The latest data from Statista shows that 92% of the UK population (64 million) use the internet, growing from 89% in 2018 (59.9 million). The number of daily internet users in the UK has grown from 16.2 million in 2006 to 46.6 million in 2020. Another report revealed that, at the end of 2021, nearly 25% of the UK owns at least one smart home device.

Constantly adapting and changing its services and products in order to keep abreast of a market undergoing constant change has been fundamental to the business's success, according to David Ballard.

He said:

“In 2012, most things were connected to the internet. It was relatively important that you had a connection. But right now in 2022, everything is connected to the internet. Simply put, if you don’t have a connection you are up the creek, so to speak!

“Everything is now cloud-based and WiFi has become an absolute necessity. Just the amount of bandwidth we now shift is incomparable to what it was 10 years ago. The landscape has completely changed.

“And because of that, you need to be agile in order to thrive. That’s been our greatest strength. When myself and Will first started out, Will handled the sales and I dealt with all the technology. As we have grown, though, we’ve both had to learn each other's roles in order to be successful. You have to be constantly adding to your skills - not just in the field you’re operating in, but also to what is happening around the world.”

So, what do the next 10 years hold? More of the same, essentially.

Even with the rollout of the 5G network, the fifth-generation technology standard for cellular networks, which now covers 50% of the UK and is expected to be accessible across the whole country by 2028, the demand for quality WiFi remains as high as ever.

And, ultimately, that comes down to two factors: cost and the demand for consumer privacy.

David Ballard added:

“As internet connections get better, faster, more accessible, and more affordable, software providers are all making sure that they are in a position to facilitate that and soak up that bandwidth. WiFi’s influence is only going to grow. I can see us having more spectrum, more bandwidth, and extra enhancements on the protocols to make it better and allow for more people to be connected at once. It’s only going to continue on the same trend that it has done for the last five years.

“To add to the security side, that’s not only going to increase in complexity. I believe we will see more take-up on multi-factor authentications because people have the ability to work wherever they want now.

“That’s always going to be an area where you require true specialists who can guarantee that something is going to work for you. We’re really excited about that over the next decade.”