Wyenet internet service provider

Established in 1997, Ross-based Wyenet is one of the oldest independent internet service providers in the UK, with its own super speed fibre optic broadband source. It is also a real family business, not something usually found in the IT field.

'We offer all the services you would expect from an ISP,' says company secretary Valerie Coker, who runs the business with her husband Richard, son Graham and one other full time staff member, along with a bank of freelance expertise. 'We offer ADSL broadband internet access but our main service is web hosting. We can host your website here in Ross-on-Wye - our servers are directly connected to the internet by physical fibre from our data centre, rather than just a POP for a larger company. Alternatively you can co-locate your own server with us.'

Valerie and Richard had been working with computers since the 1960s, while Graham became hooked on the first generation of home computers in the '80s. 'We looked around and said 'there's Compuserve and AOL, neither of which offer the ideal service - we could do better,'' she said.

As could be expected, things were quite tough at the start, with the company home-based for the first year while it got up and running. 'It's a difficult business,' she says. 'There are huge capital costs up front because you need all this equipment, and obviously you have no subscribers to begin with. Fortunately we got clients very quickly, most of whom remain with us to this day.'

Along with subscribers came excellent word of mouth and extremely positive press coverage. 'We've got clients nationally and even a few internationally,' she says. 'With co-location, most of our clients are reasonably nearby, but for web hosting they can be anywhere.'

The company offers technical support rather than design - although it does have a range of designers that it works with regularly - and only uses servers with two hard drives for data security. But it's the personal touch that anyone who's spent an eternity on hold to one of the major ISP call centres will envy.

'While Wyenet may not be able to compete with the major players purely on price, we do include support in that,' she says - and crucially, that support is on site. 'That means that when people ring up they come through to a named person, who they quickly get to know - we've got clients who've been with us since day one. We get cards, presents - people definitely consider us friends.

'Local people bring their computers in if they're having trouble with their connection,' she continues. 'We're not a repair shop, but we'll fix it for them free as part of the service. We think that's pretty unique. So there's that support and loyalty, and people then tell their friends. There's no question that our clients appreciate our personal touch.'

So what does the future hold? 'We'd like to expand on a steady growth basis,' she says. 'Someone from the Mirror called and asked if we'd like 10,000 new customers the next day. There's no way we could have coped with that, although we have enough resources and staff to double our capacity over a longer period.'

And what's it like running an IT company in Ross? 'It's a great place to live - a great environment with excellent road and motorway access to most of the country, which is perfect for our co-location clients. It's the quality of life you can get in a place like this - it's so close to so many lovely areas like the Forest of Dean and Symonds Yat, lots of forest and riverside walks and all the castles by the border with Wales. There's always somewhere to visit and something to do.'