Case Study

How Regional Training Partners Moved to Fully Independent IT

Regional Training Partners

Overview

Regional Training Partners is a specialist transport and logistics training provider based in Tees Valley, trading since 2007.

After a change in leadership and a shareholder-backed push for growth, the business moved in early 2025 from the managed business centre it had occupied for 19 years into its own industrial premises. For the first time, it needed IT and telecoms of its own.

Two men standing beside a Regional Training Partners van in a parking lot.

The Challenge

For 19 years, the business centre had provided everything: IT, Wi-Fi and phones. Regional Training Partners had no direct control over any of it, and owned none of the systems it relied on.

Moving out meant starting from nothing. With no independent infrastructure, the business needed Wi-Fi, phones, security and systems in place quickly, so training could carry on without disruption and the team could support the company's growth plans.

The Solution

The relationship with Smart IT had already started. When the new Managing Director needed a partner to achieve Cyber Essentials certification for a government contract, he came to us. That work built the trust that made Smart IT the natural choice when the move came round.

We set up a fully independent IT and telecoms environment:

Dedicated Wi-Fi across the new premises
A new phone system
A managed firewall to secure the network
Cloud-based infrastructure the team can rely on

Moving from a fully managed setup to independent systems was a big change for the business. A handful of firewall and printing issues came up during the switchover, and our team resolved them quickly.

Customer Feedback

It’s not just a supplier relationship, it’s more of a partnership. You can pick up the phone, have a bit of a chat. They’re knowledgeable, know what they’re doing, and very good at advising what we need as a company. If I already knew what I was doing, I wouldn’t need to reach out to experts, and that’s exactly what Smart IT are. Response time has been really good. Emails acknowledged within half an hour, most times resolved the same day. That’s what you want as a business: to be able to speak to somebody when you’ve got an issue and have it resolved quickly. Even when the team came to site, they couldn’t do enough for us, going above and beyond what they possibly needed to do. That kind of service makes a real difference.

Neil Robshaw, Managing Director, Regional Training Partners

Two men sitting at a round table in an office with a window and potted plant.

The Result

Within three to four weeks of the move, the business was already seeing the benefits in speed, reliability and independence. Staff can now get on with their work without relying on the Managing Director for access to systems, a major step forward for day-to-day efficiency.

Neil praised two things above all. The first was responsiveness, with queries acknowledged within 30 minutes and usually resolved the same day. The second was the relationship itself. He describes Smart IT as a partner rather than a supplier, with a team that consistently goes beyond what's strictly required.

With its own secure, independent infrastructure in place, Regional Training Partners is ready for its next stage of growth, including its move to become a prime contractor for government-funded training.