East Anglian Tank Museum

For local businessowner Iain Greenwood, bringing fibre broadband to Beaumont, Tendring District has been a priority for a number of years.

Until the beginning of 2021, Iain’s businesses, the East Anglian Tank Museum – which specialises in restoring, preserving and exhibiting historic military vehicles from across the world – and IT company Micrologic were two of many struggling with a slow, unreliable internet connection at Oak Business Park.

The park is set in a rural landscape, so remote that businesses share the grounds with resident peacocks that often enjoy a wander around the car park. But internet speeds of only 3Mbps were causing problems for various teams and reducing the business park’s appeal.

For Iain’s business Micrologic, trying to provide remote customer support for clients was proving difficult – and even basic tasks such as answering emails were next to impossible.

“Trying to run all of our systems with 3Mbps was absolutely dire,” he explains. “The connection would just grind to a halt.”

With over 50 people working across the business park, various teams were having problems with the limited connectivity. The hopes of expanding the business park were also beginning to fade away.

“We couldn’t advertise for other organisations to come to our business park as with such a low broadband speed, we had nothing to offer them.”

But Iain’s knowledge of connectivity and technology led him to become an active voice in his local community, highlighting the need for rural businesses like his own to have access to better connectivity.

He registered demand for fibre broadband with the network provider Openreach and was delighted when, in 2022, they upgraded the connections at the park to full fibre as part of Superfast Essex’s Phase 4b rollout.

The Phase 4 programme of work will bring full fibre broadband to 1,001 businesses across Essex and will benefit a further 2,667 residential properties, thanks to funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Getting Building Fund.

The upgrade has transformed how Oak Business Park can operate. “We’ve gone from 3Mbps on a good day to 80Mbps being the minimum speed we receive – it’s made a huge difference,” Iain says.

As a result of full fibre broadband, Iain’s various teams can work more flexibly, efficiently, and with confidence that they’re backed up by a strong, fast internet connection.

The new speeds have also allowed Iain to save money across his business. “We all use virtual phone numbers instead of relying on a landline,” he explains. “Our regular phone bills were over £100 a month – now they’ve dropped to around £50.”

Looking to the future, Iain said he plans to welcome more businesses to Oak Business Park. “We’ve got six companies here now and we’re looking to move others in,” he says. “This wouldn’t have been possible without fibre broadband – it’s been transformational.”

Check if full fibre broadband is available or if your address is in plans to be upgraded to ultrafast speeds using the Superfast Essex rollout map: www.superfastessex.org/interactive-maps