Phone Co-op snaps up North East telecoms business

The Phone Co-op has snapped up a County Durham business as part of its first move into the North East.

Avoco, which provided telecoms services for almost 300 business customers across more than 400 mainly North East sites, will now transfer to the Phone Co-op.

Avoco founder and chief executive, Martin Oswell, said: “We had established a strong business, but to serve our customers’ interests in the longer term we needed greater scale.

“The Phone Co-op will enable them to keep their telecoms costs down and enjoy high levels of service, whilst taking full advantage of a wider product portfolio.”

The deal means that the Phone Co-op now has its first base in the North East, and will be working with the local authorities, public sector organisations and small businesses that are current customers of Avoco.

Phone Co-op chief executive Vivian Woodell said: “We had been talking for quite a while. It’s very much the kind of business we like . Avoco is a very well-run business and they had good customers and we liked it. Martin himself will continue to work with us for a while.

“We have customers throughout the UK and Avoco had customers outside the North East. We don’t have any other presence in the North East.”

Former Avoco clients will receive a wider range of services following the deal on the back of the Phone Co-op’s greater buying power.

The Phone Co-op, which prides itself on its ethical and environmental principles, has more than 15,000 customers, many of which are co-operatives, charities and other not-for-profit organisations including Christian Aid and Amnesty International.

Mr Woodell said: “We intend to grow the Phone Co-op mostly through organic growth, but there are times it makes sense to take on another company. We are very excited about this transaction. We had established a strong business, but to serve our customers’ interests we needed greater scale."

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