Celebrating the family business

Qcom is ready to celebrate National Family Business Week this month, standing alongside the estimated 6 million family firms in the UK which together generate around 25% of GPD.

As a second-generation family firm, Qcom supports the view that family ownership can be an important source of values, motivation and continuity in a company.

Managing director Neil Anderson said: “A huge proportion of businesses have always started out as family concerns, and family ownership remains a genuine engine room for the UK economy.

“As well as generating about a quarter of the UK’s GDP, family businesses employ more than 14 million people in this country.

“More than anything, I think that family ownership remains an ideal model for businesses aspiring to our core commitment of being big enough to cope, but still small enough to care.”

Going the extra mile

Founded in the late 1970s, Qcom was born from the passion for electronics and technology of Neil’s father David Anderson. Originally working as a designer and manufacturer for network interface technologies, David began to build a small team from a base close to Birmingham University.

Through the late 1980s and into the 1990s Qcom diversified into a series of new sectors, including CAD/CAM, manufacturing with Cambridge Industries, Auto ID and barcoding with Zebra Technologies. By out-executing our competitors and leveraging our growing economies of scale, we steadily built our reputation for best-in-class service.

As Qcom advanced into the mid-1990s, the core business focus shifted to specialising in outsourced technical services and support, ceasing all print manufacturing. David became chairman of the business, and Neil become the Managing Director.

Neil has led Qcom for over 22 years, delivering services in 15 countries across Europe, with an ever-growing reach to support the worlds biggest and most innovative technologies. From Qcom’s inception in the 1970s right through to today, the business has been consistent in looking at ‘going the extra mile’ in delivering operational excellence.

After nearly half a century, Qcom is more more driven than ever to expand and grow within the ever-diversifying technology market, while consistently delivering in longstanding markets. With people at the heart of the business, Neil and his team look forward to the coming years as Qcom continues to be a well-known and respected market leader in technology outsourcing solutions.

Family Business Day

As the Institute for Family Business puts it: “Family businesses are the bedrock of our communities, and backbone of our economy.

“Family businesses offer a model of responsible and sustainable business that needs to be acknowledged, supported and championed.

“Without losing sight of immediate priorities and imperatives, family businesses leaders put people first; see values as an asset; have greater freedom to experiment and take risks; and put the interests of the next generation at the heart of businesses.”

Family Business Week runs from 21-25 November as a week-long celebration of family businesses as a force for good. The theme for 2022 is ‘Celebrating Our Place In The World’, highlighting the central role family firms play in shaping and supporting their local communities, economy and natural environment. Click here for more information on Family Business Week 2022.

And click here to read more about the Qcom story and the values on which its success is built.