Who are Charlie Bigham's?
Charlie Bigham’s is all about making great food easy, bringing a restaurant-quality dining experience straight to your kitchen. Founded in 1996 by Charlie Bigham, the brand set out to revolutionise the world of ready meals, creating mouth-watering dishes that are packed with flavour and made with top-notch ingredients.
From curries to lasagne's and pies, Charlie Bigham’s serves up a delicious range of premium meals that are quick to prepare but never compromise on quality. Whether you’re after a mid-week treat or a special meal without the hassle, Charlie Bigham’s is all about delivering gourmet convenience with a focus on freshness and flavour. It’s like having a personal chef at home—without the apron!
The Challenges
Like many ambitious and rapidly growing businesses, Charlie Bigham’s soon realised that their informal IT setup was no longer cutting it. As the company’s success soared, it became clear that technology would play a central role in driving future growth. The management team recognised this need for change and made the bold decision to reassess and overhaul their entire technology stack. This move was all about positioning the company to tackle any challenges head-on and continue their impressive journey of expansion.
The Objectives
It quickly became apparent that Charlie Bigham’s aging infrastructure and fragmented IT architecture were no match for the business’s rapid growth. The patchwork of informal IT contractors simply couldn’t provide the level of support needed. The first critical hurdle was ensuring that all teams and departments had a functional, reliable, and secure working environment to enable smooth operations. But that was just the start. The business soon recognised the need to bolster its cyber security posture, ensuring they were protected against any potential threats that could harm operational performance, damage their reputation, or derail future growth opportunities.
The first critical hurdle was providing the various teams and departments with a functional, reliable, and secure working environment. Once this was achieved, the next priority was to enhance the company’s cybersecurity posture. Strengthening their defences was essential to mitigate any threats that could compromise operational performance, damage their reputation, or hinder future growth opportunities.
The Solution
To provide a reliable and seamless solution tailored for daily use, Intercity delivered Charlie Bigham's with our cloud-native Connect product, built on the Microsoft technology stack. This solution ensured effortless user adoption, offering an up-to-date platform that was familiar, swift, and simple to use. Connect included everything from managed devices with Intune, Windows 10, Microsoft 365 (for productivity, collaboration, and communication), to enterprise-grade security – all backed by 24/7/365 UK-based Service Desk support.
To further enhance security and support Charlie Bigham's vision, we deployed Microsoft’s industry-leading Azure Sentinel SIEM solution, alongside the comprehensive XDR capability of the Microsoft Defender suite. These were managed through our 24/7/365 Security Operations Centre (SOC), ensuring the company’s operations are always secure and protected.
The Business Benefits
Charlie Bigham’s wanted to bring a seamless and consistent approach to its entire IT and security posture. Migrating from multiple vendors and support partners often leads to underwhelming results, which is why it made perfect commercial, operational, and technical sense to consolidate their requirements with one trusted, capable partner.
To keep the business ahead of the curve, Centrality’s CISO conducts monthly reviews, offering global insights and consultancy to ensure the business remains protected as it grows and evolves. But we don’t just stop at technology. We support Bigham's IT team with process improvements, policies, staff awareness training, and certification. With a clear understanding of the threats they face, a strategic roadmap for future technology developments, and a detailed view of any IT & Security budgeting, Bigham's has found a comprehensive, forward-thinking partner in Centrality that’s fully committed to their long-term success.
"We know exactly where we stand on budget, the threats we face and the roadmap of where we're going next. An absolutely exceptional SOC service. I know that the Centrality team get up each day and do the very best for us."
Simon Rolfe, IT Director
Intercity is the ideal technology partner to enable organisations like yours to flourish securely in the new age of working from anywhere. We enable businesses and people to be productive anywhere, anytime, regardless of device, communications or technology. Connecting and securing from device to the cloud. To learn how you can Do More with Intercity, please speak to us here or use the live chat. To learn more about Charlie Bigham's, and some of the fantastic work they’re doing, please click here.
