London-based managed service provider WW Computer Systems (WWCS) has opened a new office in Sheffield, with ambitions to build ‘the biggest tech team in the region’ and capitalise on growing opportunities across South Yorkshire.
Driving the expansion is local businessman Chris Muscroft, who joined WWCS in a non-executive role after leaving Highlander following its acquisition by Fluid One in 2023. He had previously got to know the business while serving on the council of Ingram Micro’s global partner alliance Trust X.
WWCS is a family business founded in 1983 and has enjoyed huge success driven by current CEO Marc Lester, who has worked at the company for 25 years and has run it since 2009.
Based in north London, it employs around 40 people, has an annual turnover of approximately £4 million and supports around 120 clients, of which around 75 per cent are SMEs and 25 per cent are enterprise and public sector organisations.
Chris initially joined to provide guidance on strategy, but his role quickly expanded.
“Much to my surprise, I started getting involved more in the day-to-day operations of the company rather than just offering strategic guidance,” Chris tells unLTD. “I took over as Chairman three years ago, and as Group MD in November last year, with a view to stabilising and growing what we’ve got in London, before at some point going back to a ‘proper’ Chairman's role.”
Alongside Marc Lester and a strengthened non-executive board, Chris has spent the past year preparing the company for growth, improving its structures and processes, recruiting staff and developing its service offering.
That work is already bearing fruit, with WWCS reporting a trebling of year-on-year profit in the last 12 months, enabling it to fund its Sheffield operation entirely from within the business.
The Sheffield office opened on 1 September, with Chris’s former commercial director Ryan Connolly taking over as Sheffield branch managing director. WWCS is also strengthening its London leadership team as it prepares for growth across both locations.
Chris plans to run Sheffield as a mirror image of WWCS’s London operation, taking advantage of his contacts and connections in the north and the wider economic opportunities emerging across South Yorkshire.
“I have a vision for how our technical offering should look in Sheffield, built on the successes of what we’ve been able to achieve in London,” he says. “We've got our first technical recruits starting in Sheffield in September and we’ll continue to build over the coming months.”
The company’s ultimate ambition is to build the biggest tech team in the Sheffield area, with recruitment increasing alongside its regional client base. As Chris explains: “The faster we grow Sheffield, the faster we’re going to be able to invest in people and skills there.”
He calls the move “an unmissable opportunity for WWCS”, citing the region’s regeneration, inward investment and collaboration across South Yorkshire as key factors.
“There are a lot of good things in and around Sheffield, but the region’s not been well backed by good tech teams, and that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to grow the biggest tech team in the region to support those clients – to support their growth alongside what will hopefully be successful growth for us.”
He points towards recruitment – namely getting the right people in at the right time – as one of the biggest challenges while the operation here develops.
“I want people that are ambitious and prepared to learn. I grew up with engineers back in the ‘90s who would build Exchange servers in their bedroom for fun. I want those sorts of people.”
He adds: “I could not be more excited about what we're doing here. I'm not trying to stomp all over somebody else's territory; I just want to make sure we're providing the best service to our clients.”
The Sheffield investment comes against a backdrop of strong growth for WWCS in London, where the company is seeing continued demand for support contracts alongside increasing interest in cyber security, data management and artificial intelligence.
For many businesses, Chris explains that a key part of the challenge is understanding how this newer technology can be introduced securely while protecting sensitive company information.
“Where we are having a lot of conversations, certainly from a data governance and security point of view, is talking people through how they can achieve Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001 whilst embracing AI technologies.”
Alongside those newer areas of demand, Chris says that more traditional technology investment remains a significant part of the market.
“People will always need laptops and tablets and mobiles and network infrastructures. We're seeing that massively. If you look at our hardware and software growth over the last 12 months, the growth curves are almost vertical.”
The Sheffield office marks the second phase of WWCS’s five-year growth plan, with the third set to involve establishing a European base. While international expansion remains part of the company’s longer-term ambitions, Chris stresses that the immediate focus is firmly on Sheffield – growing its client base, recruiting locally and building an operation capable of supporting businesses across South Yorkshire.
