Perry Hay & Co
Who are Perry Hay & Co?
Perry Hay & Co is a niche private client practice based on The Green at Richmond in southwest London. Established for over 50 years the firm concentrates on the personal and commercial affairs of the individual, the family and the family business, both on and off shore. Perry Hay & Co. provides practical and imaginative solutions to clients’ problems taking care to present what are often complex topics in a clear and non-technical way. In all cases, they aim to add value and place particular emphasis on personal service. Peter Hay, senior partner of the firm explains, “We encourage an ongoing relationship with our clients, and offer what we believe to be an attractive alternative to the larger West End and City firms. Client relationships are built on mutual trust and loyalty, and we look to support our clients through all the major events in their personal and business lives”.
To this end, Perry Hay & Co relies heavily on its IT infrastructure.
Continues Peter, “IT is crucial to the successful operation of any law firm and at Perry Hay & Co we operate a Practice Management system that manages and retains electronically all of our work for every client, not only in new and current files but also those which have been archived. Everything is immediately accessible. It is therefore very important that our IT supplier understands our business and shares our philosophy of excellent client service.”
The problem
A major issue for Perry Hay & Co was the lack of a dedicated IT department or manager to manage the firm’s IT needs and any problems when they arose. Peter adds, “We are busy lawyers, not IT people and being constantly hampered by an IT system that could not cope was very frustrating for everyone. We expect our suppliers to share our standards. Waiting for up to 24 hours for a call back on a pressing IT issue is no good. Our clients expect us to provide a professional and timely service and we need to be able to rely on our technology not to let us down.”
Selecting ramsac
Perry Hay & Co needed an IT consultancy company on board that not only understood its business, but was also independent and so therefore in a position to offer the best solution to fit the company’s needs. Peter continues, “I needed to feel confident that they would understand our concerns and issues and reassure us that that our problems could and would be solved and that the system would deliver on its promises.”
To solve this dilemma, Perry Hay & Co decided to outsource its IT support and servicing to Guildford based IT consultancy ramsac.
Peter explains, “A lot of IT suppliers profess to be all singing and dancing, but few live up to expectations. With previous suppliers, we had problems with back and front office functions not working together and when things went wrong, it was always difficult to get hold of someone who could solve the problem. From our very first meetings with ramsac, I felt comfortable that they understood our business needs and could offer advice and guidance on new technologies that would best fit our business.”
How ramsac helped
ramsac upgraded Perry Hay & Co’s network, installing new servers and workstations and providing a stable platform on which to run the Practice Management System, corporate email system and access to shared calendars and resources.
ramsac’s philosophy of “prevention being better and cure” fits in exactly with Perry Hay & Co’s requirements. Every month, a ramsac consultant comes out on-site to maintain the network, run a health check and fix any other problems he might spot. Any problems that arise outside of the ramsac consultant visits are routed through the ramsac help desk, logged and acted on immediately.
Peter adds, “We operate on a monthly retainer with ramsac, which I feel is good value, especially when contrasting this with the cost of employing our own specialist IT manager or IT department, and I feel that we get the best of both worlds. They have certainly added value to our business and I trust them.”
Quarterly IT strategy reviews
Each quarter, ramsac director Robert May meets with Peter Hay for an IT strategy meeting to discuss and meet the firm’s IT needs as they change and evolve.
“I meet with Robert every quarter to discuss current IT issues and to ensure everything is working on both an operational and strategic level. The relationship between ramsac and Perry Hay & Co is successful and reflects the relationships we like to cultivate with all our clients and suppliers, based on mutual trust and loyalty.”
Peter Hay, senior partner of Perry Hay & Co
