Hartham Park’s Hidden Secret

MEET HARTHAM PARK’S WORKSPACE AND COMMUNITY MANAGER, TOM MARSHALL, WHO TELLS US ABOUT THE WORLD-BEATING TECH CONCEALED WITHIN OUR WONDERFUL STATELY HOME.

Hartham Park prides itself on its world-class tech, can you tell me a bit about its capabilities? 

This year, in February, we installed what is called a 10GB bearer, a dedicated line from our local data centre, Spring Park, which gives us 10GB worth of capability.

The best part is that this line is just for us, we’re not sharing it with anyone else. So unlike when you buy a connection from Virgin Media or BT, you don’t have any issues with slow speeds, or ‘contention’.

I like to think of ‘contention’ as peas in a hosepipe. If you have a contention of 50:1, that means your pea must travel past 50 other peas before it can reach the desired area of the hosepipe, a much longer and more arduous task.

Usual business broadband speeds have a contention ratio of 20:1, which means there are, on average, 20 other businesses gaining access to the internet before you, slowing down your connection. At Hartham Park that ratio is 1:1; no interruptions, no fighting for data, incredible security and certainly no internet lag!

How does this tech capability benefit Hartham Park’s members?

Most of our members use 1GB worth of data on a day-to-day basis, which is free as part of our workspace package. This amount of data allows members to efficiently run a four-person company, but if you’re in need of more we can easily make this happen.

Not only do the speeds make the working day a lot less stressful, Hartham Park’s connectivity also runs completely off the grid. Our dark fibre capabilities mean businesses are unseen online and nothing is transferred through potential points of interference, which greatly reduces the risk of falling victim to security breaches or hacks.

What are the top three benefits of having good tech in the workplace? 

I read somewhere recently that 40 per cent of employees would leave, or have left, their place of work because of poor technology.

Good connectivity means teams can be more productive without being slowed down by loading screens or crashes; this is turn is great for innovation and creativity, fast-flowing tech ramps up those creative juices. Lastly, no one likes to be frustrated or angry at work, it dampens motivation and creates a tense atmosphere, but it’s going to happen if you have redundant technology that slows you down. Good tech is vital for wellbeing.

Our world is incredibly virtual, even more so now post-pandemic, and most businesses rely on the internet to keep them alive. It’s crucial for all organisations to be able to work effectively online, keeping profits high, communication efficient and learning consistent.

How does Hartham Park’s tech compare? 

Rural areas are notorious as points of conflict for connectivity across both households and businesses. At Hartham we have access to one of the best Data Centres in Europe, and therefore we pride ourselves on being able to offer the same, if not better, speeds than our city-based competition, while simultaneously offering a gorgeous stately home and acres of green space – the best of both worlds!

How has your tech helped your members throughout COVID-19?

Our tech is extremely flexible and during this turbulent time adaptability has been incredibly important to all our members. Our operator can moderate the way people work with the flick of a switch. If that means increasing your tech accessibility or reducing it, all it takes is one email and three minutes.

This efficiency means that our members needn’t worry about losing any crucial business time waiting for technicians, losing connection for half a day or worrying about the financial implication of contract penalties.

How do you see the tech at Hartham Park evolving over the coming years? 

Hartham Park provides real peace of mind to all our members; we’re one of very few rural office spaces that offer such high-level data security and for most of the businesses we service, this is paramount. We’re currently future-proofed for at least five years but next on our agenda is to become Government accredited for cyber-security, also known as the Cyber Essentials scheme, to give that extra measure of assurance.

Of course, like with anything, we will also take the lead from our members and continue asking them regularly what they could benefit from and how we could help solve their pain points through new and improved technology.

If you would like to find out more about how Hartham Park’s workspaces and leading technology could benefit your business, please contact the team who will be more than happy to help.