Into the Spotlight, sponsored by Huddersfield-based Scriba PR, is a weekly business feature which highlights lesser-known businesses that generally go under the radar. Here we highlight Kirkheaton-based Inspiration Computers.
A husband and wife team from Kirkheaton who go above and beyond for their customers and the local community have won a Which? Trusted Trader of the Month Award – for the third time.
Lee and Alison Grant, who run Inspiration Computers, are dedicated PC technicians with years of experience in fixing broken tech.
The couple decided very early on not to employ staff and Alison said: “It wouldn’t work for everyone but we just love working together. You’ll occasionally find our two young daughters in the back of the shop, and Dolly the cockapoo is usually there with us as well!’
Inspiration Computers in Bankfield Lane has a flawless customer score on the Which? Trusted Trader website, based on 170 reviews. The couple have won September’s Trader of the Month Award and it’s the third time they’ve done it, winning awards in 2018 and 2020.
Inspiration Computers had to adapt last year during the Covid-19 pandemic and Alison said: “We’ve had a very tough year. Our retail business had to be closed for several months due to the government rules and some aspects of the business are yet to recover.
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“The business has adapted to the rules as they have changed – we’ve carried out emergency repairs on people’s driveways, or sat in our car tapping into the customer’s wireless network to try and fix a broken printer. We’re just very relieved to still be here trading in the business that we love.
“Many of our customers are elderly or vulnerable, so we’ve had very secure Covid systems in place. That involves full-height screens, sanitisation of equipment and an electric door lock that ensures only one customer can enter the shop at a time.
“Our customers are our top priority and we need to look after them and keep them safe.”
Despite the pandemic Inspiration Computers hasn’t stopped supporting the local community and the couple donated free tech support to Give a Few Words, a Huddersfield-based social enterprise that gets people to write to those who are isolated, or individuals who would benefit from a handwritten letter.
Alison added: “We’ve also donated a day of food during the pandemic for the local children who were struggling in the holidays via a local enterprise.”
Inspiration Computers has recently donated another laptop to Teachers 4 Zambia. The tech support company has done a lot of voluntary work on refurbishing laptops so they can be used by trainee teachers.
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Inspiration also went above and beyond to help customers with problems.
Alison said: “We had one job that involved helping a family. The mum had sadly died at a young age and the father and son were left with a mess of passwords as they tried to access vital documents. Lee spent hours unpicking the details, which allowed the family to retrieve their precious data.”
Another tough job had Alison and Lee rebuild an old PC running on dated technology for an elderly man.
“We had to overcome several tricky technical problems so the customer could continue with his hobby of video editing for the town’s film club,” said Alison. “The club has a wonderful archive of films, detailing social history for over 100 years. We wanted to support the customer with his important work, especially as his wife had recently passed away.
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“These are just two examples from recent months where the hours we’ve put in are not charged to the customer. Improving their mental wellbeing was worth spending the extra time on.
“In cases like this, the customer is charged a standard fee. The rest of the time isn’t charged – we just want to do what is right.”
Inspiration Computers has been running for nearly 18 years on reputation alone and Alison said: “We don’t really advertise – all our work comes about through word of mouth and people reading our reviews.
“We always try and treat people with respect and kindness and that makes us proud.”
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