About the Customer
Founded in London in 1928 by Alfred and Maurice Matlow as Matlow Bros. Ltd., Swizzels Matlow is renowned for its iconic sweets. The company relocated to New Mills, Derbyshire, in 1940 due to the London Blitz, and now employs over 600 people across the UK, Ireland, and the USA.
The Challenge
Swizzels relies on effective communication across the company for production and wider operations to run smoothly and efficiently. When the hardware controlling the switchboard needed to be updated, this acted as a catalyst for undertaking a review of the company's entire voice deployment.
Swizzels Matlow's historic building and unique location presented potential challenges, but Allan Unsworth, the IT and Systems Manager at Swizzels Matlow, was determined to maintain the availability of business systems throughout: "People always expect a phone to work - it is so simple, why wouldn't it always work?".
The Solution
As you would expect from a partnership with more than 25 years under its belt, Swizzels Matlow and Wavenet* worked together to realise the best solution to Swizzels Matlow's communications challenge. Swizzels had confidence in Wavenet's proposal to upgrade its platform to a Mitel platform, whilst keeping the existing Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) and standard handsets.
Our account manager is our business partner; we have a lot of faith in his advice. He doesn't just come in to sell the latest product, he listens to what you need, looks at the business and works out what fits best for you. It's very important.
Allan Unsworth
IT and Systems Manager at Swizzels Matlow Ltd.
For the business to operate as usual during the rollout it was essential that the DECT handset service be maintained during deployment, for vital communication between employees in the production area. The convenience of DECT and the stability of the facility from the end users' perspective meant that any changes needed to be seamless, having no damaging effects to the employees and the facilities they use on a daily basis.
The upgrade to the main telephony platform opened up the opportunity for Swizzels Matlow to further improve its communications with the addition of a Wavenet SIP solution over its ISDN connectivity. The upgrade to the Mitel platform also meant that additional features could be deployed.
The Results
With Wavenet's Mitel and SIP solution, Swizzels now has a true IP platform on which to run their business and communicate effectively.
In addition to an improvement in service, this allows for a reduction in costs and an increase in resilience of its voice service should the worst happen.
Project continuity and stability are the key attributes in the service provided to Swizzels Matlow end users by Wavenet and the internal teams, allowing them to get on with the business of manufacturing its famous sweet treats.
We have a long-standing relationship with Wavenet - the field engineers know the site layout. They are competitively priced in the marketplace, and most importantly, I trust them.
Alan Unsworth
IT and Systems Manager at Swizzels Matlow
*The initial engagement was with Daisy, acquired by Wavenet in 2024.
If you’d like to find out more about how Wavenet could help your business with the areas covered in this case study, then get in touch at enquiries@wavenet.co.uk.
