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Finchley Computer Repair Centre is a traditional retailer with big plans. Sophia Murray talks to MD Reza Chaparian about smart home repairs and business expansion…
Tell us about Finchley Computer Repair Centre’s background and how the company began.
We started Finchley Computer Repair Center back in June 2011. In total, we have been in the IT business for more than 15 years, and during this time we have realised that there is a lot of demand for computer repair services. These demands come from our general and business customers looking for hardware to complete computer repair services.
What have been the biggest challenges for the retailer, and how have you managed to overcome them?
For us, the biggest challenges are in the sales department because we cannot compete with the bigger ecommerce retailers. We have the same problem when it comes to computer parts. Customers will go online and look at sites like eBay and Amazon and then we’ll have to match the price of the parts they have found on the internet.
Are you fixing more tablets than PCs these days?
Yes, we are. More people are using tablets than ever before, so we have more customers who come to us with tablet problems. We’ve noticed an increase in the amount of tablet repairs we are asked to do in comparison to the types of repairs we were asked to do at least two or three years ago.
How do you go about training your staff and what are your main goals for the future?
Technology changes very quickly, which is why it’s important that our staff remain up to date with what is going on. We make sure that they can keep up with these changes by having training sessions each month. During these sessions we catch up on all the latest IT related news.
Our goal is to expand our business. We intend to have more branches based in London because having a chain of retailers should help to reduce our costs and boost our profits. One of the main benefits this expansion will provide for our customers is that these branches will be devoted to different services like tablet, PC and other sorts of repair services.
We also have plans to break into the smart home market in the future too. There are lots of diffent smart home devices right now and we think with our branch expansions, we’ll be able to provide repairs for this technology because it has a lot of potential to be very popular in the future.
Fact file
Year established: 2011
Number of staff: 4
Address:231 Nether Street, West Finchley, N3 1NT
Telephone:0208 371 6655 or 0208 371 6688
Email: info@finchleycrc.co.uk
Website: www.finchleycrc.co.uk
