Teesside’s Lemon Contact Centre is on track to hit £5 million in revenue as it celebrates 20 years helping businesses to look after their clients across the UK and Europe since 2003.
The company was established in a converted garage in Ingleby Barwick with only its two founders, a pen, paper and mobile phone to its name.
The company now employs around 100 people offering support services via phone and email as well as digital channels like WhatsApp, social media and web chat. The company provides 24-hour services to around 100 clients across a range of industries, including engineering, care and technical sectors.
The company’s 24-hours service was key to Lemon succeeding from the outset, although co-founder Martin Anderson admits it was tough in the early days, when he and fellow founder and Lesley Wratten were the entirety of the team: “An around the clock service was a bit of a unique offering back then, before the age of emails on smartphones and social media, but we knew it would make us stand out from the competition,” he said. “We drafted in our friends and family to help, with the belief that if we acted and looked like a bigger company, we would inevitably become the company we wanted to be, and to make it work Lesley and I would take turns sleeping in a sleeping bag on the office floor, with our dog at the time, Jake, keeping us company.
“Technology has come a long way since we used to fax through messages to our clients, but we’ve constantly invested and adapted as the demands of consumers have changed. Our commitment to data and transparency is as paramount as ever and this can be seen in the live dashboards and reporting tools that we provide to many of our clients, all of which is underpinned by our UKAS audited ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification.”
The company has successfully negotiated major events including the financial crisis, Brexit and a global pandemic and, looking to the future, Lemon has big plans to continue its growth. Leveraging technology is a key part of the business strategy, but so is ensuring that a human touch remains a constant feature, despite the rise of AI – real people having real conversations, is a key mantra for the company’s leadership team.
Anderson added: “Despite being two decades in, I actually feel like we’re just getting started and we want to keep growing, keep creating jobs here in Teesside, and keep supporting our clients to provide the best possible service to their customers. We can’t do any of that without our wonderful team, and we will continue to offer support and provide opportunities to progress within the business so we can continue to be the best at what we do for many more years to come.”
Lemon achieved a turnover of £3 Million in 21/22 and forecasted to break £5 Million in 22/23
