It all started with a coffee and a scone…
Today is National Scone Day – the day we as a nation honour the traditional Scottish baked good that we all love so much.
At Escone Solutions (the clue is in the name!), we have more reason than most to celebrate the fabulous scone. After both being made redundant from the same company, our Founders – Kev and Mike – spent the infancy of what is now Escone networking in local cafes, sharing a ‘fine piece’ and a cuppa while they bounced business ideas around.
Several months later, with just £29 left in the bank, they were shaking hands and calling it a day when unexpectedly they got their first break and Escone was given an opportunity to really start. The past eight years have been exciting, challenging and very hard work, but we are continually evolving and growing thanks to the help of our amazing team. Read our story here.
- June 2015: Mike and Kev, who both worked in IT application support, managing OpenAccounts, eBIS and a suite of business critical applications, were made redundant from the oil and gas industry.
- They then started looking for “real” jobs and potential opportunities to work as business analysts.
- A few weeks of networking and planning bids passed, which involved working and meeting in cafes around Aberdeen, and sampling coffee and scones while discussing business ideas.
- August 2015: Came up with a business model that would involve them sitting between clients and software vendors. Having worked for both sides, they understood the requirements.
- September 2015: Managed to get five days of consultancy work and began visiting Grub at The Hub in Bridge of Don. Met with the business support organisation Elevator, this gave Mike and Kev and better roadmap of what was required to start their business.
- November 2015: Prospects were not looking bright, Mike was working part-time at Tesco and, with just £29 left in the bank, both were ready to call it a day.
- December 2015: Lunchtime on the 8th of December 2015 Kev and Mike called it a day. They shook hands and were walking out of the door of the local café when Mike received a call from an ex-colleague, which resulted in some business analysis work at First Travel Solutions. The following week Kev received a call from another former colleague to help Rigmar Services implement their new financial applications.
- January 2016: With the 2 opportunities, Kev and Mike honed their skills with eBIS, OpenAccounts and a bespoke application and started to build a reputation as a company that worked hard, understood client requirements and continually wanted to impress.
- May 2016: With the reputation starting to reach further afield, Escone secured subcontract consultancy work from a software vendor.
- July 2016: Escone won its first significant contract with INM plc (now known as Mediahuis) in Dublin. Suddenly the coffee and scones just got real.
- August 2016: The team began to expand with the addition of Bridget Gray.
- February 2017: Another expansion saw Alice Cassie join the team. Escone secured its first office with the help of Karen Pugh at Elevator Aberdeen.
- May 2023: With a growing team, Escone moved to its current premises at 34 South College Street and the team now has 16 members.
None of this would have been possible without the unique individuals that form the Escone team and the following people who helped at the start – Richard Thorp, Stephen Harton, Gerry Wylde, Christopher Lee, Archie Maciver and Kevan Sturrock. This is just an exciting next step in the Escone journey, but we think it is important to remember where we came from! So, if you get a chance to have a tasty scone today, think about Escone.
