INDUSTRY
IT consultancy
SIZE
10 employees
LOCATION
Oldham
CLIENT SINCE
2015
About the organisation
Fingertip Solutions is an Oldham-based IT consultancy that has been supporting businesses and schools since 2005. As an MSP delivering managed services, cloud and cybersecurity to its own clients, the company understands better than most what good IT partnership looks like — and what it costs when a supplier lets you down.
THE CHALLENGE
Situation
Fingertip Solutions Ltd needed a hardware and technology supplier they could genuinely rely on — one that would listen to what they needed rather than push them toward products and promotions that suited the supplier’s margins.
Problem
Previous suppliers had a habit of steering Fingertip Solutions toward their own preferred products and promotional lines rather than the right solutions for the business. What Austin needed was an account manager with genuine expertise who could provide competitive pricing without the need to constantly go out to benchmark – and who would be there when needed.
Pain points
• Suppliers prioritising their own margins over the client’s actual requirements
• Inconsistent advice – products recommended for supplier benefit, not business fit
• Time spent benchmarking pricing that should have been competitive from the outset
THE SOLUTION
Mike Hinchliffe became Fingertip Solutions’ primary point of contact at Highgate, and that relationship has been the defining factor in the partnership. Rather than leading with promotions or pushing product ranges, Mike’s approach is to understand what Fingertip Solutions actually needs, source it competitively, and deliver reliably.
What we delivered
• Laptops, PCs and CTO server builds – sourced to specification and delivered to Fingertip’s own project timelines
• Full server and storage refreshes for Fingertip’s end clients, managed through Highgate’s supply chain
• Proactive procurement support – navigating stock shortages through inventive CTO configurations that hit the right spec at the right price
• Reliable, on-time delivery to support Fingertip’s own technicians and client commitments
THE RESULTS
For Fingertip Solutions, reliability of delivery isn’t just a convenience – it’s commercial. When hardware arrives late, technicians can’t configure on site, client projects slip, and Fingertip’s own reputation suffers. Highgate’s ability to deliver when promised, and to find inventive solutions when stock shortages make standard procurement impossible, has made it an extension of Fingertip’s own operation.
Austin Pass, Managing Director, has worked with Mike Hinchliffe since 2006, and brought the relationship to Highgate in 2015. Nearly two decades on, it remains built on the same foundation: consistent, knowledgeable account management with no need to constantly benchmark pricing.
'Highgate are consistent, reliable, and our account manager Mike Hinchliffe is like a part of our own team. He’s always available, responsive, knowledgeable and provides a price that’s competitive without us having to constantly benchmark. We’d struggle without him.'
– Austin Pass, Managing Director at Fingertip Solutions
