Nildram Broadband turns a granny annexe into an international wedding venue.
When Roger and Anne Taylor set up their Granny Anne's bed and breakfast business in the Thames-side town of Marlow in South Buckinghamshire they never imagined that ten years later a couple from Kazakhstan would choose their bed and breakfast as the perfect venue for their wedding party.
"It was a very colourful party," Roger says, "very different from what we are used to. Thanks to the internet we now have visitors coming from all over the world which is quite remarkable when thinking about the fact that we live in such a small town in the English countryside."
Granny Anne's bed and breakfast, which was originally built as a 'granny annexe' for Roger's mother, is a perfect example of a small business that has seen its opportunities explode as a result of the internet. In fact, as Roger points out, the business would probably not survive without it.
"We have seen our profits grow at 35% a year with as much as 75% of our business coming from the internet. And we are still growing, even in these hard times. I think it's safe to say that we wouldn't exist without our broadband service".
The particular broadband service which has, as Roger describes it; "become a real partner in our little enterprise" is provided by Nildram, one of the UK's leading and award-winning broadband service providers.
"A reliable and fast broadband connection is invaluable to our business and we have come to completely depend on Nildram's service. Most enquiries come to us by email and we aim to respond to these within two hours which is why it is absolutely crucial that our connection is stable and fast.
"With high speed broadband we have the ability to have multiple sessions running with search engines and various websites, which has virtually taken over where my ageing brain has left off. We are frequently able to add value to our visitors' stay by looking up travel details, places to visit and exchange rates for them. These are all things that would have been impractical if even possible with dial-up."
Roger is also a Nildram Hometalk customer, as part of his broadband package, which gives him 3000 minutes of free calls for only £4.99 a month.
"Many visitors like to confirm details by phone and Nildram's Hometalk 3000 provides us with a very cost effective voice solution. This has also added value to our business in that we can offer our guests free use of the telephone as well as free Wi-Fi".
Roger, who admits he is not very technical and has therefore become totally reliant on Nildram's technical support, is very complimentary of its service:
"Nildram's excellent customer and technical support has proved invaluable to us. If we have a problem with our connection, I always get hold of someone at Nildram very quickly who will sort out the problem in no time".
To sum up, thanks to high speed broadband provided by Nildram, what was once a granny annexe has been transformed into a successful bed & breakfast business attracting visitors from all over the world.