Broadband Means Business at Silicon Croft

....and a local job opportunity.

From Geoffrey Campbell:

We’ve been following the issues around broadband provision in Ardnamurchan, and thought that Diary readers might like to know how a good, fast internet connection has helped one small business thrive in Kilchoan.

Oxford Abstracts was founded in 2001 to provide the niche but important service of abstract management to academic and scientific institutions around the world. What on earth is an abstract you may well ask? It’s a summary of academic research that will determine whether or not your idea gets a slot at a conference or is published in a journal. This has far reaching implications for funding and your reputation in the academic world.

At Oxford Abstracts we develop the software that allows conference administrators to control the complicated business of collecting and managing abstracts. It all started in the city of Oxford (hence the name) but our customers are spread all over the world and it’s only natural that our offices also be dispersed so, along with our office in Kilchoan, we also have co-workers in Bournemouth, Budapest and Vancouver.

The internet makes all of this possible and we are keenly awaiting the arrival of the promised superfast broadband. But even with the current speeds we can effectively communicate with our customers and conduct online demonstrations. We can share our computer screens with our customers and even, with their permission, take over their computers completely. With the combination of email and Skype telephone calls and online meetings, the traditional office is a thing of the past.

So why has Oxford Abstracts ended up in Kilchoan? I blame my parents who moved here in 1973 -with no mains electricity and a black and white TV. It was a serious culture shock for a young teenager. I moved away in 1980 but the links with Kilchoan remained. And the attraction of village life, access to the great outdoors, and the ability to work in Kilchoan, prompted us to move north in May 2015.

As a wry take on Silicon Valley, we jokingly renamed our business address “Silicon Croft”. Now it’s stuck, and maybe it will be a taste of things to come, because I doubt that we will be the last company to make this transition.

We are looking for someone who wants year round employment to join the team and help look after our expanding customer base. If you have good attention to detail, and you are comfortable on a computer using email and the internet, then have a look at our website at www.oxfordabstracts.com and send me an email - to Geoff.campbell@oxfordabstracts.com - for more details. All correspondence will be confidential.