Tavendale and Partners

A growing business

Tavendale and Partners started as a small law firm with roots in the rural community. Now, they have grown to become the go-to for farm owners across the South Island and into the North. The company now has nearly 70 people working in three offices across Christchurch, Ashburton and Darfield. 

Their growth comes from their understanding of the agricultural sector, and what goes into the demanding industry. But they don't just deal in farms. They also deal in commercial, conveyancing, litigation, succession planning and a range of other services you’d expect from a law firm.

A proactive approach

Like many successful businesses, Tavendale and Partners takes a proactive approach to technology. This ensures they can keep pace with the changing needs of their clients, and enables them to offer service unimpeded by outdated systems. That proactiveness saw them seek out a new partner. They wanted a system that fulfilled their needs and enhanced their service. They needed to find a way to enable their remote working capabilities and overhaul their business telephony. 

With that brief in mind, they approached a range of providers. One of these providers was the local Spark Business Hub, who they asked to give them a quote on a complete system overhaul.

Answering every call

The local Spark Business Hub delivered a solution that mobilises the Tavendale and Partners team. To allow the team to work from any location, Spark disconnected the team from desk phones and moved them to a cloud-based system. This means that calls can be directed to mobiles wherever their people are working. 

The other critical component was ensuring that if an incoming call can't be taken at one office's reception, it diverts to another. This means the client call is still picked up. If they're direct-dialling a specific team member on another call who is unavailable, voice-to-text ensures their message still gets through. It’s efficient and vital for making sure that information needing to be actioned gets to where it needs to be.

Delivering the vision

What impressed the team at Tavendale and Partners was the approach from Tristan and the Canterbury Spark Business Hub team. It wasn’t simply a case of firing back a quote for an off-the-shelf system, the Spark team spent time understanding how the company worked. They held multiple follow-up meetings where they worked through what was needed, ensuring they were aligned, and then responding with a quote that delivered to the vision. 

By working closely together towards this vision, new systems were easily integrated into the company and are now being utlised in their day-to-day business.