Who are WEBPRO? An interview

Interviewer: An interview with WEBPRO's owner, Anton Halpern...

Interviewer: So Anton, first tell us a little bit about your background...

Anton Halpern: Well I started off as an IT consultant or IT support consultant working for different firms providing support for clients. In those days we had big mobiles like bricks and the big battery containers that we used to walk around with. I remember sitting in a pub in Bournemouth answering calls to people during the weekend, answering this big phone and people were looking around me saying who the hell was this person on this big mobile phone because mobiles were, you know, no one had them at all. But then I progressed to working on the dealing room floors for big merchant banks and helping all the dealers with problems and keeping the servers up and running and it's where I learned all of my customer service skills which is what we do today at WEBPRO.

Interviewer: And how did WEBPRO come to be?

Anton Halpern: Well I used to work with a friend of mine called Peter Martin and he ran a company called Hallmark and they provided sales forces, well they provided incentive schemes for sales forces and if those guys hit their targets, they would be taken on a holiday, all expenses paid, by the firms. But unfortunately we had the pensions misselling and all these guys and girls got dumped on the market because all the banks and building societies closed down all their sales forces and they all became IFAs and mortgage brokers.  But because we knew all these guys and because now we didn't have these abilities to sell these incentive schemes, Peter decided to, he was a marketeer, and decided to offer them services on how to get their business services online and promote them through the internet and websites and that's how WEBPRO got born, through the necessity to find a new market for the services that we were offering.

Interviewer: What were some of the initial challenges you faced?

Anton Halpern: I suppose at those times it was about how to get people to believe in the internet and it's still a problem we have today. It's not a tangible thing that you can buy, you know, you've got to invest in it and you've got to promote yourselves and you've got to buy these websites and, you know, no one really understands how they do it unless you're in the market and you develop websites and software. So asking people to subscribe to this, you know, marketing outlet, you know, unless you're probably a millenium that has been grown up and born with these things, it's, you know, it's something you have to trust in people to do so it was difficult to get people to believe that this was where they needed to spend their money and to move them from the traditional magazines and paper advertising into an online world that was very new to them. 

Interviewer: WEBPRO has evolved hugely in recent years, how have things changed from the early years to now?

Anton Halpern: I think it's all done to technology. The technology has grown really really fast and developed really fast since 2002 when we started WEBPRO and we've, you know, if you could see the different sites that we produced at the start of this company, in their day they were, you know, amazing sites but if you look at them now and compare them to what we're producing today, you know, you'd think what the hell are those? But they used to work on 15" screens and 17" screens and we've had to develop new sites that work now with wide, ultra wide screens and then the advent of mobiles came in and, you know, we had to develop sites that were responsive, that worked on iPhone 3's and then, you know, consistently now we're up to iPhone 15s and then, you know, the Android phones and, you know, Blackberries and so, you know, there's been lots of challenges on the way to develop sites that worked and continued to grow and continue to work with all the changing technology that's around today and the other things that's really probably the biggest thing is that everyone has got very used to having result instantaneously so they demand things that are very very fast and straight there for them so it's a challenge and it's always a challenge and there is never a day that goes by that is not challenging for what we're doing and what we have to provide to clients in today's internet world.

Interviewer: Was this always the plan for WEBPRO?

Anton Halpern: Yes, I mean WEBPRO's an online marketing digital agency but we initially started out as just delivering websites for clients and we've changed that to become actually a digital agency offering more than just a website so, you know, we offer creative services, software development, online websites, as well as online marketing so, you know, it's become much more than just delivering websites. In the early days it was just a website, I mean just people used to buy a website from us but now they buy all the connected services that provide them with a digital online service that allows them to promote their products and services online.

Interviewer: What are some of the stand out moments of the journey so far?

Anton Halpern: The main one is to build a team, you know, originally there was only three of us and now there's over 15 to 20 of us in all areas of the company from developers to creative people to constructors to support staff, content writers. We've developed this very stable robust team and, you know, who share the same principles as I do which is to, you know, provide a service to clients and to help them grow their businesses online and, you know, it's very rewarding to see clients sending comments that are, you know, show their gratitude to everything that the staff and the team here at WEBPRO do.

Interviewer: Tell us a little bit about the team...

Anton Halpern: It's a wonderful people, it's a wonderful set of people, group of people, it's a pleasure to work with, you know, and, as I said, every day they come in and, you know, it's surprising at how much, you know, challenges that we face every day with, you know, as I said, going back, everyone wants everything now so, you know, it's hard to try and say woah we'll, you know, we'll get it done for you but, you know, everyone works very very hard to deliver a fast service and, you know, a comprehensive service to our clients and, as I said, you know, we get these nice comments back so it's very rewarding, you know, we've got a great team, there's never dull moments in what we're doing.

Interviewer: What's next for WEBPRO?

Anton Halpern: We're working on a nice new range of products for the company that we'll hopefully bring out later on this year and we're constantly checking all our own websites, we've got 5 of them at the moment out there delivering different services for different sectors, so it's constantly making sure that we're relevant, that our websites are offering the right services that our clients need and promoting the right things and the information that they'r after. Just like we are recommending and advising our clients in what they need to do, we have to take that information on board ourselves and we're constantly having to review everything that we're doing and making sure that we are relevant and offering the right services to our clients and that we're doing the right things for ourselves as well so, you know, it's a very very exciting time, there's lots being worked on and we are, you know, busy busy busy, you know, we just could do with a few more hours every day to fit everything in but, you know, such is life.

Interviewer: Thanks for watching.