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0345 123 6677

Our Story

Now a full-service IT and communications support provider, we’ve come a long way since our early days as a reseller of mobile contracts in 1991. Many of today’s team have been a part of that journey across four decades, and so have some of our very first clients!

  • 1988

    Brian and Hilary Vockins formed B.V. Communications

  • November 1991

    B.V. Communications recruited Pete Boby to launch Grapevine

  • April 1992

    Grapevine opened it's first retail shop on Widcombe Parade in Bath

  • April 1993

    Our longest serving employee Donna Fletcher joined the company as a Sales and Admin Assistant

  • Mid 1990's

    Grapevine expanded opening retail stores in Bournemouth, Dorchester, Poole and Weymouth under the ‘Vodafone Centre’ name

  • November 1996

    Our current Managing Director, James Spinks joined the company as a Sales Executive in Poole

  • Late 1990's

    To avoid confusion with Vodafone’s own high street stores, all partner stores became ’The Word’

  • 2001

    Our Dorset team consolidated at Winfrith Technology Centre with a renewed focus on business contracts, following the sale of our retail stores

  • 2004

    Grapevine moved into it’s current Poole HQ at 19-25 Nuffield Road

  • 2008

    Our team in Bath relocated from the original retail premises on Widcombe Parade to Bath Business Park, Peasedown St John

  • 2011

    We celebrated our 20th anniversary by raising £20,000 for charity

  • 2012

    We introduced fixed line services to compliment our existing business mobile offering

  • 2012

    Bath Rugby appointed us as their Official Communications Partner

  • September 2015

    We acquired a local IT company to become a full-service technology and communications provider for our clients

  • November 2021

    Our fixed line services partner Gamma appointed us as 1 of only 16 Technical Alliance Partners in recognition of our product knowledge and expertise

  • November 2021

    Having continued to support our clients through the global pandemic, we celebrated our 30th anniversary in business

  • September 2022

    With IT services now a fully integrated part of our business, we achieved Gold Microsoft Partner status

  • March 2023

    Grapevine becomes an Employee Ownership Trust

  • July 2023

    Our team in the south west relocates to join the thriving business community at Glove Factory Studios

  • October 2023

    We were awarded 'Best Place to Work' at the Dorset Business Awards

  • October 2023

    We achieved Gamma Gold Partner status in addition to our previous Technical Alliance accreditation

  • April 2024

    Grapevine is officially recognised as a living wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation