By Steffan Dancy, Managing Director, Rydal Group
We’re delighted to share that Justin Blaine has joined Rydal Group as Channel Sales Director, leading partner success across our Rydal Wholesale division.
We’ve been keeping an eye on Justin for a while. With our strategic relationship with Bicom Systems, our own ISP, 25+ carriers and alt-nets behind it, and our new partner management platform about to launch into beta – the timing was perfect. Justin brings the depth of channel knowledge and executive expertise we need to share what we’ve built with a much wider audience.
Why Justin and Why Now?
Our channel partners have been scaling with us, and the reason is simple: the personal touch. We’ve built every one of those relationships by showing up, being responsive, and treating their business like our own. That’s how we’ve grown from 76 to over 115 people in just twelve months.
To go to the next level, we need to grow the channel base in a measured, supported way without losing what got us here. That means exec-level channel expertise, a partner success infrastructure, and using our AI capability and new partner management platform to scale the quality of support, not dilute it.
That’s what Justin brings.
He joins us with extensive experience across the UK hosted voice channel and genuine hands-on expertise with the Bicom Systems platform and he was candid about what he found when he looked properly at what Rydal had built:
“I genuinely believe that what’s been built here is something special. The foundations are strong, the partner base is active, and the roadmap around Curo IP adds real value. I was genuinely surprised by the scale and quality of what’s been developed, and I’m looking forward to bringing that to a much wider audience across the channel.”
That’s exactly the reaction we wanted from someone with his experience. And it’s exactly the message we need him to take to the wider channel.
What Justin Is Walking Into
Rydal has been quietly building something substantial. We’ve sometimes been a hidden gem and Justin’s arrival is partly about changing that.
Here’s what’s behind the doors:
- Our own ISP – giving partners greater control and flexibility than most resellers in the UK can offer
- Merula, our OFNL full-fibre business acquired in late 2024, delivering one of the widest connectivity portfolios in the sector with 25+ carriers and alt-nets
- Curo IP, our hosted voice platform powered by Bicom Systems – and actively updated to the latest versions including PBXware Version 8, AI Voice Agents, AI Hub, and Live Transcription
- Callytics, we are the exclusive reseller of this conversational intelligence product, and a Wallboard intelligence tool both built to complement the Bicom platform with real-world AI capability
We don’t build the core Bicom software, and we’d never pretend to. Bicom build an excellent platform. Our role is to complement it, with our own tooling, connectivity, professional services, and the commercial wrap-around that turns a great platform into a great business for our partners.
Justin’s job is to open all of that up to the audience it deserves.
Removing the Technical Ceiling
One of the things Justin highlighted as genuinely differentiating is something we sometimes forget to shout about: we take away the need for partners to build their own technical team from scratch.
Through Rydal Wholesale, we provide dedicated technical resource and white-labelled support delivered entirely under the partner’s own brand. For new entrants to the channel, that means launching without a hiring gap or technical shortfall. For established resellers, it means scaling support without scaling headcount.
As Justin puts it:
“New entrants often hit a technical resource ceiling in the first few months. We remove that barrier completely – and do it under the partner’s own brand.”
This is one of the things that genuinely sets us apart as a Bicom reseller in the UK. We don’t just provide access to the platform, we provide the full operational layer behind it, so partners can focus on what matters: sales, customer relationships, and growth.
A Long-Term Home for Bicom Partners in the UK
There’s a community of resellers across the UK channel who built their businesses on Bicom Systems – who know the platform inside out and genuinely love what it does for their customers.
Over the last couple of years, some providers who previously served that community have moved in a different direction, developing proprietary platforms and stepping away from Bicom altogether. That’s left a real gap.
We’ve made a deliberate decision to fill it.
Rydal Group is one of the UK channel’s leading businesses still actively committed to the Bicom ecosystem. We’re invested in the roadmap, running on the latest versions, and on the front foot with the new AI capabilities coming out of Bicom, testing, validating, and making sure those features are genuinely fit for purpose for channel partners before they take them to customers.
If you love the Bicom product and you’re looking for a provider who loves it just as much, one committed to the long term, with the infrastructure and commercial wrap-around to match – we’d like to talk.
Building a Partner Success Team, Not Just Account Management
Justin’s focus from day one goes beyond traditional channel account management. His brief is to build a partner success team that delivers wrap-around services: professional services, technical support, commercial guidance, and genuine long-term partnership.
For owner-operators thinking about the next chapter, that also includes something most in the channel can’t credibly offer: a route to exit.
“This is about more than just infrastructure. There’s a complete wrap-around here, from professional services and technical support through to long-term growth and even a credible route to exit.”
Our buy-and-build strategy means we’ve done this before. We know what good looks like, and we understand what matters to founders who’ve spent years building something they care about.
Our New Partner Management Platform Is Coming
Alongside Justin’s arrival, we’re readying a new partner management platform that will change how partners operate day-to-day.
The platform will centralise Curo IP provisioning, connectivity ordering, and hardware into a single interface, automating key processes, providing intelligent insight across partner estates, and giving resellers the speed and control to operate on their own terms.
On the voice side, partners will have a choice: deliver services under the Curo IP brand, or white-label the whole thing as your own. Either way, the underlying Bicom Systems platform is the same, and the support and enablement behind it comes from the same Rydal team.
Beta launch is imminent. More shortly..
What This Means for Partners
If you’re an existing Rydal Partner: you’ll see a step-change in how we support you, while the personal touch that brought you here stays exactly where it is. Justin is already thinking about team structure, enablement, and how we make growing with us easier than ever.
If you don’t work with us yet: especially if you’re a Bicom loyalist looking for a provider who matches your commitment to the platform, or a new entrant who needs a home that removes the technical barrier, now is a good time to have a conversation.
The foundations are in place. The growth is real. The roadmap is strong. And we’re investing seriously in the people and platforms that make Rydal somewhere worth partnering with for the long term.
Get in touch with the Rydal team or explore our wholesale offering to see what we can do for your business.