Success Story | Kingsley Plastics

Client Overview

Industry

Manufacturing

Company Size

>50 employees

Services Provided

IT Support & Managed Services

Infrastructure Security & Resilience

Cloud Hosting

Migration & Modernisation

Cybersecurity

Products Used

Innovate Private Cloud

Microsoft 365

Exchange Online Plan 1 and 2

FortiGate 60F Next‑Generation Firewall

Bitdefender

About Kingsley Plastics

Kingsley Plastics, based in Winkleigh, Devon, designs and manufactures Glass Reinforced Plastics (GRP) enclosures and components used in some of the country’s most demanding environments such as substations, telecoms cabinets, defence applications and utility installations.

With a workforce that increasingly operates across both the factory floor, office and remote locations, Kingsley Plastics needed an IT partner capable of supporting hybrid working, securing operational data, and meeting the cybersecurity expectations of public-sector and regulated customers, without disrupting production.

Its products often house safety-critical equipment, which means the business carries a significant responsibility to safeguard sensitive customer data and maintain operational integrity.

The Challenges

Kingsley Plastics was experiencing significant growth with a more hybrid workforce, realising they required more day-to-day support.

Their IT environment had expanded organically rather than being strategically designed over the years and was showing signs it was time for a change:

Microsoft 365 hosted via GoDaddy, limiting access to native-tenancy features and security controls.
File storage, backup, network services and the 123 Insight MRP/ERP SQL Server all sitting on ageing on‑premise infrastructure.
A legacy Cisco ASA firewall out of support, running outdated firmware, and unable to deliver secure remote working.
A legacy antivirus product at end of life, with no central management.
No formal cybersecurity certification — a growing barrier to public‑sector bids.

In short, the estate worked, but it carried risk, restricted growth, and was costly to maintain.

With the business growing fast and an urgent need for more support, Kingsley Plastics’ Managing Director Mark Manley and Technical Director Mike Turner initially started the search for IT support locally. However, Innovate, headquartered in Bournemouth, had been working with Kingsley Plastics since 2021, reliably maintaining their firewalls and serving as an external consultancy for their internal IT contact. As remote IT support now reliably fixes most IT problems without the need for physical presence and Innovate was already a trusted partner, Kingsley Plastics engaged with them to also take care of their wider IT needs.

The Solution

Innovate’s engagement combines a long‑term managed services contract with a portfolio of discrete transformation projects. Together, they cover every layer of the IT estate — from end‑user devices to the data centre, from email to firewalls, from backups to compliance:

At the heart of the relationship is Innovate’s helpdesk, acting as Kingsley Plastics’ outsourced IT department, which delivers first, second and third-line helpdesk support.
The plastics manufacturer benefits from service management, incident management and structured escalation through a single point of contact for less confusion, and faster coordination and decisions.
Innovate also delivers hardware and software support, relieving Kingsley Plastics of the time-consuming task of resolving issues directly with third-party vendors and warranty providers.
Remote managed services ensure systems are performing as expected, event logs are reviewed and actioned where needed, hardware health is optimal, and antivirus and firewall security are ensured.
With turnaround times of attackers exploiting known vulnerabilities becoming shorter, Innovate keeps Kingsley Plastics secure by managing their patch and software updates.
As a layer against data loss, the IT support provider also manages backup and their verification, ensuring recoverable copies of business data are always available.
Monthly reporting and quarterly service review meetings give Kingsley Plastics visibility of performance, trends, and improvement opportunities.

Service Levels That Match Business Priorities

Incidents are categorised by business impact, with response targets that reflect operational urgency: the genuine differentiator is a swift 30 minutes for severe (P1) issues (internet outages, security incidents or data corruption) compared to the industry-standard response of between one to four hours; 1 hour for P2; 2 hours for P3; and 4 hours for P4 — with timed and functional escalation paths to ensure no incident goes stale.

All of the above means Kingsley Plastics has predictable IT costs, a single number to call, and a contractually backed promise that critical issues will be picked up within minutes – not hours - by skilled engineers who know the estate.

“The best thing about their service desk is no matter who we speak to, they know us and talk to us like they've known us for years. Their biggest advantage is their staff because they're always friendly and happy, and never ‘bored’ or too busy to deal with us.”

Mark Manley, Kingsley Plastics

Cloud

Cybersecurity

Microsoft 365 Migration to a Native Tenancy

Innovate migrated Kingsley Plastics from a GoDaddy‑hosted Microsoft 365 environment to a new, dedicated native Microsoft 365 tenancy. This unlocked the full Microsoft 365 feature set, bringing security and compliance under direct control, and laid the foundation for moving workloads off ageing on‑premise hardware.

This comprised:

A four‑phase migration: Preparation & Planning, Microsoft 365 Tenancy Migration, On‑Premise Services & Data Migration, and Post‑Migration Support & Optimisation.
Migration of mailboxes, calendars, contacts, distribution lists, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams data into the new tenancy, using proven, industry‑standard migration tooling.
Movement of on‑premise file storage into SharePoint Online, with site and library structures designed around how Kingsley Plastics works.
Migration of identity, DNS, DHCP and other network services into Microsoft Azure via Azure AD Connect and Azure Site Recovery, supporting single sign‑on and unified device management.
Configuration of cloud security and compliance controls using Azure Active Directory, Azure Security Centre and Microsoft 365 Compliance Centre.
Hands‑on post‑migration support, performance and cost optimisation, plus end‑user enablement to drive adoption.

The project covered over 50 users across the business in a phased, hybrid where possible approach, scheduled around production hours to minimise disruption.

As a result, Kingsley Plastics gained advanced security, compliance, analytics and mobility features it could not access via the previous arrangement, while reducing reliance on on‑premise hardware. Staff can now collaborate from anywhere, on any device, with confidence that their data is protected.

Cloud‑Hosted SQL Server for the 123 Insight MRP/ERP Platform

At the heart of Kingsley Plastics’ manufacturing operations — from purchasing and stock through to production scheduling — sits the 123 Insight MRP/ERP application. Its database previously ran on an on‑premise SQL Server that was becoming a single point of risk.

Innovate provisioned a fully managed cloud-hosted SQL Server on its Cloud9 platform and migrated the database from the on-premise server using an initial seed, isolated test and swing-migration approach. This means services, data, or systems are moved from an old environment to a temporary or intermediate environment first before moving into the final new environment. Once cut over, the on‑premise SQL services were disabled, preventing the old and new databases from being updated in parallel.

What’s Included With the Cloud SQL Service

Right‑sized virtual server (vCPUs and memory tuned to performance), 150 GB SSD storage, Windows Server 2019 and SQL Server Web Edition.
24×7 Security Operations and 24×7 Network Operations cover.
Antivirus with advanced endpoint detection and remediation, plus security threat assessment and real‑time remediation.
Full patch management for both operating system and database engine.
Daily differential and weekly full backups, retained for 14 days.
Innovate Helpdesk support and a dedicated site‑to‑site VPN connecting Kingsley Plastics back to the cloud platform.

As a result, the line-of-business application that runs the factory now lives on enterprise-grade infrastructure, with monitoring, security and backups handled around the clock, removing a major operational risk and freeing the team from having to babysit a physical server.

Cyber Essentials Certification

Cyber Essentials is the UK Government‑backed scheme that protects organisations against the most common cyber threats and is increasingly mandated for public‑sector and supply‑chain contracts. For a manufacturer supplying utilities, defence and telecoms, it’s fast becoming a commercial necessity.

Innovate led Kingsley Plastics through certification using a structured, phased methodology:

Initiation and planning: defining scope, boundaries and certification body.
Gap analysis and risk assessment: measuring current controls against the five Cyber Essentials technical control areas: firewalls, secure configuration, user access control, malware protection, and patch management.
Remediation and implementation: hardening configurations, enforcing multi‑factor authentication, patching, and updating documentation.
Staff awareness: ensuring users understand phishing risks, password policy and acceptable use.
Submission and assessor liaison: completing the self‑assessment, evidencing controls, and resolving any final queries.
Continuous improvement: establishing renewal procedures and a roadmap toward Cyber Essentials Plus or ISO 27001 in future.

This certification removes a barrier to bidding for public‑sector tenders, demonstrates due diligence to existing customers, and embeds a baseline of cyber hygiene across the business.

FortiGate 60F Next‑Generation Firewall and Secure Remote Access

Hybrid working changed Kingsley Plastics’ perimeter overnight. The legacy Cisco ASA — outdated, out of Smart Net support, and never designed for today’s remote‑access patterns — was no longer fit for purpose.

Innovate scoped, supplied and deployed a Fortinet FortiGate 60F Next‑Generation Firewall as a direct replacement, configured for a hard cutover to minimise the change window. The new platform delivers:

SSL VPN and secure mobile access, allowing staff to reach company resources safely from any location.
Integrated intrusion detection and intrusion prevention to block threats at the perimeter.
A modern, supported firmware base with vendor support behind it.
Ongoing firewall security monitoring as part of Innovate’s remote managed service, tracking administrative changes and alerting on malicious activity.

Managed Antivirus With Bitdefender

Innovate replaced Kingsley Plastics’ legacy antivirus product with Bitdefender, deployed and centrally managed by the Innovate team. Innovate prepared a Bitdefender installation package, with a tailored policy that balances strong protection against the realities of a manufacturing environment, and handed it to Kingsley Plastics’ internal lead for company-wide rollout.

Antivirus health — pattern files, engines, distribution success, quarantine, vulnerability alerts — is monitored as part of Innovate’s remote managed service.

“The migration and everything Innovate has taken care of for us was surprisingly smooth. With a change of this magnitude, we braced ourselves for disruption. But with how it’s gone, we found it really reassuring from day one that we were going to get a good service. As Innovate monitors all of our equipment, we very rarely have problems, and any issue gets flagged from their side rather than the other way around, which is exactly what we were looking for.”

Mark Manley, Managing Director, Kingsley Plastics

The Innovate Difference

Kingsley Plastics chose Innovate because of a combination of capability and approach:

Microsoft Partner credentials, with deep expertise in Microsoft 365, Azure and SharePoint.
A full‑stack offering — service desk, infrastructure, cloud, networking and cybersecurity all delivered by one provider, removing finger‑pointing between vendors.
Proactive, customised solutions — not off‑the‑shelf but designed around how Kingsley Plastics operates.
Clear governance — named project managers, account managers and engineers; written project plans; clear response-time promises — faster than the industry standard; quarterly reviews.
Commercial transparency — published price books, fixed monthly fees, and clear out‑of‑hours rates, so the customer always knows what they are paying for.

“Our staff were quite sceptical of IT in general, as tends to be the case in more traditional industries like manufacturing. We trust the technology much more now and are looking forward to how it will take our business forward.”

Mark Manley, Kingsley Plastics

50 +

Users migrated to a native Microsoft 365 tenancy

150

GB of data migrated

Hours of downtime during migration

minutes response time on P1 incidents (internet outages, security incidents, data corruption)

Key Takeaways

Challenges

Microsoft 365 hosted via GoDaddy, limiting access to the full feature set, security controls and integrations of a native tenancy
File storage, backup, network services and the critical 123 Insight MRP/ERP SQL Server all sitting on ageing on‑premise infrastructure — a single point of risk for the factory
Legacy Cisco ASA firewall out of SmartNet support, running outdated firmware, and never designed for today's remote‑access patterns
Legacy antivirus product reaching end of life with no central management
No formal cybersecurity certification in place — a growing barrier to bidding for public‑sector and regulated contracts

How Innovate Solved Them

Four‑phase migration (Preparation & Planning, Tenancy Migration, On‑Premise Services & Data Migration, Post‑Migration Support & Optimisation) into a dedicated native Microsoft 365 tenancy, with SharePoint Online, Azure AD Connect and end‑user enablement
Fully managed cloud‑hosted SQL Server on Innovate's Cloud9 platform, migrated via an initial seed, isolated test and swing‑migration approach with on‑premise services disabled at cut‑over to prevent the old and new databases from being updated in parallel
Fortinet FortiGate 60F Next‑Generation Firewall scoped, supplied and deployed as a direct replacement via a hard cutover, with SSL VPN, integrated intrusion detection and prevention, and ongoing managed monitoring of administrative changes and malicious activity
Bitdefender deployed and centrally managed by Innovate, with a tailored policy balanced for a manufacturing environment and continuous monitoring of pattern files, engines, distribution, quarantine and vulnerability alerts as part of the remote managed service
Cyber Essentials certification delivered through a structured, phased methodology: scope and planning, gap analysis against the five technical control areas, remediation and MFA enforcement, staff awareness, assessor submission, and a roadmap toward Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO 27001

Business Outcomes

Advanced security, compliance, analytics and mobility features now under direct control, with transparent licensing and clearly itemised project work; staff collaborate from anywhere, on any device, with confidence that their data is protected.
Critical workloads now sit on supported, monitored, backed-up infrastructure with 24×7 Security and Network Operations cover where it matters — removing a major operational risk and freeing the leadership team to focus on manufacturing, customers and growth rather than babysitting a physical server.
A stronger cybersecurity posture with next-generation perimeter protection, secure mobile and remote access from any location, and a modern vendor-supported platform aligned to a hybrid workforce.
Stronger, centrally managed endpoint protection with full visibility of antivirus health and a consistent baseline across the estate — working in concert with the firewall, hardened M365 controls and Cyber Essentials to lift the overall security posture.
Certification credentials and modern collaboration tooling open the door to contracts that demand both — removing a barrier to public-sector tenders, demonstrating due diligence to existing customers in utilities, defence and telecoms, and embedding a baseline of cyber hygiene. Quarterly service reviews, monthly reporting and a named account team keep the IT roadmap aligned with the business as it grows.

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