There aren’t many North-East entrepreneurs who helped lead their family business right from leaving school at 16.

But Peter Joynson, MD of Gateshead-based Synergi is no ordinary businessman. There is entrepreneurial spirit in his family’s blood and as a result he now has a 31-year track record of developing companies specialising in technological solutions for clients.

The original family firm he joined was sold to a large London-based plc 18 months after he started, so despite still being a teenager in his words: “I really had my eyes opened to large scale operation with a far wider range of technology advancements than I had experienced previously. My brother Mark and I both joined the new business, Wildings plc and were working with really experienced sales people with clients who were much larger than we had previously handled, we learnt a huge amount by that experience and the subsequent growth.”

Further change then presented Peter and Mark with the opportunity to buy their original family business back and be based in the North East again, which appealed to both of them.

Peter said: “We then grew the Joynson business for a second time, using the fantastic experience we had gathered working with such a substantial company. Our service included providing IT solutions, infrastructure, accounting and software solutions, and by 2003 we had expanded and bought local competitors. Our turnover grew to £7m and we employed 40 people. We were three years into an ambitious five-year plan when we had the opportunity to join Graham Wylie at TSG after he left Sage. This was another excellent learning experience for me. I enjoyed the decade I spent there.”

Following personal ambitions Synergi was born in 2013 with co-director Justin Short.

The business has been growing year on year and specialises in offering Microsoft cloud products and services helping companies to maximise their investment in modern technology.

Peter explains: “In the olden days IT firms would have advised clients about buying on-premise computing solutions but now most people have cloud platforms.

“Our value is getting this software to support how modern business and people work to make everything more efficient.

“We basically weave products such as Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365 and Nintex workflow tools to enhance business productivity.”

Synergi has grown to employ 22 people with a turnover of £2m and offices in Gateshead, London and Scotland, and customers the length and breadth of the country.

Peter is proud of the blue-chip clients they have on board as well, including major names such as Northumbrian Water, Arriva and many fire and rescue services across the UK. “I know this feature is called Meet the Boss but I’m not the Boss in the traditional sense of the word. Justin and I have a caring attitude with a flat structure. We think it is imperative everyone pulls in the same direction and we only recruit someone if we are certain they are a good fit for our culture. Basically we want everyone from the staff to all our clients, to have the right feel-good factor, as its critical to our success.”