Pinnacle & Co

About

Pinnacle&Co. Limited is a prominent Christchurch-based advertising agency offering full 360° services, from websites and social media to print, video, and out-of-home campaigns. The agency was started by Phillippa Jacobs-Lory in 1997, and is characterised by their values of honesty, trust and delivering what’s truly best for clients, even when this means advising clients against spending where it won’t add value. This foundation of true service excellence drove Pinnacle&Co. Limited to search for a local hosting partner with the same commitment, when let down by previous hosting providers.

The Challenge

Pinnacle&Co. Limited’s first long-term hosting provider grew rapidly and left business customers behind with slow, poor communication - even as Pinnacle&Co. Limited themselves were growing. Their second provider, chosen for its strong reputation, lasted just 18 months before serious issues surfaced: compromised websites, unclear security inclusions, and little accountability even when liability was proven.

“When someone comes to us, they expect the best, because that’s what we promise to deliver. But our providers weren’t giving us the same in return,” says Founder & CEO Phillippa Jacobs-Lory. “It was embarrassing - our clients don’t always see the backend issues, but they feel the impact when sites go down, and that damages trust.”

These experiences sharpened Pinnacle&Co. Limited’s focus to what truly mattered when they went back to market for a third time - security, reliability, and communication. They needed a genuine partner with clear protocols, prompt support, and the same commitment to honesty and integrity that defines their own business.

“We want to be the best, and we want to be seen to be providing the best service, so we put a lot of trust in who we are working with. Like any industry, you really need to rely on who you’re working with.”

The Solution

Satisfied with the management of their extensive number of domains with Voyager’s sister company 1st Domains, Phillippa Jacobs-Lory reached out to Lee Miller, Voyager Cloud Product Owner (now Chief Product Officer), to explore their hosting options.

Through several in-depth meetings, Voyager was tested against clear requirements: strong security, reliable infrastructure, and a customer-first approach that mirrored Pinnacle&Co. Limited’s own values.

However, security was the turning point. With essential protections advised proactively, rather than as an afterthought, Pinnacle&Co. Limited could finally trust that their own business and their clients’ sites were in good hands. As Phillippa recalls: “It was non-negotiable that you guys had this extra firewall. And I guess that is where I got to breathe. I realized “Oh you’re actually really looking after us”, We haven’t even asked for this extra security and it’s already included (as a recommendation). You can take things like this for granted, but it was great that you guys were a step ahead.”

The final solution was a fully managed Cloud Server on Voyager’s Virtual Data Centre, designed for both security and reliability. With this solution, Voyager’s team handles best-practice updates, patching, configurations, and resource optimisation, with 24/7 monitoring to maintain performance and prevent customer-facing lag. For added protection, Pinnacle&Co. Limited also chose advanced firewalling at both the router and server level.

The Result

The impact of the partnership was immediate. Pinnacle&Co. Limited observed superior performance: “We’ve had excellent uptime, with no outages. We just thought that you have outages and you have downtime, until we actually experienced good service. It’s what you don’t know.”

And when support has been needed, the experience has matched the promise; “the Voyager team has been prompt, helpful and positive. We value the level of service, and we do look forward to our partnership as we grow.” With the right provider in place, Pinnacle&Co. Limited experienced true peace of mind, and removed the need for any dedicated technical staff, as Voyager’s team manages the platform end-to-end.

With their trust rebuilt and the operational load lifted, Pinnacle&Co.Limited’s partnership with Voyager grew beyond hosting. Business-grade connectivity, iSMS and voice services were added, with Pinnacle&Co. Limited finally confident enough to consolidate critical services under one provider. For Phillippa and her team, this meant less time firefighting issues with business-critical services and more time focused on what matters most - delivering results for their clients.

“Partnering with Voyager has been a breath of fresh air. Their professionalism, responsive support, and commitment to security has made a huge difference to our business. We’ve seen great uptime and peace of mind since making the switch. We are really happy with our partnership.”