01732 759725 20 Crest IT and the expertise in that business, we would probably be quite far behind other major players in the industry. Today, more than ever, customers want to deal with a single provider that can manage all of their needs across print, telecoms and IT, so that gives us a competitive edge. PITR: If you could change one thing about the last decade, what would it be? PL: I’m sure I’m not alone in wishing that COVID didn’t happen at all. But that said, there is a positive. That immediate impact on our business made us look at things in a very different way and it did force us to make some significant changes. Those changes were for the better and we are in a much stronger position, having gone through that than we were previously. The one thing I’d change is that we did that sooner, without COVID being the catalyst. PITR: What has been your proudest moment of the past 10 years? PL: My proudest moment is becoming a father. I have two amazing children who are growing up far too quickly, my eldest will soon start secondary school! PITR: Sum up the decade in three words. PL: Testing. Fun. Change. https://absabetterway.co.uk, https://crest-it.co.uk PITR: What was your first job? PL: I was a kitchen porter in the local pub. PITR: What has been the high point of the decade? PL: Making the fully committed move into IT by acquiring Crest IT seven years ago. Acquiring a business was a really big step, we’d never run an IT business before. The former owner Michael continued working with us and the two businesses complement each other, and more importantly we can support our customers across print, scan and IT so that’s a huge value-add. PITR: And the low point? PL: It has to be COVID. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever gone through. I remember going to my dad for advice even though he’d retired, and him saying, nothing like that had ever happened before, so he didn’t have a golden fix. We sold one machine in the first month of lockdown, just looking at the order book and seeing one entry was surreal. And that was before the drop in recurring revenue due to print volumes falling. But we survived and thankfully, it’s now a distant memory. PITR: What (or who) has had the greatest impact in the sector in the last 10 years? PL: The convergence of IT and traditional managed print. If we hadn’t acquired PrintIT Reseller (PITR): You’ve been working in the print and IT industry for more than ten years. What led you to enter the sector? Paul Lees (PL): I was working at Comet, to be honest, just earning beer money – I was only 18. Then my dad, [founder of ABS UK] had someone in the warehouse move on without working notice, so he offered me an extra £50 per week to come in and help out. It was meant to be a short-term thing, but 20 years later, I’m still here! I should add that I didn’t get an easy ride being the boss’ son – in fact, it was quite the opposite. I remember I was five minutes late in the first couple of months, and he gave me a dressing down in front of everyone! I didn’t like it so much when I was 18, but now I’m older I totally get it. Paul Lees, Operations Director, ABS UK shares his experiences over the past decade, what he’s learned, and the highs and the lows of our unique and challenging industry A decade in print INTERVIEW Paul Lees
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