Print.IT Reseller - issue 74

01732 759725 PRINTIT AWARDS 20 The deadline for award entries has now passed and our panel of independent judges are working their way through each category Entries are now in as Dealer Manager for Riso where he rose through the ranks to become National Sales Manager before setting- up Midshire with two friends in 1997, building at c£35 million business which was acquired by Sharp in 2017. n Darren Lewitt, Former Director, Midwich For more than two decades, Darren was the face, figurehead and creative driving force behind Midwich’s business evolution which saw the group become one of the largest specialist audio visual distribution companies, with a presence in seven countries. He was responsible for Midwich’s print strategy in the late 1990s and played a key strategic role in Brother becoming the number one print brand in retail. He also masterminded the Lexmark printer strategy 1997-2000 which saw Midwich sell £14 million of Lexmark printers in just one year. n Eric Crump, Director of Strategic Alliances, Ringdale As Director of Strategic Alliances for Ringdale, the inventor of FollowMe printing, Eric leads and develops the strategic alliance activities with global printer manufacturers and key industry analysts. He has over 24 years’ experience working in the US and the EMEA region. He is also a board member and contributor for the Standards and Best Practices Committee for the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA). n Louella Fernandes, Director, Quocirca Louella is globally recognised as a leading authority on market trends in the print, imaging and managed services industry. She has an extraordinary breadth of understanding of the global market dynamic and the rapid changes the print and imaging industry is experiencing. Louella has authored a number of research-led white papers, including the second edition of the pioneering Print 2025 global market insight study which investigates the future of print in the connected digital workplace. n Brendan Perring, General Manager, IPIA Brendan was formerly Editor at Signlink and Print Monthly magazines and Managing Editor of Link Publishing, which owns these national print titles. He helped to found Link Exhibitions, and played a pivotal part in the successful launch of The Print Show, which took place for the first time in October 2015. He is currently General Manager of the IPIA. n Jeff Root, UK Country Manager, Mobi Systems A true industry veteran, Jeff has forged a successful career path working with companies including Canon, Samsung, Panasonic, Sagemcom and Philips. He has extensive experience in sales, management and marketing across product categories including print, mobile, telecoms, imaging, scanners, audio visual and IT and has held a number of senior positions within the sector. He is currently with Mobi Systems, a pioneer in multi-device, cross-platform mobile app development. n Ian Birch, Managing Director, IBC Group With 20 years’ experience in IT services, Ian founded IBC Group two years ago. He has supported a wide range of OEM vendors, channel partners and end clients since launching, with a focus on data insight, process automation and regulatory compliance services. Past experience includes working with a number of OEMs, including Ricoh and Kyocera, and most recently as Head of Digital Transformation at Xerox. KEY DATES Judging day will take place virtually on July 8 and we will announce the shortlist on August 24. I would like to say ‘thank you’ for making the time to enter these awards and to wish you good luck! www.printitawards.co.uk Well once again our industry has come up trumps. We have all experienced the most challenging few months in all our history, we’ve seen the entire country almost come to a halt and many businesses forced to close their doors, furlough staff, and cope with a massive amount of disruption. Yet despite this we are thrilled to announce we have had a huge number of entries to the inaugural PrintIT Awards (more than we anticipated if we’re honest!). Whilst I am not personally privy to any of the details in the entries – (as editor I am remaining totally independent) – I know that the judges will have their work cut out picking a winner in each of the categories! Having spoken to many vendors, distributors and resellers over the past few days, weeks and months, there are several common threads – each of you has a passion for your business and has demonstrated resilience, the ability to flex and pivot to keep going and make the best of things in the midst of this global pandemic – all of this passion will I am sure be reflected in your entries. Meet the judges With judging now underway, I thought it would be a good time to remind you of the members of our esteemed panel. n Sofia Dahlqvist, Director, 55 Connect Ltd Sofia is a leading marketing consultant with extensive experience in print, finishing, IT and software solutions. She brings a wealth of know-how in building bespoke marketing strategies and campaigns within the print and imaging industry. She has worked with a range of key manufacturers, including Canon, Ricoh and Apple; resellers – large and small – as well as software vendors working within the print, finishing and solutions arena. n Julian Stafford, Former Managing Director, Midshire Having been in print for most of his career, Julian is a valuable addition to the judging panel. He began his career Sofia Dahlqvist Julian Stafford Darren Lewitt Eric Crump Louella Fernandes Brendan Perring Jeff Root Ian Birch