Technology Reseller - v19 2019

01732 759725 08 NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS Midwich celebrated its first 40 years in business on April 12, during which time it has grown to become a £574 million turnover company with 900 employees and 17,000 customers across the UK, Europe and Asia Pacific. Stephen Fenby, Managing Director of Midwich Group Plc, said: “I would like to congratulate all of my fellow employees on today’s anniversary. Midwich has grown phenomenally since its inception to become one of the world’s leading specialist AV distributors. It has been an amazing journey.” Midwich Computer Company was established in 1979 by husband and wife team David and Ruth Watson who started out selling computer components and supplying BBC computers to schools and colleges. In 1991, the company was sold to Oxfordshire-based distribution company Memec PLC, which, in the mid ‘90s, began to sell AV products and concentrate on trade-only customers. Following a management buy-out in 2001, Midwich decided to focus on the AV market and entered a period of rapid growth. It started an acquisition programme in 2006, initially to extend its range of specialist AV products and then to enter new geographies, starting with Ireland through the acquisition of AV distributor Square One in 2009. Since then, Midwich has continued to expand across Europe and also has a strong presence in the Asia Pacific region. In 2016, Midwich became Midwich Group plc after being admitted to the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market with a market capitalisation of £165m. Since then, it has doubled net profit and increased turnover by more than 80% to £574 million. www.midwich.com Midwich celebrates first 40 years Midwich Timeline 1976 n Midwich Computer Company founded 1979 – 1987 n Distributor of computers, components and printers 1995 – 1996 n Introduced trade-only channel policy and commenced AV distribution 2000 – 2005 n Over £100m annual sales achieved 2006 – 2010 n 6 bolt-on acquisitions n Entry into France and Ireland 2012 n Entry into Australia and New Zealand 2013 n Acquisition of Kern & Stelly, a specialist distribution of audio visual products and solutions, based in Hamburg and serving the German market 2014 – 2015 n Acquisition of PSCo, specialists in Rental and LED 2016 n Flotation of The Midwich Group on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange n Acquisition of Holdan, a UK- based distributor of broadcast and professional video products n Acquisition of Wired, a NZ-based distributor of AV technology 2017 n Acquisition of Earpro, a specialist audio visual distributor headquartered in Barcelona, covering the Spanish and Portuguese markets n Acquisition of Van Domburg Partners, a market-leading audio visual distributor in the Netherlands n Acquisition of Sound Technology, a specialist distributor of professional audio, musical instruments and professional lighting 2018 n Acquisition of Bauer and Trummer GmbH, trading as New Media AV, a value added distributor of broadcast and professional video products in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) n Acquisition of Sound Directions France, trading as Perfect Sound, a specialist distributor in the audio integration market, serving France and the French speaking area of Switzerland n Acquisition of Blonde Robot, a specialist trade-only distributor of professional video, photographic and broadcast equipment, covering the Asia Pacific region 2019 n Acquisition of Mobile Pro, a leading Swiss, value added, trade-only distributor of audio visual products with its head office in Zurich n Acquisition of Prase, Italy’s leading, specialist value add distributor of professional audio and video products ICUK launches £1,000 cashback incentive Independent wholesaler ICUK has launched a cashback offer to encourage resellers and partners to add new FTTC 80/20 tails to their base, whether via migration or new installation. In addition to free PSTN and broadband installation as standard, from May 1 to June 30, ICUK is offering a cashback incentive of £250 for 10 new connections, £500 for 15 new connections and £1000 for 25 new connections. Further incentives are available for larger bases. Neil Barnett, Head of Business Development at ICUK, said: “We’re confident it will be successful for both small and large resellers.” www.icuk.net ProVu sets up distribution company for IoT Huddersfield-based VoIP hardware distributor ProVu has launched a sister company specialising in the supply, delivery and ongoing management of IoT devices throughout the UK and Ireland. Alliot Technologies aims to make the deployment of IoT devices from leading manufacturers as simple and affordable as possible by wrapping value added services around the products, such as UK stock holding, provisioning, next day delivery and ongoing device management. Darren Garland, Managing Director of ProVu and Alliot, said: “Established in the early days of VoIP, ProVu fostered relationships with techies who had a keen interest in developing the technology into commercial applications. We plan to adopt this winning approach with Alliot. Thanks to 20 years of experience, ProVu is well positioned to support the growth of Alliot, particularly with its expertise in device provisioning and management, all of which will be relevant to IoT products.” He added: “According to a government report, the number of connected devices could be anywhere from 20 billion to 100 billion by 2020, illustrating the huge potential that lies with IoT.” Alliot is currently introducing a new range of LoRa products, following the launch of the LORIX One LoRaWAN gateway last year. www.provu.co.uk • https://alliot.co.uk/