Technology Reseller v36

NEWS : DISTRIBUTORS technologyreseller.co.uk 09 Strong November and December help Midwich Group return to growth A better performance in the second half of the year, notably in November and December, combined with contributions from two acquisitions, have helped specialist AV distributor Midwich Group achieve single digit growth in 2020 and exceed profit expectations. In a trading update for the year ended 31 December 2020, the Midwich Board said it expects to report revenue for 2020 of more than £710 million, up 4% on the year before, with adjusted profit before tax of approximately £14 million. With lockdowns affecting key markets, such as hospitality and events, underlying sales, before the effect of the in-year acquisitions of Starin Marketing (February) and NMK (December), were 7% lower in the second half of the year than in the same period in 2019 and 22% lower in the first half, giving an overall decline of 14% for the year. Stephen Fenby, Group Managing Director of Midwich, said: “Despite significant challenges, we managed to continue our long-term year-on-year revenue growth. Although markets for many of our higher margin product areas were significantly depressed (and continue to be so), I am pleased that the Group was able to grow its share of the business available. This demonstrates that our service levels have remained high and that we are well placed to capitalise on future market demand when it returns fully. “The Group has made substantial progress in acquiring new brands, while also exiting from lower margin or unprofitable relationships. In particular, we have enhanced our offering in the unified communications, collaboration and audio segments through the year.” He added: “Our acquisition of Starin Marketing in the US in February 2020, followed by the announcement in December of the acquisition of NMK in the Middle East, represent the Group’s entry into two strategically important markets. These acquisitions should substantially enhance our ability to serve international integrators and their global end user project rollouts. The Group now has a foothold in all strategically important global regions and will look to build on that presence in the years to come. Our enhanced team represents by far the strongest in the industry and our acquisition pipeline remains healthy.” Strong cash generation enabled Midwich Group to reduce net debt to approximately £20 million at 31 December 2020, down from £53 million in 2019. www.midwichgroupplc.com Italian software distributor expands into UK Achab, an Italian software distributor specialising in the delivery of value- added services for Managed Service Providers (MSPs), has opened a UK office in Reading as it seeks to become the preferred partner for UK MSPs serving SME customers. Founded in 1994 and a specialist software distributor since 2006, Achab provides a network of 1,800 MSPs and VARs in Italy with software solutions, as well as expert guidance, dedicated training and on-going sales and technical support. In the UK, Achab Ltd. is being headed up by Managing Director Philip Sansom, who has more than 16 years’ experience in the MSP market, including spells at Datto, Kaseya and IT Glue, and by MSP industry expert Simon Bell, who was previously Head of Technology at IT service provider Complete IT Ltd. Sansom said: “I have worked with Achab since 2006 and know what special partnerships they have with MSPs throughout Italy – scouring the markets for products that truly make their partners’ lives easier, allowing MSPs to not only implement the best solutions, but also to stay one step ahead of changing client needs. Achab really gives its MSP partners the edge over the competition. Now we’re looking forward to doing precisely the same here.” Priorities for the UK team include the recruitment of a team of sales and technical support professionals, building relationships with MSP partners in the UK and expanding Achab’s roster of vendor partners. Recent additions that are new to the UK market include anti-phishing solution Cyberfish and Cameyo, a cloud-native digital workspace solution that gives fast, ‘anywhere’ access to business-critical apps and greatly simplifies remote working. www.achab.co.uk Technical apprenticeship scheme launched by Tech Data Following the success of its sales apprenticeship scheme, now in its third year, Tech Data has launched an IT Hardware Technical Apprenticeship scheme to provide new skills development and career opportunities for participating staff and higher standards of technical service for customers. So far, seven Tech Data employees have been enrolled on the 15-month programme offering training in a variety of disciplines, technologies and vendors, including Cybersecurity and DevOps and ITIL4 project management. Apprentices will finish the course with six recognised technical accreditations. Andy Brown, Technical Services Director at Tech Data, UK and Ireland, said: “The sales programme has been a great success and we’re hoping we can reach the same high standards with the technical version. This is a positive investment in the professional development of our colleagues and a commitment to helping them develop their capabilities and careers. Ultimately, it is all about delivering the highest standards and quality of service and support to our reseller partners.” Last year, Tech Data’s sales-focused apprenticeship programme rose to 15th place in the RateMyApprenticeship’s Top 100 Employers Table, up from 60th position in 2019. www.techdata.com Andy Brown Philip Sansom Simon Bell Stephen Fenby