technologyreseller.co.uk CHANNEL BULLETIN 45 Mark Barcham, Head of Services Sales and Go-to-Market for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in EMEA, says the services will alleviate challenges channel partners face when developing a services proposition, from a shortage of niche skill sets to the costs of building a managed services platform and the impact on cashflow. “In short, we’re here to help channel partners ramp up recurring revenue streams, unconstrained by the overheads typically associated with maintaining a rich services portfolio,” he said. https://www.arrow.com/globalecs/uk/ services/managed-services/ ······ B Corp first for FCC Weston-super-Mare-based First Class Comms (FCC) has broken new ground by becoming the first telecoms reseller in the UK to achieve B Corp status – and one of fewer than 1,500 companies across the UK to have gained the certification. B Corp certification involves a detailed assessment of an organisation’s governance, employment standards, community outreach, environmental values and customer service levels. Based on its B Impact assessment, FCC earned an overall B Corp score of 89.3. The median score for ordinary businesses that complete the assessment is 50.9, with a score of 80 qualifying for B Corp Certification. FCC, founded 10 years ago, provides telephony, mobile phones/contracts and broadband and internet services to 300 clients, mainly in the South-West, including Bristol International Airport, café chain Boston Tea Party and food services firm FSC Group. Founder and MD Mark Burland said: “Becoming B Corp certified is a great achievement for the company. Fortunately, we had already incorporated many of the values into our business practices, particularly in terms of our management of staff and our customer services. The challenge for a small company like ours is to formalise those values into coherent policies which can then be assessed, so it’s been a time-consuming process.” FCC moved into new offices in Westonsuper-Mare in 2021 and, employs seven staff including business analyst Steve Payne, who was largely responsible for the B Corp accreditation process, with guidance from Andy Hawkins from Business on Purpose. Turnover for 2023/24 is forecast to rise 25% to £1.75m. https://firstclasscomms.co.uk/ Mark Burland and Steve Payne of First Class Comms ······ Exertis launches B2B recycling portal Exertis is expanding its recycling activities with the launch of a self-serve trade-in portal where resellers can build a quote for the recycling of multiple devices including handsets, tablets and laptops. All traded-in devices are fully data-wiped with the option of certificates, if required. Exertis has a proven track record in the recycling of devices via its stand-alone, autonomous business division MTR, which for more than a decade has offered a trade-in website for end users. Devices received by MTR have their useful life extended via the secondary device market, with only a small fraction requiring disposal, which is carried out in an environmentally responsible manner and in compliance with the WEEE directive. https://recycle.exertis.co.uk/ ······ Cardiff here we come Socura, a UK-based cybersecurity company that helps NHS trusts and large public sector organisations manage threat detection/response, is moving from London to Cardiff to capitalise on government investment in the region. Cardiff is home to the Cyber Innovation Hub, a Welsh Government initiative created to bring world-class cyber security products, high-growth businesses and talent to the region. Following its move, Socura and sister company Block Solutions will be looking to recruit in the region. www.socura.co.uk ······ Winning lots Circular ICT solutions provider Stone, A Converge Company has won places on several lots of the Crown Commercial Service Network Services 3 RM6116 framework, running until July 16, 2025. These include Lot 2a (Intra-site Connectivity – LAN – and Local Connectivity Services); Lot 3a (IoT and Smart Cities); Lot 4b (Digital Communication Services – Unified Communications); Lot 4c (Contact Centre Solutions); and Lot 4e (Paging and Alerting). convergetp.com Manchester tech hub Digital transformation company ANS has unveiled a cutting-edge tech hub in the heart of Manchester where ANS employees, customers, the local community and charity partners can collaborate, learn and innovate. As well as meeting ANS’ own needs, the multi-million-pound investment is designed to empower local talent and contribute to the growth of the Northwest tech ecosystem by providing a dynamic, accessible hub and a joint-venture educational programme. Facilities include bookable workspaces, the Susan’s Bar social and recreational area, modern classrooms and ANS’s own Training Academy, rated ‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED, and Apprentice Academy. ANS CEO Richard Thompson said: “Our vision is to create a tech movement that empowers individuals, businesses and communities to reach their full potential through technology. We’ve built a first-class space for our people here. This new campus is the epitome of what we stand for and is the space where we bring our values to life: eyes on the customer, to stretch the possible, be all in, give a damn, get it done and be you.” Headquartered in Manchester, ANS Group offers public and private cloud, security, business applications, low code and data services to thousands of customers. It owns and operates five IL3accredited data centres in Manchester and has an ecosystem of tech partners including Microsoft (Gold Partner), AWS, VMWare, Citrix, HPE, Dell, Commvault and Cisco. https://www.ans.co.uk/ Cyber Innovation Hub
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