24
01732 759725
Shaun Wilkinson,
Managing
Director,
UTAX (UK)
A focus on reinvestment and dealer
growth has resulted in a 10.2 per
cent increase in turnover for UTAX
(UK). FY2015-16 is the sixth year
in a row that the company, one of
the UK’s fastest growing dealer
networks, has posted a double-digit
increase. Last year’s turnover of
£13.7 million represented a 17.6 per
cent increase on 2014, when the firm
recorded an annual turnover of £11.6
million, an 18.4 per cent increase on
the 2013 results.
Employee numbers have also increased
in line with business growth, five years
ago headcount was just 22 and today
UTAX employs 57 people. Recent new
recruits include Kevin Budd and Steve
Hickson who filled two newly created
Business Development Manager roles,
and other appointments made this year
centred on the technical and direct service
departments, were designed to maintain
UTAX‘s high customer satisfaction levels.
In addition to turnover and headcount
increases, UTAX also signed up over 60
new UTAX partner accounts during the last
year – an increase of some 20 per cent.
Managing Director, Shaun Wilkinson
who joined UTAX ten years ago attributes
the consistent success to a strategy that
ensures continued focus on reinvestment
and dealer growth. He also believes that
UTAX’s sales underline his view that UTAX
is steadily increasing market share in every
sector.
Increased market share
As an example, he cites the fact that
UTAX’s internal market analysis has
shown that the cross-market sales of
mono A3 MFPs have effectively shrunk
by almost 30 per cent over the last three
years. “Conversely however, our sales in
this sector are up by 35 per cent, which
suggests an awareness of the reliability
and speed of our models,” he said.
“It’s a similar story in the mono A4 MFP
market,” he continued. “Here, according
to our internal data, we are confident that
we have outperformed the overall market
growth of some 20 per cent with our
improved sales performance of just over
30 per cent.”
Wilkinson admitted that the the mono
A4 printer sales picture is less clear. “But
unlike many of our competitors we’ve seen
around 70 per cent increase in volume
sales over the last three years,” he pointed
out.
In line with the market, UTAX colour
MFPs are continuing to take a strong
foothold in both the A4 and A3 sectors.
“Every year we are seeing a significant
increase in our market share,”Wilkinson
said. According to our own data, the A3
market overall has increased by just over
30 per cent but our own overall sales have
improved by nearly 200 per cent over the
same period.”
Reinvesting for growth
Commenting on the results, Financial
Controller, Kevin Good said: “The
consistent results that we generate are
testament to the reinvestment we continue
to make in providing a complete portfolio
of solutions for both our partners and their
customers.”
He added: “Managed Print Services,
bespoke software packages for both
complex and SME networks and all
with a focus on security and after
sales care, lie at the heart of
the results.”
UTAX (UK) posts results that show a double-digit increase in
turnover for the sixth year running
Six years of
constant growth
Wilkinson insists that the commitment
of UTAX’s partners is key to its success.
“Thanks to the commitment of our UK-
wide team and the support of our partners,
we’ve had another successful year which
has also been helped by a significant
increase in A3 colour sales which has
contributed to many of our partners’
business growth.”
Supporting partners
UTAX is committed to supporting its
partners with technical, marketing and
service support. This year, with its product
range growing rapidly in response to
customers’ needs, the company initiated
a programme aimed at giving the UTAX
dealer channel the widest possible access
to product knowledge and training.
And, at the end of last year a group
of partners were invited to visit the
new Vietnamese manufacturing plant
where they could see for themselves the
expertise, diligence and care that goes into
making each UTAX model so reliable.
“Access to convenient showrooms is
also useful and earlier this year to support
the growing network of UTAX Partners in
London and the South-East, we opened
our new London Technology Suite in
Wembley,”Wilkinson said.
“There’s no reason, given the success,
that we’ll change our approach. If
anything, we’ll do even more to strengthen
our position in the
dealer channel and, in
the process, take the
support and assistance
we offer dealers to
even greater heights,”
he concluded.
Unlike
many of our
competitors
we’ve seen
around 70 per
cent increase
in volume
sales over
the last three
years
RESULTS
