01732 759725
16
Q&A
Jo Caudron,
Founder,
Duval Union
Consulting
Swan Digital celebrates
25th anniversary
PITR:
What prompted you to start the
business?
Adrian Adams:
Back in 1991, the
company I used to work for was bought by
a bigger player and being part of a much
larger organisation took away a lot of the
flexibility.
The acquisition prompted me and
another colleague, [Adams’ former
business partner retired eight years ago],
to start-up our own company so that we
could continue to conduct business the
way we liked to and engage and work with
customers in the manner which worked
best for us, and for them.
PITR:
What obstacles did you face in
the early days?
Adrian Adams:
We started out selling
second-hand copiers, as in the beginning
no-one would talk to us! We were a
start-up with no track record and at the
beginning it was tough to get things going.
The second-hand market was the perfect
platform for us to begin with and build on.
At that time, computers were still in
their infancy and we also dealt in second-
hand computers, which provided us with a
further revenue stream. We saw this as just
another way for us to sell to customers and
I really had no idea where it would lead to!
[Today, Swan Digital is very heavily involved
in IT and provides networking and IT as a
service to an ever-increasing client base.]
PITR:
Growth was rapid and early on,
how did you achieve that?
Adrian Adams:
Our customers began
to rely on us more and more and we very
quickly had to scale up and bring in more
people to cope with the additional demand
for our products, time and services. The first
three years we enjoyed incredible year on
year growth.
Our turnover was £170k in year one,
not bad for a start-up, and an acquisition
we made in that first year meant we
doubled in size. We bought a second
company the following year and we ended
up with loads of opportunities. Within 12
months we had three sales people, three
telesales staff, two secretaries, admin and
accounts staff and three engineers on
board.
It was in 1994, three years after we
launched and right at the beginning of the
digital era that we entered the new printer
and copier market. We secured a Sharp
dealership, the recession was behind us
and our expertise in IT saw a number of
manufacturers now keen to do business
with us.
It’s fair to say that there were teething
problems in the early days of digital
technology but our skill in IT meant that
we were perhaps better placed to cope
than other more traditional hardware-only
resellers.
In 1995 we were really impressed with
2016 is Littlehampton-based Swan Digital’s 25th anniversary year.
PrintIT Reseller
spoke to Managing Director Adrian Adams, about the
firm’s past, present and future
the Aficio brand, we partnered with NRG
(now Ricoh) and we’ve never looked back.
We have a great working relationship
and we are pretty much single-line today,
although we do also provide Develop
products.
PITR:
What other services does Swan
Digital provide?
Adrian Adams:
We also provide a wide
range of IT services in the background and
that side of the business continues to do
really well. I’d say it’s a pretty even 50/50
split across both print and IT now.
We install and manage computer systems
and networks for small businesses who don’t
want the hassle and can’t justify a full-time
systems manager, provide digital CCTV
systems and supply VoIP telephony solutions.
We are also heavily involved in
networking infrastructure. There aren’t many
companies who do what we do, we’ve
successfully carved out a niche market and
many of our customers have asked us to
support them with office relocations.
We work exclusively with Fujitsu on
the IT side, their equipment is superior and
their behind the scenes support is excellent.
New hardware that is being and will be
launched will demand new infrastructures
be put in place and we’re keeping ahead
of the game, ensuring we’re equipped to
deliver a superior service to our customers.
Our engineers have completed advanced
training so we can help our customers
move their businesses forward.
We’ve invested heavily in training
everyone up on CAT 7 and fibre optic
cabling which is different from earlier
Ethernet cable standards including CAT 5
and CAT 6. CAT 7 and fibre optic cabling
is the future, it is much more durable,
capable of carrying more information and
has a longer lifetime when compared to
CAT 5 and CAT 6. We firmly believe it’s
the best choice for wiring today to ensure
a business is future-proofed and it will
provide customers with a strong overall
return on investment.
There’s also another side of the
business. We rent out equipment directly to
small businesses and start-ups. I remember
well the days when people wouldn’t talk
to us as a new business and that prompted
me to engage with and support new start-
There
aren’t many
companies
who do what
we do, we’ve
successfully
carved out a
niche market
Continued...
Adrian Adams,
Managing
Director
