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18
COVER STORY
Data Direct – the industry’s
best kept secret
The UK’s largest dealer only
distributor of OEM and compatible
toner and parts is geared for growth.
Business Development Director
Neville Haywood said that the
company has a strategy in place that
will see the business double within
the next five years.
“For 25 years we have been the
industry’s best kept secret,” he stated.
“But we’re proactively setting out to
change that. We currently transact with
around 600 dealerships and we’re now
looking to expand our reach UK-wide and
further afield.”
Data Direct’s innovative thinking and
customer-centred approach is designed
to deliver time and cost efficiencies to its
channel customers, reducing the amount of
time they spend on back-office operations.
Haywood added: “As a 100 per cent
trade-only distributor we understand the
channel and its requirements. We promise
to deliver the best product, the best quality,
the best support, the best warranty and the
best service, every time.”
The business was established in 1992
by Patrick Winterbotham. Haywood said
that the company originally sold OEM
toners and its business model was simple
and effective. “In the early days, we simply
sold and shipped toners direct to dealers,
who held their own stocks and managed
the fulfilment to end-users themselves,” he
explained.
Knowledge and experience
The company enjoyed sustained growth
year on year, and in 2008 made a strategic
decision to expand its offer and transform
how it did business.
“We invested heavily in people at that
point and hired a number of heavy hitters
to bring unparalleled levels of knowledge
and experience into the business,”
Haywood explained.
Key hires included Sales Director
Marianne Chamberlain, who joined the
Data Direct is marking its 25th year in business with a concerted bid to boost its profile,
engage with more dealerships and expand the business across the UK and beyond
firm from VOW with a brief to develop
and grow the sales team and channel
opportunities.
Data Direct also appointed Mark
Appleton who had many years of
experience in the compatible toners sector.
He was formerly Managing Director at
Parts Dept. and had also worked at PPC
Supplies for some 15 years. As European
Compatible Sales Director, Appleton was
charged with finding the best quality
compatible consumables in the world for
Data Direct.
Another industry veteran Richard
Fennell, who brought almost four decades’
experience to Data Direct, joined around
the same time, with responsibility for
developing and maintaining relationships
with toner and cartridge manufacturers
worldwide.
“Up until 2008, we had only ever sold
OEM supplies,” Haywood said. “However,
having made the decision to offer
compatibles alongside our OEM range, we
We promise
to deliver
the best
product, the
best quality,
the best
support,
the best
warranty
and the
best service,
every time
