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BULLETIN
6
VOE enhances
e-commerce system
VOW has upgraded its OP-Dealer e-commerce
site to provide resellers with improved stock
level information for header code items. It
is also continuing to add product videos for
higher ticket items.
Following changes in October 2015, header code
items had been showing zero stock because stock
was held at the individual component parts that
make up the header code.
However, according to Nikola Simpson, Group
E-Commerce Manager, this has now been put right.
"We have changed the way that header code items
display so that OP-Dealer now shows a stock figure
based on the number of full items that can be
supplied, which in turn is calculated on the stock of
each individual part,” she said.
"This is a great development for OP-Dealer and
its users and we are already receiving very positive
feedback from resellers who are seeing the benefits
of this enhancement to stock level information."
VOW's upgraded OP-Dealer e-commerce site
gives resellers an enhanced way to search, view and
order. It can be accessed at OP-Dealer.co.uk and
OP-Dealer.ie.
Leading managed print service providers
Apogee and Annodata are celebrating
big increases in revenue of 31% and 20%
respectively in the last financial year.
Preliminary results show that in 2015 Apogee
UK increased its turnover from £68m to £89m.
If the eight months of Balreed turnover pre-
acquisition is included, newly consolidated Apogee
Group UK turnover climbed on a pro-forma basis
to £112 million, an increase of 65% on the
previous year.
Apogee Group Finance Director Martin
Randall said: “The consolidated Group’s pro forma
results of £112 million turnover give a very clear
indication of just how much Apogee has grown in
scale in the last 12 months. What has been very
reassuring to see is that we have continued to
grow over the four months since the acquisition,
winning more new clients and installing over
14,000 new devices.”
Apogee plans to make further acquisitions
this year. Joint CEO Jason Collins said: “Apogee
will continue to grow its UK business in 2016
through organic growth and further acquisitions
of organisations in the range of £1million to
£50 million turnover. Having fully integrated the
acquisitions of last year we are in great shape to
leverage the infrastructure we now have and will
achieve double digit growth in 2016. Growing
our business further in Europe also remains a key
objective and we will complete an acquisition
in Germany in the first half of 2016, as well as
opening a new office in Paris.”
Acqusitions were an important part of
Annodata's growth in 2015, too, including
those of IT infrastructure provider Keltec in
November 2014 and wide-format print specialist
STS in January 2015. These helped increase the
company's revenue for the year to June 30 2015
to £68.9m, from £57.4m in 2014. Profits also
increased, by 20% to £6.3m.
Annodata is confident that the broader range
of services it is now able to offer will enable it to
reach £100m turnover by the end of 2016.
Annodata Non-executive Chairman Martin
St Quinton said: “Businesses across the board
are trying to streamline the number of suppliers
they work with down to a trusted few, and our
customers increasingly look to us to take on
ever greater portions of their IT estates. It’s here
where we see the greatest growth potential for
Annodata. This year our focus will very much be
on growing the cloud, managed services and ICT
parts of the business and I have every confidence
that we will maintain our healthy growth rates.”
BULLETIN
Acquisitions drive double-digit
growth for Apogee and Annodata
Both Ricoh and Sharp have honoured
Midshire for their sales performance in
2015.
Ricoh gave Midshire awards for ‘Fastest
Growing Dealer’ in the UK and ‘Top Sales Person’
in the UK, while Sharp named it as the number
one reseller in Europe for sales of the Sharp MX-
6500 colour production printing system.
Ricoh Partner Sales Manager Julian Liddiatt
said: “Over the last 12-18 months, Midshire has
implemented an aggressive marketing and sales
strategy, which has led to exceptional growth
across all areas of the company. Its experienced
and growing sales team has capitalised on this
strategy and continues to break targets month on
month.”
Midshire Sales Director Kevin Tunley said:
“We are thrilled to be recognised by Ricoh. We
have been working extremely hard at growing
our market share, and expanding our portfolio of
products to meet customer demand has been just
one part of that growth.”
One of only 12 dealers in the UK and Ireland
to be awarded Sharp Centre of Excellence status,
Midshire sold and installed 29 MX6500 devices
in the last financial half-year (Apr 15- Sept 15),
making it the top European reseller for the period,
ahead of over 500 other dealers in Europe.
Solid footing underpins
sales growth at
Document Data Group
Document Data Group, the fast growing
East Kilbride-based MFP, MPS and
document management specialist, is
celebrating a 50% increase in sales and a
14% increase in margins in 2015.
In the 12 months to December 31, 2015,
turnover grew to £3.3 million, up from £2.2
million in 2014 and £1.6 million in 2013. Over the
same period staffing levels rose from five to 26
employees, with an additional nine recruits due to
start early in 2016.
Growth at the company, which includes
the opening of a Dunfermline office to target
businesses in the east of Scotland, has been
backed up by the appointment of an experienced
management team. This includes Steve Young
and David Black, formerly of Concept Group (now
Xerox), as Group Sales Director and Sales Director
respectively; and Ben Whitehead (shown in photo),
formerly of Canon, as IT Director.
Midshire sales success honoured by partners
(l-r) Julian Stafford, Midshire Business Systems
Northern Managing Director; Phil Powell, Midshire
Business Systems Managing Director; Sue Kelly,
National Dealer Sales Manager and Joe Hughes,
Territory Sales Manager.
