01732 759725
46
INTERVIEW
Receiving another
award from Mark
Ash, Head of Print
for Samsung UK
Established in 1985 as a managed
print services provider, Vision has
continually reshaped and expanded its
business so that it now encompasses
managed print, document
management, IT services, office
supplies and unified communications.
In 2013, Vision overhauled its business
and repositioned its go-to-market strategy
to target larger corporates and public
sector organisations in a number of key
vertical markets including the higher
education, healthcare, legal, financial, retail,
manufacturing and transportation sectors.
This strategy has been hugely successful,
resulting in double-digit growth for three
straight years. Revenue increased by 42% in
2013, 21% in 2014 and 10% last year.
Smyth told PITR that this growth has
largely been organic. “It’s the result of a
lot of hard work and a number of major
new national wins within both the public
and private sectors in line with our fresh
approach,” he said.
As an example, Smyth cites Vision’s
recent appointment as sole MPS provider
for a University in the north of England.
In this capacity, it deployed a fleet of 400
devices across 13 sites in just 63 days,
with professional project management by
Prince2 practitioners.
Vision has also secured contracts
with several large NHS Trusts involving
the installation of devices and software
solutions at multiple sites and locations.
Investing for growth
In a tough economic climate, Smyth
remains positive about further expansion
and believes Vision is in a strong position
to take advantage of future opportunities.
The company is two years into a five-year
plan to double in size by 2020. In FY2016
alone, the firm is targeting growth of 26%.
“We have invested heavily in people
over the past twelve months, strengthening
the business by creating a new senior
management team to drive and support
our continued growth,” explained Smyth.
Last year, Vision strengthened the
group with a wave of senior appointments
including a new Head of Strategic
Corporate Clients with over 20 years’
industry experience to support its push
into the corporate sector; a Head of Service
Delivery; a Head of Enterprises; and, more
recently, a Head of Billing and Contract
Set-up.
“We also hired a Head of
Telecommunications, with a brief to
strengthen and drive growth within our
unified comms and telecoms division,”
added Smyth.
The recruitment drive is set to continue
this year. Already, Vision has appointed a
Talent Acquisition Manager to manage a
project to source high calibre sales and
business development professionals to join
its Academy Training Program.
“Headcount is fast approaching 200
and we’re looking to significantly increase
that,” said Smyth. “We intend to really
boost our sales teams nationwide and are
looking for strong professionals with a
proven track record in the corporate and
commercial sectors to support the business
moving forward.”
He added: “Our customer mantra is
to drive business efficiency and simplify
operations, improve their working
environment and boost productivity. As
a business, we are wholly focused on
customer service delivery and service
excellence. Every member of our team has
PrintIT Reseller
caught up with Mark Smyth,
Operations Director at Vision, to learn more
about the company’s growth plans
Vision’s vision
a key role to play in ensuring we meet and
exceed customers’ needs and expectations.”
This includes Vision’s nationwide team
of field-based technicians and network
specialists whose processes are fully
accredited to the ISO 9001:2008 quality
management standard.
One of Vision’s strengths is that it can
also support clients with European offices.
“We have partnered with a number of
vendors in Europe and call on that resource
and expertise to enable us to service and
support UK-based clients who also have a
European presence,” explained Smyth.
Wider remit
Vision’s core business remains the
provision of managed print and document
solutions. It has partnerships with Canon,
Samsung and Ricoh and offers a complete
suite of market leading open architecture
software solutions including eCopy,
Equitrac and Papercut, as well as Canon’s
own uniFLOW print management and
scan solution. The company recently added
Autostore and DocuWare to its portfolio.
In addition, with support from Canon
and Ricoh, it has ramped up its production
print business, which Smyth has identified
as an important growth area. “We have
enjoyed substantial successes in this space
in the last two years and we are targeting
a significant increase again this year as
part of our business plan,” he said.
The environment in mind
Smyth says that Vision is passionate about
the environment and actively promotes
initiatives that support its own green
agenda as well as those of its clients.
In line with the group’s Environmental
Management System ISO14001:2004, it
has integrated GPS route planning for all
The company
is two years
into a five-year
plan to double
in size by 2020.
In FY2016
alone, the firm
is targeting
growth of
26%.
