Tag: Exertis

Hypertec thinks things will get better after its buyout

Posted on March 7, 2018 by - News

JS63229212Distributor Hypertec has promised better reseller support after it was bought out by Exertis.

The firm employs more than 50 staff at its facility in Hungerford, Berkshire and generated sales of over £20 million during 2017.

Lianne Denness, managing director, Hypertec, said in a statement that Exertis’ resources and appetite for growth across a variety of technologies and geographies, meant the company had an opportunity to increase its business with existing and new customers, and to build relationships with new vendors.

“It also provides the chance to support Hypertec’s existing reseller partners on a more pan-European basis with a one-stop solution.”

Paul Bryan, Exertis UK managing director said that Hypertec had an excellent track record in the industry and had built strong relationships with its customer base and vendor partners.

Hypertec’s own brand product and technology portfolio was in increasing demand as users look to extend the life or improve the performance of computing devices, while resellers attach accessories to add margin to their sales, he said.

 

Exertis lets its Cat phones out of bag

Posted on March 1, 2018 by - News

$_3Mobile and retail B2B outfit Exertis has announced a distribution agreement with Bullitt for the CAT phones range of rugged smart and mobile phones.

The CAT brand provides robust equipment often deployed in harsh environments, and these features are equally applicable to their mobile devices.

Rik Hubbard, Exertis mobile commercial and services director, said: “By their very nature, certain vertical markets such as the military, blue light services, manufacturing and construction require more durability and reliability for their mobile devices. Phones, with their smaller form factor, are more suitable for some workers operating in hazardous areas. The CAT brand is associated with resilience and robustness, and these devices offer a great solution at affordable prices for our resellers that sell into industrial and public-sector markets.”

Exertis will be supplying the Cat S31, Cat S41, Cat S30 and Cat S60 smartphones and the Cat B25 and Cat B30 mobile phones.

Cat phones are drop tested onto concrete from up to 6ft to prove their rugged credentials, can function in extreme temperatures (from -25C up to 55C) and have reliable battery power. Some models are waterproof, dustproof and shockproof to IP68 certification with MIL-STD-810G compliancy. The Cat S60 is the first smartphone offering integrated thermal imaging technology. The firm didn’t say how they would fare in a large vodka and tonic.

Ross Jeffries, Sales Director at Bullitt Group, global mobile device licensee for Caterpillar, said “Exertis has been educating resellers in the opportunities in the rugged market which continues to grow. Their pedigree in providing mobile solutions in the B2B sector make them an ideal choice to distribute our range of devices and broaden our breadth of customers. We look forward to working together and meeting with customers at their Plug into Exertis event in April.”

Samsung down to one UC distributor

Posted on November 10, 2017 by - News

samsung-hqSamsung unified communications (UC) is down to one UK distributor now that it has decided not to use Exertis.

Exertis will still be distributing Samsung’s UC equipment until 22 December but after that it looks like Nimans will become the exclusive distributor of Samsung’s UC offering.

It is a slap in the face with a wet fish for Exertis which had been trying to snuggle up closer with Samsung by acquiring Essex-based 60 man mobile phone and tablet refurbishment outfit MTR.

MTR had a tight partnership with Samsung and Exertis hoped the deal would enable the distributor to “deepen its entanglement” with what is one of its key vendors.

It is not clear what Exertis did to miff Samsung, it might have just passed the port the wrong way at dinner. However Nimans was named best partner (UK) in the 2017 Samsung Enterprise Best Partner Awards which culminated in a global conference at the communication giant’s South Korean headquarters.

It might just have been that sole distributorship was an award for good behaviour.

Nimans said that it had a direct working relationship with Samsung in Korea and the awards were a chance to forge closer working relationships.

 

Exertis names Rik Hubbard commercial and services director

Posted on August 10, 2017 by - Moving People, News

Rik_HubbardExertis has announced the appointment of Rik Hubbard as its mobile commercial and services director.

Hubbard will be working with the sales and purchasing teams to boost the performance of the division’s market leading vendors across the consumer and business to business areas.

He also has to build on the opportunity to launch a range of device-focused services from trade-in, repair and refurbishment to finance and service contracts, following the recent announcement of the MTR Group acquisition.

Hubbard will report to Exertis mobile director Simon Woodman, who said: “Rik is joining our team at an exciting time for the mobile division. He brings a wealth of experience having worked for a major vendor and a leading telco and internet service provider.

“We have opportunities to grow in the main areas of our business with a superb portfolio of products and solutions to offer our customers. We are now also in an excellent position to enhance our entanglement still further with our vendor partners and clients by providing additional services to support their business. Rik will play a fundamental role in helping us to achieve that.”

Hubbard is a chartered accountant with almost twenty years’ experience in the telco industry, and joins from Samsung where he was head of commercial finance and financial services for five years.

When he was there he helped launch the S7 Upgrade programme which was the UK’s first manufacturer backed handset upgrade scheme. Before that, he spent a similar period at Three in a variety of commercial roles.

Hubbard was very positive on his appointment, saying: “Providing services that add value are fundamental to being successful in technology distribution. I am delighted to have joined Exertis, a company at the forefront of mobile distribution with an outstanding product and solutions portfolio, and one with the drive and ambition to look for and add complementary services that make a positive contribution to revenue and profit for partners and customers. I look forward to building on this success and working with a vibrant, award-winning team.”

 

Exertis buy out was all about Samsung

Posted on August 2, 2017 by - News

Samsung Logo GrillworkExertis has strengthen its ties with vendor partner Samsung by writing a cheque for refurbishment firm MTR.

MTR has 60 staff and partners with retailers, mobile handset manufacturers and insurance firms to source and refurbish mobile phones and tablets for resale in the UK and abroad.

It has been doing rather well. In six years since its creation it has generated revenues of close to £11 million in its fiscal 2016.

Exertis has been buying a lot in the UK, last year it took over Siracom, Hammer and Medium.

MTR’s tight partnership with Samsung will enable Exertis to “deepen its entanglement” with what is one of its key vendors, and bolster its refurbishment and reverse logistics prowess more generally, Exertis said.

Gerry O’Keeffe, Exertis UK & Ireland managing director, said: “MTR has enjoyed considerable success in providing refurbishment capabilities in the mobile and tablet device market. The recent impressive growth in revenue and profitability is a testament to the reputation that it has earned in the channel, borne out of years of refurbishment experience, a sophisticated IT infrastructure and also continued investment in its impressive high-tech and scalable refurbishment facility. We are very excited to add this success story to the Exertis family and are looking forward to continued growth and providing further added value for our suppliers and customers.”

Steve Healy, MTR managing director, said: “As Exertis and MTR’s core values are so well aligned, this acquisition made complete sense. The benefits and opportunities of this exciting new chapter will extend to our existing and new customers and vendors alike, further enhancing the range of services and products offered. By leveraging the complementary strengths of both companies, we can only add to what is already an exciting proposition for the relationships currently held. We look forward to working with the Exertis management teams and building on the success of both companies.”

Exertis pulls in more than 1,000 to shindig

Posted on May 12, 2017 by - News

1890160-1-eng-GB_exertis-slider-610Exertis managed to draw 1,000 people to its first Plug into Exertis event in West London.

Paul Bryan, managing director of, IT and mobile, told the assorted throngs that it was a tough market and a market that is consolidating. Customers are worried that their partners will shut and that is why it is important that Exertis had DCC behind it to provide it with cash.

He told the assorted throngs that it was challenging market and the industry was having to deal with Brexit, price inflation and the uncertainty of an election which also adds to the uncertainty.

Exertis was growing, operating with more than 2,000 staff and £2.5 billion turnover, developing and looking for ways to expand its footprint, both geographically and from a technology point of view, he said.

“With our organic growth, we are constantly setting up new divisions and bringing in new expertise, new product sets and we are very acquisitive. We brought three business in the UK last year. Geographic expansion, it’s not just UK and Ireland and across Europe but who’s to say those ambitions are not global,” he added.

Exertis bought AV player Medium, storage and server outfit Hammer and Siracom for wireless.

In the consumer the Smart home is a really interesting, he said.

“It is up year-on-year with some big brands coming through. We are very focused on making sure we are bringing on the right brands and making them available to retailers.”

Exertis’ business division found that Medium had helped it get more of a footprint in whiteboards, large format displays and it had kept its print revenues going.

The Hammer acquisition wrapped up in November has already had an impact in the enterprise operation thanks to the firm’s knowledge of storage and servers.

Bryan said that there had also been an increase in security sales as customers moved to make sure they were compliant and able to deal with the latest threats.

The distributor is also going to be banging the drum more over the services it provides resellers with support available across its technology portfolio. Earlier this month the firm revealed plans to double the amount of credit available to SME resellers as another demonstration of its commitment to support the channel.

Exertis allows resellers to double credit

Posted on May 9, 2017 by - News

credit-cardsOne of the channel’s bankers, Exertis, is making sure that resellers looking for growth get the credit lines they need.

Exertis has plans to offer a selected number of SME resellers the chance to double their credit.

The distributor could give an additional £20 million with the option to go even further in some cases where resellers have reached their credit limits.

Exertis B2B sales and commercial director at. Mark Reynolds said the aim of the move is to provide our resellers with a credit limit that can help them win and grow their business, safe in the knowledge that they have the financial resource to support it.

“With our broad technology range, resellers want to take advantage of the efficiencies of buying from one source. By working with our credit insurers, we are in a position to double the facility for over 1,600 resellers and even extend that further if they remain within our usual credit terms,” Reynolds said.

Exertis has been working with public trading insurer Chubb Ace and is planning to be proactive in suggesting certain resellers should take advantage of the offer.

Exertis extends Promethean relationship

Posted on May 4, 2017 by - News

prometheus1-3804Exertis has extended its relationship with AV outfit Promethean.

The distributor will have access to the vendor’s full range of products, which includes interactive whiteboards.

Exertis acquired Medium last November to extend its reach into the AV market and has now branded the division with both names.

The Irish relationship with Promethean was struck back in March the cunning plan of increasing the its education sector business.

said Ian Neale, Exertis Medium said its services will help the channel partners take advantage of, and maximise the growth opportunities for the entire portfolio of Promethean ActivPanels.

Simon Port, Promethean’s head of channel operations UK & Ireland, said that it made sense to work with the distributor over a wider territory to support resellers.

“The continued growth in the IFPD market, which the UK and Ireland are leading globally, means we need to ensure there is enough stocking capacity if our reseller partners are going to meet demand. By bringing Exertis UK in as a second fulfilment source, we are essentially giving partners greater flexibility and choice, but ultimately equipping them with the fundamentals to achieve sales success,” he said.

Medium was acquired by Exertis last November to add more products to the portfolio and give resellers the chance to put together more solutions.

The outfit supplies a broad range of AV products, including projectors, interactive displays and digital signage from vendors including LG, NEC, Samsung and Panasonic.

 

Microsoft carries out partner review

Posted on March 13, 2017 by - News

Stefan_Lochner_-_Last_Judgement_-_circa_1435Software King of the World, Microsoft, is auditing its partners and sorting out the sheep from the goatees.

Request for proposals (RFPs) were sent out to existing and new distributors last Friday covering much of the software Microsoft puts through distribution especially its full packaged products (FPP), OEM Windows, OEM server and electronic software delivery (ESD) products.

At the moment, Vole uses Tech Data, Ingram, Westcoast, Exertis and Entatech but now it is thought that Microsoft wants its distributors to reflect its recent move into hardware and changes to its business model.

VIP and Ci Distribution have received an invite to bid which could suggest a widening of the distribution channel, or that some big names might be culled.

Ingram and Tech Data recently lost out in a similar review Microsoft completed for its hardware accessories business, which includes mice and keyboards. In that case there were seven distributors were invited to bid for this franchise but only Exertis and Westcoast were successful.

Acquisition happy Exertis looks for a happy Medium

Posted on November 16, 2016 by - News

medExertis, which last month wrote a cheque for its Hammer acquisition wants to buy audio visual outfit Medium.

The move is part of Exertis’s cunning plan to snap up complementary businesses. Medium will strengthen its position in the AV market. It will get a much wider range of products and is being pitched to provide resellers with access to a complete solution.

Medium has been around for a long time and supplies a broad range of AV products, including projectors, interactive displays and digital signage from vendors including LG, NEC, Samsung and Panasonic.

The channel player employs 40 and has a turnover of £32 million and flogs its gear to 800 AV resellers across the UK.

Last month Exertis added the storage and server expertise of Hammer to expand its business coverage.

Ian Sempers, Medium MD said: “We are delighted to be joining forces with Exertis. The continued convergence of the IT and AV market means we will be in a great position to service a sector that extends beyond traditional AV solutions. Our expertise and technical knowledge in this market combined with Exertis’ wider product portfolio will provide a compelling proposition for resellers and vendors.”

Exertis gets Fractal Design gig

Posted on April 14, 2016 by - News

 maxresdefaultPC components manufacturer Fractal Design has named Exertis as a distributor for its range of cases, PSUs and cooling gear.

The move is seen as a push by Fractal Design into the UK channel using Exertis’ system integration customerbase and its multiple and independent retail and etail segments.

Exertis gets the full range of Fractal Design cases, including the Define, Core, Node and ARC series.

Stuart Hatch, Exertis general manager for components, said: “Exertis has the UK’s broadest portfolio for the PC enthusiast and gamer and the addition of Fractal Design is a perfect high-end complement to our growing range of PC chassis and accessories.

“We look forward to working with Fractal Design to broaden the customer base for their unique Scandinavian blend of cool style and cool operation.”

Graham Dark, regional manager for Western Europe and South Africa at Fractal Design, added: “Exertis is the premier distributor for PC components and gaming in the UK and we are delighted to be able to partner with them to bring our high-performance cases to a wider UK market.

“Fractal Design’s range of products are the pinnacle of design and performance and we partner with companies of a similar ethos. Exertis really adds to our presence in the retail, etail and SI markets.”

Brown becomes Exertis channel supremo

Posted on December 2, 2015 by - Moving People, News

exertisDistributor Exertis has appointed Phil Brown to lead the commercial business units and IT reseller base for B2B and VAD solutions.

The official title on his business card is sales and commercial director for IT but he has a pretty wide ranging brief. Apparently Exertis wants to expand its company’s partners by aligning the sales and commercial units more closely.

Brown was previously B2B sales director which saw him look after the core IT and specialist sales teams, reseller partners and B2B vendors. Before this, he was commercial and marketing director at Exertis.

In a statement Brown said: “This position will enable me to help develop the Exertis proposition and ensure that all our partners have access to a wealth of great technologies, solutions and services we offer. I can’t wait to get started.”

Exertis UK’s managing director, Paul Bryan, added: “Phil has already demonstrated his skills and attributes in the course of his previous roles with us and I am confident he will build on this in his new role. This is an important next step in our evolution as we enhance our focus in the market.”

Exertis recently announced that is it has realigned the structure of its networking team ahead of the market trends it expects to unfold in 2016.

Exertis becomes Kaspersky B2B distributor

Posted on September 15, 2015 by - News

40153923-1-kaspersky1Anti-virus outfit Kaspersky has named Exertis UK as its new B2B channel distributor.

Exertis will offer its reseller base Kaspersky’s range of value-add B2B products, including anti-virus, malware detection and firewalls.

Kaspersky said that the appointment followed a substantial growth in the UK B2B space over the last year.  It now has 250 new resellers registering as a partner, giving 582 in total.

The two firms already have an existing partnership in the consumer space space (B2C) but now Exertis can offer the security companies products to business-to-business resellers.

Kaspersky UK and Ireland MD Kirill Slavin said: “Protection is not just about patching on basic security for businesses today, it is about building cyber-resilience into the very heart of operations. There is an immense opportunity for the channel and we’re delighted to use Exertis  to bolster sales.

“Exertis brings two  distinct approaches to the market. Its value added distribution offering encompasses technical excellence and experience in the security arena. It can also help our business get further reach into the mass reseller community, a move which is invaluable for resellers and customers alike.”

Exertis VAD Solutions MD Grahame Smee said: “We’re looking forward to working with Kaspersky as it enters an exciting stage of growth in the channel.

“The cyber-threat landscape is evolving and this relationship will help us to deliver a value-add proposition for businesses from a company that is globally renowned for its knowledge and expertise in the cybersecurity arena.”