NEWS
www.comms-dealer.com
Acquisition beefs up Gamma links
Daisy’s data portfolio with Wick Hill
DAISY has acquired data network of the bottom 25% of the leased DISTRIBUTOR Wick Hill has
firm Managed Communications line market. partnered UK network operator
for a potential initial cash consid- In the year ended 31 December Gamma Telecom.
eration of £6.3m. 2009, Managed Communications’ The move follows the appoint-
Under the agreement, £4.65m unaudited management accounts ment of Wick Hill as a distribu-
will be paid on completion with show that the company gener- tor for telecoms companies Yealink
a further amount currently esti- ated adjusted revenue of £3.8m and Oak Telecom, and the ear-
mated at £1.66m to be paid after and EBITDA of £1.6m. Managed lier appointment of Wick Hill as a
six months, subject to finalised Communications is expected to Samsung distributor.
completion accounts. have £1.1m of cash at completion. Wick Hill now offers resellers a
Managed Communications Matthew Riley, CEO of Daisy, convergence package including line
Siobhan Gibbs
provides data networks through said: “Strategically this is the right provisioning from Gamma, plus strategy, enabling us to offer a
Matt Riley
bonded ADSL and SDSL lines acquisition for us as we move for- IP-based telecoms solutions such complete package to our resellers,
to its base of approximately 800 is a higher margin product and ward into a data rich and more as VoIP telephony hardware, CTI, which includes line provisioning,
SME customers. The company sells typically enjoys contracts of three converged world. call logging and call recording, as as well as a range of IP-based solu-
Internet access, VPN, managed to five years. “The combination of Managed well as IP-based convergence busi- tions and hosted options.
security, email and managed band- According to Daisy, the suc- Communications and its offering, ness solutions from Samsung. “This product set will allow our
width, along with VPN services. cess of the offering to date gives with Daisy’s sales force and SME Siobhan Gibbs, Business Dev- voice and data resellers to embrace
As a lower cost alternative to the management team confidence customer base, creates cross-selling elopment Manager, Wick Hill, network services, SIP provisioning
leased lines, bonded DSL is a pop- that Managed Communications’ potential and the opportunity for said: “Gamma will form a key and hosted telephony, all with the
ular choice for smaller businesses, products could answer the needs margin improvement.” component in our convergence associated recurring revenues.”
Armstrong undergoes MBO
Peach of a deal
STEVE Donovan has stepped The cash deal also sees Paul and staff numbers from less than PEACH Telecom has fully inte- “We have been able to conclude
down as MD of Manchester-based Tobin take an equity stake in the 30 to around 100. grated Pro-voice, the Hants-based the deal with Pro-voice swiftly. The
Armstrong Communications fol- firm. He has a track record of grow- Stothard commented on the comms provider it bagged in a deal additional revenue will now bring
lowing a management buyout led ing businesses in the IT sector, ini- strategy: “Our intention is to sig- worth £2.8m. Peach to an annualised turnover of
by Customer Services Director Sally tially as MD of CSAR Computers, nificantly increase the size of the Peach Telecom MD, Darren £7.5m supplying over 2,500 busi-
Stothard, who takes over as MD. followed by JM Computing (now business through acquisition and Scott-Healey, stated: “This deal ness customers with a full portfolio
Donovan, who founded Arm- trading as jmc.it). organic growth. is evidence of our strategy to of communication products.”
strong, is now MD of software Tobin developed JM from a “Paul will provide expertise in strengthen through acquisitions. All staff at Pro-voice join the
development company Xarios, but niche market supplier into a rated these areas which will enable me to This goes hand in hand with the Peach team with Pro-voice’s MD
he retains an interest in Armstrong IT company, increasing turnover focus on customer service.” organic growth Peach has enjoyed Phil Edmonds taking up the role of
Communications. from under £2m to in £8m-plus, News interview – see page 20 throughout the last 36 months. Operations Director for the group.
Intact attains
Griffi n engineers on
top UC status
standby for partners
INTACT Integrated Services
has secured Advanced Unified GRIFFIN Internet has made white custom configurations and carries
Communications Specialisation label engineers available at a fixed out testing.
certification from Cisco. price to resellers who cannot meet Tim Walker, MD of Iconnyx,
Intact has already secured Cisco the installation requirements for said: “We have been successful in
Registered Partner status, and was MPLS and Ethernet sales. selling Griffin’s MPLS networks
selected as the 2009 European Andrew Dickinson, Sales and but we do not want the expense
Service Innovation Partner of the Marketing Director at Griffin and distraction of recruiting a team
Year by Cisco. Internet, commented: “Intelligent of engineers to install and test cus-
IT SUPPORT service company Comms-care rewarded its top
Bob Dalton, CEO of Intact Install is a key part of our philoso- tomer routers on site.
sales staff with a four-day outdoor adventure trip to the Lapland Integrated Services, said: “Our goal phy to provide partners with every- “Since we have been using
region of Finland in the Arctic Circle. The team enjoyed winter
is to be recognised as a best practice thing they need to sell our services Intelligent Install our network
activities that included go-karting on ice, skiing, snowmobiling
provider of Cisco-related services. from start to finish.” solutions have been implemented
and husky sledding. Ben Davies, Sales Director, said: “With
“We’re looking forward to Dickinson explained that part- earlier and with fewer complaints.
market conditions being very challenging last year we wanted to
introduce an incentive event that would push our sales team to
building on this latest accredita- ners ‘simply tick a box’ and a skilled This has improved customer satis-
their maximum ability. With more resellers looking to outsource
tion and strengthening the range engineer is dispatched to deliver faction and increased revenue.”
their IT support, Comms-care had a positive year, but by adding of Cisco UC-related services we the appropriate router anywhere
Got a news story? email:
The Elite Club incentive to the mix we have seen that extra push
can offer to our channel customers in the UK for a flat fee. The engi-
sgilroy@bpl-business.com
from the sales team, especially in the final quarter of the year.”
throughout the world.” neer installs the router, applies any
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12 COMMS DEALER MARCH 2010 www.comms-dealer.com
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