INDUSTRY NEWS
Daisy brings in new Orange programme
DAISY Distribution has invited 11 of its top performing partners to participate in its new Orange Business Partner Programme, managed in association with BlackBerry.
Partners will be officially welcomed onto the programme by Orange at the Gaucho restau- rant in Smithfield, London, on Tuesday, 6th December, when it is formally launched.
Prior to the launch, Daisy Distribution had been visit- ing each of the chosen part- ners, alongside Orange and BlackBerry, as part of efforts to present them with a bespoke commercial and proposition offering.
Those selected for the pro- gramme already have a strong allegiance to Orange and are top performers in terms of their KPIs, which include volume of connections, BlackBerry pen- etration and churn percentage.
Julien Parven
Daisy Distribution’s Mar- keting Director Julien Parven said: “We wanted to identify partners who were not only the top performers in our base, but were starting to develop a foun- dation that we could build upon by helping them grow their busi- ness with Orange even further. “After presenting that list of proposed customers to Orange for approval, we visited each partner to further understand
from their perspective the tools needed to be incorporated with- in the programme in order for it to succeed.”
Known as Fusion, the aim of the Orange Partner Programme is to create a community of partners who have a dedication to the Orange network.
By creating a set of tools around the programme, includ- ing targeted marketing sup- port, Daisy Distribution aims to enable those partners to grow their business with Orange. As with the company’s O2
and Vodafone partner pro- grammes, partners on the Orange Partner Programme will also have the opportunity to become Centres of Excellence within Daisy Distribution. Parven added: “Having spent time aligning our business with each of our network partners, we have uncovered some fantastic opportunities with Orange.”
Peach bags third acquisition
PEACH Telecom has acquired Vantage Communications’ cli- ent base of 200-plus customers and dealers, adding £1.2m to Peach Telecom’s revenue. With its HQ in Hampshire and regional office in Leyland, Lancashire, Peach Telecom has
more than doubled its turnover in the last two years and plans to grow both organically and through acquisitions. Darren Scott-Healey, MD, stated: “Vantage’s customers had a limited product range with only fixed lines and some broad-
LOGICALIS UK is to sponsor the Row for Freedom campaign against human trafficking. The company has presented Julia Immonen, founder of Sport Against Trafficking, with a cheque for £10,000. Mark
Starkey, Commercial Director at Logicalis UK commented: “This is a truly compelling charitable activity that will help the lives of thousands of children around the world and, as an international organisation, we are proud to be part of this international and highly challenging endeavour.”
band packages on offer. Now they are with Peach they can take advantage of our wealth of products, including mobiles, data solutions, telephone system installation and maintenance. They also have a bigger support network behind them.” Max Webb, Vantage Comm- unications’ MD, added: “The acquisition process went smoothly and our customers were integrated well. They are already taking advantage of Peach Telecom’s other product and service lines.” The deal is Peach Telecom’s third acquisition, with the business having also acquired Harmony Solutions and Pro- Voice in recent years.
Scott-Healey noted: “2011 has been a successful year for Peach and we are capitalis- ing on this with our ambitious growth plans.”
Gradwell moves on education
GRADWELL has acquired the ISP business of Apple dealer Solutions Inc.
The deal, worth more than £435,000 annually, sees Gradwell extend its customer base into the consumer and edu- cation markets.
Solutions Inc is a Premium Reseller Store for Apple in the UK, selling Apple computers, iPods and accessories online and in several UK locations. The acquired ISP business enables local authorities to sup- port pupil referral units by sup- plying access to the Internet, a central part of curriculum and learning delivery outside of mainstream schooling.
The acquisition also, for the first time, takes Gradwell into people’s homes by offering consumer broadband and email hosting services.
Peter Gradwell, MD, said:
“We’ve seen growth of 30% year-on-year for some time. While our focus will remain the UK SMBs, I’m pleased that our panel of suppliers and market reach is expanding. “We’ve been looking at the education market for some time and this acquisition takes Gradwell right to the door of local authorities.”
SHORT CALLS
Exeter’s High Street will be illuminated with the Christmas spirit following a cash boost from South West Communications. The company pledged to underwrite the private sector cost of the lights following council budget cuts that led to a shortfall.
Nimans used its Manchester HQ to stage a Technology Showcase Day that offered insights into Panasonic’s evolving comms solutions. Around 50 delegates got first-hand knowledge on solutions such as IP CCTV, HD video conferencing, interactive white boards, a SIP-based Unified Comms platform, the NS1000, and also call management software from CommSoft.
Computer 2000 has shuffled a new line-up of head honchos in a management restructure that marks the next phase of the firm’s development. The appointment last month of Jim Michel as MD UK and Ireland for Brightstar Europe completed the revamp which saw the arrival of Colin McGregor, who joined as Director, Azlan UK, and Peter Hubbard, Sales Director of Computer 2000.
snom accelerates roll out of VoIP & unifi ed comms
SNOM Active, a free advanced provisioning and management tool for snom phones and end- points, has been launched by snom technology AG to boost the speed and efficiency of VoIP or UC enterprise deployments. Jonathan Greenwood, MD, snom UK, commented: “By making the registration and acti- vation process of snom phones faster, simpler and more scal- able, snom Active can improve the implementation process for enterprise VoIP or Unified
Communications, enabling our snom distributors and resellers to grow their top line while reducing their bottom line.” Official snom distributors and certified snom VARs can also qualify to offer hosted white label snom Active provi- sioning service, a customised and branded solution that snom channel partners can offer to their end customers.
Got a news story? email:
sgilroy@bpl-business.com
the industry is evolving so are we. 18 COMMS DEALER DECEMBER 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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