INDUSTRY NEWS
Mills signs Bamford to spur Six Degrees
EX-VODAFONE board direc- tor Peter Bamford has joined Six Degrees Group as Non - Executive Chairman.
Six Degrees Group is a pri- vately owned, rapidly growing managed data services provider serving UK mid-market cus- tomers headed up by former SpiriTel CEO Alastair Mills. Bamford has a solid track record of leadership in fast growing companies and signifi- cant M&A experience. He is cur- rently chairman of SuperGroup Plc, said to be the fastest grow- ing international branded cloth- ing companies which owns the Superdry and Cult bands. He was a board director
of Vodafone between 1998 and 2006, MD of Vodafone Distribution, Chief Executive of Vodafone UK, Regional Chief Executive, Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Group Chief Marketing Officer.
long-term relationship with Penta Capital.
Peter Bamford
Prior to Vodafone he was MD of WH Smith Retail.
Bamford also serves as chair- man of MCPS-PRS Alliance and as non-executive director of Rentokil Initial plc.
Commenting on his appoint- ment, Bamford said: “As CEO, Alastair Mills has a very clear and compelling vision of what he is trying to achieve and his management team has a great track record of delivery. “The company also has an excellent
The managed data services market is an exciting and fast growing sector and Six Degrees Group is well positioned to cap- italise on that growth with its integrated product portfolio. “I feel I can add value from experiences of growing and developing companies and I’m looking forward to being one of the Six Degrees Group team.” Mills, CEO of Six Degrees Group, added: “I’m delighted that Peter has joined the Degrees Group board and his decision is testament to our progress in our short history.
“Peter is a highly prominent figure in British industry and brings a wealth of M&A, tech- nology and marketing experi- ence to the Group. I’m confident that he will make a significant contribution to the execution of our business model.”
Commsworld goes mobile with Abzorb partner deal
ABZORB has formed a part- nership with Commsworld, the Scottish independent voice and data solutions provider to help increase its mobile business development.
Richard Nicol, CEO of Commsworld, said: “We decid- ed to rationalise our suppliers. “We’ve grown by 24% last year and 15% this year and we aim to keep expanding over the next few years. One key aspect is our mobile operations.” Abzorb works closely with top vendors such as Vodafone and Research In Motion (RIM). Nicol noted: “We felt that we could work closely with Abzorb in the mobile space, especially as it has a strong understanding of Vodafone’s products. We’ve
(l-r) Mark Riddell, Ricky Nicol and Mike Walsh
worked with Abzorb’s Business Development Director, Mark Riddell, for many years and he has never let us down.” Abzorb has its own Training Academy which delivers simi- lar training to that provided by Vodafone to its sales staff. The scheme includes an induction to Vodafone, its networks, tariffs, mobiles and broadband, plus BlackBerry training.
Abzorb held two days of training in Edinburgh for 21 peo- ple from ten partners. One of the days was held at Commsworld’s premises, exclusively for the company’s personnel. Mike Walsh, Abzorb’s MD, commented: “We are delighted to have formed this partnership. “We share similar ideals – excellence in solutions, service and support.”
Siplicitalk in channel campaign
BRISTOL-based comms solu- tions provider Siplicitalk has ‘flipped’ its business strategy to become a completely channel focused business. The company, which has been selling and supporting phone systems for 25 years, believes it can help resellers address new opportunities, par- ticularly in hosting, through its ‘coal face’ knowledge. Steve Jones, the firm’s MD, told Comms Dealer magazine: “We believe we have identified a gaping hole in the market where potential partners and resellers could benefit from the knowledgeable support and advice we’re able to offer. “This experience has been gained from first-hand experi- ence, particularly in customer fault resolution and the provi- sion of new services.
“Our approach is to have a qualified telecommunica- tions engineer at the end of the phone ensuring immediate and relevant support when resellers need it most, which is usually when and engineer is on site and experiencing a problem.” On the product portfolio side, Jones explained that Siplicitalk will continue to provide tradi- tional calls and lines but will also be offering two separate hosted solutions to resell- ers, giving them access to its Broadsoft platform and Asterisk based hosted VoIP solution. “We believe the strategic decision to offer two distinctly separate hosted platforms could make a big difference in wheth- er an end user customer buys in to a hosted solution,” com- mented Jones.
He also noted that cost is often the main barrier. “We think we have that covered without compromising on qual- ity of product or service,” con- cluded Jones.
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Chess Wholesale, the reseller arm of Chess Telecom, has grown its management team with the appointment of Gareth Riley as Wholesale Channel Manager. He joins from TalkTalk Business where he held the position of Reseller Account Manager. He said: “Chess is a growing, ambitious business with a well established position in the reseller market.”
Nimans is aiming to remove the ‘pain and strain’ for resellers offering financial services. Dealer Sales Director, Tom Maxwell, said: “Our aim is to increase closure rates and provide resellers with an edge over their competition. In the current economic climate leasing has become a proven solution to unlocking greater levels of business.”
Daisy Distribution has launched its own MasterCard to reward partners with monetary bonuses. Marketing Director Julien Parven explained: “We’ve found this tactical marketing tool to be an excellent way of targeting individual partners and rewarding individual sales people due to its flexibility and scalability.”
Wireless networks specialist Xirrus has announced the XR-1000 and XR-2000 Wireless Arrays, extending the flexibility of the XR-series wireless switch platform to cover a broad range of wireless deployments.
Congrats to Andrea Wilson-Brown, MD of Manchester-based telecoms company BCH Digital, who scooped the title of Technology Business Woman of the Year Award at this year’s Forward Ladies North West and Isle of Man Business Awards.
26 COMMS DEALER DECEMBER 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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