Case study – Bell Microsystems (no. 102)
Founded in 1997, Portsmouth- based Bell Microsystems is an IT systems and services solutions supplier which in addition to designing and implementing enterprise-level data centres, storage area networks, network security and disaster recovery solutions, offers one of the UK’s most comprehensive IT lifecycle management services programmes.
Having focused on maintaining its core businesses, the company has expanded rapidly in the past year, most recently in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow and Boston. It has achieved all of this without borrowing, VCs nor bank debt. Being strong financially is rare in the current climate, and has given the company much freedom. ”If you start with cash, you get used to it,” said managing director, Alastair Bell, one of six business leaders from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to have been shortlisted as finalists for the Institute of Directors’ London and South East Director of the Year for a company with a turnover of £25-£99.99 million.
”Our core customers haven’t changed and that growth which has occurred organically is limited,” continued Bell. ”I started the company at the tail end of the 1997 recession, but have been surprised by how Singapore has taken off in this recession. 18 months in planning,
Alastair Bell in front of the new Bell Microsystems mobile data destruction lorry
it opened in August and achieved one million pounds of sales in its first three weeks.”
A confident management team and employees have developed with the Bell Microsystems’ culture – it takes the time to select the right people and train them, recognising the value of problem solvers who think for themselves and are empowered to contribute to the business as a whole.
Bell offers its customers a cost-optimised, holistic service which works throughout the IT lifecycle from IT procurement, provision and maintenance through to compliant
Updated Solent 250 list to be announced
The 2011/12 update of the Solent 250 will be announced this month and the list will be eagerly anticipated by the region’s business community. Guests will get the first sneak view of the new Solent 250 list at a special event at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, on October 20. Top economist Barry Naisbitt of Santander will be speaking about the recovery – and special awards will be presented to some of the top companies attending.
The full Solent 250 list, including Ones To Watch – smaller companies that are going places – will be printed in the November issue of The Business Magazine. It will also be available online.
Sponsored by Santander, Grant Thornton, Paris Smith, Business Solent and Business Growth Connections, the Solent 250 is a campaign run by The Business Magazine.
Criteria for inclusion
• Solent 250 companies must be private, independent businesses. • Listed companies (either LSE or foreign stockmarkets) are excluded. • Companies must be trading in the Solent region, with their main headquarters being located in the region.
decommission and disposal management against WEEE regulations. Whether items are fit for resale or scheduled for destruction, Bell provides considered timelines to ensure the maximum value is achieved from outgoing assets back to the customer before they devalue. The on-site data destruction service, tailored to a client’s specific requirements and using a mobile data destruction lorry, is a recent addition. Being one of only 160 approved authorised treatment facilities in the UK, Bell can ensure that environmental policies are met with respect to recycling certification.
Bell’s latest innovative move is its new service delivery framework.
Launched under Bell SDF, it allows money- strapped businesses to consume IT from OPEX not CAPEX – delivering computing as a utility service from Bell’s global infrastructure and/ or at client facilities. Software, infrastructure, platform or business functions can be delivered as a service; Bell SDF provides the most competitive IT service model today for tomorrow’s business needs.
Bell may well become more international than UK, which will drive growth areas. If you told Alastair Bell he had his head in the clouds in 1997, he might have agreed. In 2011 it’s reality – and successful at that.
• Companies that list their registered office in the region, but don’t trade from that address, are excluded. • Companies that are foreign-owned are excluded. • The Solent region is defined as the circulation area of the Solent edition of The Business Magazine. It includes most of Hampshire (south of Basingstoke), and parts of Dorset, Wiltshire, West Sussex. Principal towns/cities are Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Poole, Winchester, Salisbury, Romsey, Andover, Eastleigh, Fareham, and Chichester. • Companies are ranked by turnover. • The last published accounts are used – for the 2011 listing, this will usually be 2010 or 2009 results.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – OCTOBER 2011
www.businessmag.co.uk
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