Comms Dealer

Solar Communications is to stage two customer events in Manchester and London to showcase the firm's technology and communications portfolio.

Called 'solar Vision 2016', the events will bring together more than 100 Solar customers to witness presentations from some of Solar's senior leadership team and technology partners including TalkTalk, Mitel, Datto and ShoreTel.

John Whitty, CEO at Solar Communications, said: "Through our Solar Vision 2016 initiative we can ensure our customers know exactly how technology is evolving and how new solutions can help them achieve their business goals, save money, improve staff productivity and simplify their communications estate.

"Unified communications in particular is set to take off and is a market that experts estimate to be worth around $25bn by 2020. However, at this moment in time, just one in five SMEs have adopted this technology.

"There's a huge opportunity for organisations to take advantage of developments in UC and differentiate the way they operate from their competition."

A collaboration between Silver Lining and multi-channel payment service provider NetPay has come to fruition with the launch of SLPay, a secure phone payment service.

The move was prompted by an increase in enquiries from Silver Lining customers wanting to include merchant services in their managed service packages.

It is estimated that in 2014, £802bn was spent in the UK on goods and services using debit and credit card phone payments, a trend that is set to rise to £900bn by 2024.

Allan Packer, Managing Director, Silver Lining says: "We believe that only by listening to and understanding our customers' communication and data requirements can we offer the right bespoke solution."

Claranet has been ranked the 56th most profitable privately owned business in the country according to The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 published April 10th.

The MSP has increased its profits by an average annual rate of 72% since 2012.

Claranet also appeared in The Sunday Times' FastTrack series, taking 118th place in The Sunday Times International Track 200 last year.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Claranet has evolved into a full service managed services provider with a presence in six European countries.

Charles Nasser, CEO of Claranet, commented: "Financial strength is core to our value proposition as a managed services provider and is critical if we are to secure the trust of our customers.

"Our ability to adapt to better suit a constantly changing market has enabled the business to improve profitability, securing its financial strength. By balancing fiscal responsibility with technological innovation we have been able to grow the business sustainably over our 20-year history.

"The combination of our strong local presence and international reach means that our business has been consistent in its growth both organically and through acquisition in Western Europe."

Cloud and managed services have helped to boost Annodata's profitability by 91.28% since 2012, securing the MSP 24th position in The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 2016.

The annual Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table, now in its 16th year, ranks Britain's private companies with the fastest-growing profits over their latest three years of available accounts. To qualify, companies have to be registered in the UK and be independent, unquoted and ultimate holding companies.

First established as a provider of print services in 1988, Annodata has in recent years rapidly diversified its service offering, having successfully moved into communications, IT and cloud services. The strategically important acquisition of Keltec in 2014 accelerated Annodata's drive towards delivering managed services, supporting the company's growth ambitions and profitability.

Rod Tonna-Barthet, Annodata's CEO, commented: "As a company, we have evolved our strategy over the past few years as we set in place the foundations needed to grow the businesses and ensure we remain at the forefront of technological innovation.

"A number of key additions to our senior management mean that our leadership team has never been stronger, and our expanded service portfolio puts us in a strong position to respond to the often complex needs of our customers.

"Our customers and the business are reaping the rewards of these changes, and I'm delighted that the efforts of the whole team at Annodata have been independently recognised by the Profit Track 100 as being one of the most profitable businesses in the country."

Gamma has ramped up its play in the SIP space and is targeting the vibrant ISDN replacement market with its new SIP Trunk Call Manager service that, says the firm, gives customers more than cost savings and enables partners to add value to their SIP propositions via centralised instant call control.

"SIP Trunk Call Manager will enable channel partners to offer customers a smarter SIP trunk service to differentiate their proposition and open up new areas in the market," stated Roy Farrow (pictured), Advanced Services Product Manager at Gamma.

"Business continuity will be at its heart, enabling feature-rich call control in the network and giving users full access and control of the service through a mobile app."

According to Gamma, by the start of 2016 almost two million SIP channels were migrated from ISDN leaving 1.5 million still to be migrated, a million of which are expected to move within the next two years.

"The clock is ticking, so now is the time to add further value to our SIP Trunk service with SIP Trunk Call Manager, and help our partners move away from price-led conversations and give them a clear advantage in an increasingly crowded 'me too' market," added Farrow.

Gamma is currently beta testing with a number of partners and expects to launch mid-May.

One trialist, Nick Ward, Senior Product Manager at Intercity Technology, said: "It's great to see Gamma finding a way to put value and margin back into SIP Trunking."

Nimans has extended its trade counter service with the launch of a new 10,000 sq ft unit in Trafford Park, Manchester, adding to an existing service at the distributor's Salford HQ.

"I started Nimans more than 30 years ago by opening a trade counter and repairing radio equipment," said Chairman Julian Niman. "It's always been my ambition to develop more."

The new facility offers hundreds of new product lines and is led by Geoff Wilde and Bob Hinder who share more than 40 years data infrastructure experience.

New product lines include cable management tools, cabinets, trunking, fibre, power distribution and labelling machines plus accessories.

Nimans has also introduced new brands such as Super Rod (cable rods), Dymo (labelling), Draper (tools), Faithful (tools) as well as basket and cable trays plus accessories.

"Thousands of lines are available for immediate collection," added Nimans. "This new facility offers customers the chance to conveniently pick up a much bigger range of products and take advantage of expert advice from Geoff and Bob."

The Trafford Part trade counter includes a training room and is located on the outskirts of the city close to the M602 and M60 motorways and opens at 8.30am.

Pictured (l-r): Bob Hinder, Julian Niman and Geoff Wilde

Samsung's SCM-Compact pure IP telephony solution launched on February 24th at the Belfry is proving popular among the vendor's partner base with 30 resellers already equipped to sell and support the system following four fully subscribed sales training days and three technical training courses.

"Due to high demand we are organising additional technical training dates for May," said Wilf Wood (pictured), Senior Product Manager of Samsung Enterprise Networks.

"The success of the SCM-Compact release shows there is still a large demand for on-premise equipment in the UK market."

Over 100 Samsung partners attended the launch event that also signalled the Korean vendor's intent to up the stakes in the SMB space with its appliance-based version of the larger SCM-Express system that offers a comprehensive wireless solution.

Samsung has positioned itself as a 'wireless communication platform provider' closely aligned to the projections of industry watchers such as IDC which calculates that 75% of the western European workforce will be mobile by 2018.

"Samsung's ability to integrate with our mobile devices to provide a mobility solution for the workforce has strongly resonated with resellers and end customers," added Wood.

The new system belongs to the Samsung Communication Manager (SCM) family as a complement to OfficeServ and the vendor's hybrid range.

The SCM Compact scales up from 16 to 512 extensions, its sweet spot being 16 to circa 300 extensions. This means Samsung resellers are able to approach 76% of the UK market.

Following the product's launch John Bird, Head of Systems and Support Services at Samsung distie Exertis Enterprise, UC, said: "Resellers can deploy this pure IP solution with Samsung WLAN and negate the need to install costly structured cabling on site.

"This will become a single vendor office-in-a-box solution that will help resellers increase wallet share and promote end user lock-in."

True Telecom staff have raised £608 for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital by donating £2 for a dress down day on the last Friday of each month.

Members of True Telecom staff presented Hardeep, an ambassador for Great Ormond Street Hospital, with a cheque at True Telecom's office in Dartford.

Stuart Griffiths, CEO, said: "Supporting charity has always been a priority here at True, so it's a real pleasure to raise some valuable funds for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Our employees love taking part in dress down days and donating to a worthwhile cause."

Maintel's acquisition of Proximity in October 2014 has helped to drive the AIM-listed firm's revenues up 21% to £50.6m (2014: £41.9m), according to its final audited results for the 12 months to 31st December 2015.

Adjusted profit before tax is up 19% to £7.3m (2014: £6.1m), with recurring revenues of £34.9m accounting for 69% of total Group revenue.

Eddie Buxton, CEO, said: "2015 was another solid year for Maintel, with revenue and profit growth boosted by the full year impact of the 2014 acquisition of Proximity.

"Cash flow was particularly strong and we are pleased to announce closing net debt of just £3.2m or 0.4x 2015's Group adjusted EBITDA.

"With Proximity now fully integrated, we feel confident in an outlook for continued revenue growth, supported by the recent win of two significant new contracts in the insurance and utility sectors and an increasing new sales pipeline that now stands at a record level.

"In addition, we remain committed to considering suitable acquisition opportunities on the basis that they provide clear upside to shareholder value. 

"The board is confident in the financial progression of the Group, as demonstrated by the payment of a second interim dividend of 50% of adjusted earnings per share in the second half of the year, and a fresh commitment to grow the dividend per share in both 2016 and 2017."

AIM-listed Maintel has snapped up Burnley-based Azzurri Communications for £48.5m. The deal gives Maintel greater scope in the cloud and UC space and strengthens its market position across both the private and public sectors.

Eddie Buxton, CEO at Maintel, said: "Azzurri Communications is a respected business with a complementary product offering and target market which will provide enhanced scale and visibility for the combined group.

"This acquisition will accelerate Maintel's shift into hosted cloud and data, ensuring we are well positioned to take advantage of these high growth areas of the unified communications market.

"It will also build scale in managed services, continuing the shift in our business mix, which we have been driving following previous acquisitions."

The enlarged group will provide a broad suite of solutions and services including a network services division, a mobile division, managed services and technology and professional services.

Azzurri CEO Chris Jagusz said: "Joining Maintel enables the combined business to offer its customers a broader range of services. Our employees will benefit too by being part of one of the most significant players in our market".

Earlier today Maintel announced revenues for 2015 of £50.6m, rising from £41.9m in 2014.

Philip Carse, Principal Analyst at Megabuyte, commented: "Maintel is buying Azzurri for £48.5m – 12x current EBITDA, in the process almost trebling its revenue base and unlocking significant synergies. 

"Azzurri has had a chequered history as a buy and build that went awry, going through two balance sheet recapitalisations since 2011, resulting in the company being owned by six banks. 

"Under newish CEO Chris Jagusz, the company seems to have finally stopped the rot after much focus on the 4Ps: Product development (especially in Cloud); improved Project delivery to time and budget; Process improvements; and more cost effective Procurement. 

"In the year to June 2015, EBITDA grew 18% to £5.9m on revenues down 3.1% at £101m, the first such growth for five years.

"The main risk, of course, is the integration challenge, given that Azzurri is almost double Maintel’s size in revenue (£92m v £51m) and headcount (500 v 270) terms, and the business is still going backwards in profit terms.

"Time will tell, but if the integration is achieved successfully, this will truly mark a transformative deal for Maintel, taking it to close to Alternative Networks revenues (though smaller in EBITDA terms). The company will be over 4x bigger than in 2013."