Comms Dealer

Any telecoms or ICT business looking to sell in the next year or so will find a willing buyer despite uncertainty over Brexit.

That's the view of Evolution Capital business advisor Nick Blong who believes the M&A market will remain healthy for the rest of 2017.

Speaking at Evolution's breakfast seminar at The Ivy in London last month, he told reseller guests that 2017 GDP forecasts from both the IMF and the Bank of England had been upgraded but a downgrade was expected for 2018.

"The IMF's economic Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld has said that reduced output, transactional costs and restriction of labour supplies due to Brexit will present a longer-term challenge for the UK but if you look at the wider market, in a survey of Private Equity and Venture Capital Funders there is 94% confidence for the long-term future and 97% expect to deploy the same rate of funds," said Blong.

"These are the people putting money into the market which is important to sellers because there will be more buyers with more money and they will increase the amount they'll be willing to pay.

"The same survey said there is likely to be a burst of activity in some sectors, one of which was ICT. Whatever the state of the economy there is always going to be challenges and opportunities and you're always going to be in the same place as your competitors so for a good profitable business there will always be an opportunity to sell. ??"None of us can accurately predict the future, but from what we have seen 2017 looks like a good time to sell," he concluded.

Gamma has expanded its nationwide build-out programme to connect 18 additional BT exchanges to Gamma's core in order to consume Ethernet directly from Openreach.

This is in addition the original 19 launched in 2016.

These locations have been strategically chosen to maximise the benefit for Gamma's partners and its customers, helping them reach businesses in 74,300 postcode areas across UK.

David Doherty, Product Director at Gamma, commented: "This expansion allows Gamma to provide partners with competitively priced Ethernet services in key business locations."

This development is in addition to Gamma introducing TalkTalk as an additional carrier to further expand its range and coverage for Ethernet connectivity to resellers, while underpinning Converged Private Networks, Gamma's MPLS proposition, which offers voice and data services over a single network.

For the second year running Chess Partner was the only distributor to scoop both the O2 Digital Excellence and the O2 Customer Excellence Award.

The award ceremony took place at the Ivy Market Grill in London on March 9th where John Pett, Managing Director of Chess Partner, accepted both awards.

He commented: "Throughout 2017 we will continue to invest in our partners to help realise our goal of winning these awards for an unprecedented third consecutive year within distribution."

A record number of entries have been received for the UK's most popular event for sales and marketing teams operating in the ICT channel.
 
The Comms Dealer Sales and Marketing Awards, sponsored by KCOM, has attracted over 120 entries this year and the countdown is now officially underway to the finalist's awards luncheon to be held at the lavish Sheraton Park Lane Hotel in London on May 4th.
 
"The entries we have received this year have been of exceptional quality and we have been delighted by the enthusiasm across the industry for rewarding the efforts and sales and marketing teams working in reseller and supplier organisations all over the UK," said Comms Dealer Editorial Director Nigel Sergent.
 
"Response to the extra awards we have added this year such as Best Company to Work For, Best Company Portal and Best Apprentice Scheme have been exceptional which demonstrates the progress so many companies are making in our amazing industry.
 
"I would like to congratulate all of our finalists and hopefully look forward to welcoming them, their clients and partners to our spectacular awards presentation luncheon on May 4th."
 
To book your table or place please go to: http://www.cdsalesawards.com/#tablebooking
The shortlist for the 2017 Comms Dealer Sales & Marketing Awards is as follows:
 
COMMS DEALER SALES & MARKETING AWARDS 2017 SHORTLIST
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year up to £2.5m (small)
GHM Communications
City Talk Communications
Cloudsource Technologies
Loop Voice and Data
Nexus IP
Pure Telecom
Solution IP
TWL Voice and Data
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year £2.5m-£5m (medium)
Exsel Group
Frontier Voice and Data
Glamorgan Telecom
Infinity Group
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year £5m plus (large)
Berry Telecom
Focus Group
NetConsult
STL
SW Comms
 
Reseller Best Marketing Campaign
Cisilion
IP Solutions
Lily Comms
Nexus IP
Peach Technologies
 
Service Provider Channel Sales Team of the Year
Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Daisy Wholesale
New Star Networks
Pangea
 
Service Provider Channel Marketing Team of the Year
Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group
 
Service Provider Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Agilitas
Assembly Channel Services
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group
Pangea  
Plan.com
Text Local
Voiceflex
 
Distributor Channel Sales Team of the Year
Nimans
Pragma
ProVu
Siphon
Zycko 
 
Distributor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
Nimans
 
Distributor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
DMSL
 
Vendor Best Partner Programme
Gamma
Pangea
Splicecom
TelcoSwitch
Teleware
Tollring
Unify
 
Vendor Channel Sales Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Sennheiser
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Virtual1
 
Vendor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Gamma
Inform Billing
 
Vendor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Entanet
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Xarios Technologies
 
Best Partner/Customer Event
BT
Channel Telecom
Cisilion
Fidelity Group
Gamma
NGC Networks
Pragma
 
Best Partner/Customer Portal
Daisy Wholesale
Entanet
Fidelity Energy
Gamma
ICUK
Plan.com
ProVu
Virtual1
 
Best Company to Work For
Berry Telecom
Complete IT
Channel Telecom
Chess
Cisilion
Entanet
Exertis
Lily Comms
Peach Technologies
Virtual1
 
Best Apprentice Scheme
Boxx Communications
BT
Databarracks
Entanet
Frontier Voice and Data
Lily Comms
ProVu
Union Street

A record number of entries have been received for the UK's most popular event for sales and marketing teams in the ICT channel. The Comms Dealer Sales & Marketing Awards, sponsored by KCOM, attracted over 120 entries and the countdown is underway to the finalist's awards luncheon (Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, London, May 4th).

"The entries we have received this year have been of exceptional quality and we have been delighted by the enthusiasm across the industry for rewarding the efforts and sales and marketing teams working in reseller and supplier organisations all over the UK," said Comms Dealer Editorial Director Nigel Sergent.

"Response to the extra awards we have added this year such as Best Company to Work For, Best Company Portal and Best Apprentice Scheme have been exceptional which demonstrates the progress so many companies are making in our amazing industry.

"I would like to congratulate all of our finalists and hopefully look forward to welcoming them, their clients and partners to our spectacular awards presentation luncheon on May 4th." 

To book your table or place please go to: http://www.cdsalesawards.com/#tablebooking
The shortlist for the 2017 Comms Dealer Sales & Marketing Awards is as follows:

COMMS DEALER SALES & MARKETING AWARDS 2017 SHORTLIST
 
Reseller Sales Team of the Year up to £2.5m (small)
GHM Communications
City Talk Communications
Cloudsource Technologies
Loop Voice and Data
Nexus IP
Pure Telecom
Solution IP
TWL Voice and Data

Reseller Sales Team of the Year £2.5m-£5m (medium)
Exsel Group
Frontier Voice and Data
Glamorgan Telecom
Infinity Group

Reseller Sales Team of the Year £5m plus (large)
Berry Telecom
Focus Group
netConsult
STL
swcomms

Reseller Best Marketing Campaign
Cisilion
IP Solutions
Lily Comms
Nexus IP
Peach Technologies

Service Provider Channel Sales Team of the Year
Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Daisy Wholesale
New Star Networks
Pangea

Service Provider Channel Marketing Team of the Year

Agilitas
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group

Service Provider Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Agilitas
Assembly Channel Services
Channel Telecom
Fidelity Group
Pangea  
Plan.com
Text Local
Voiceflex

Distributor Channel Sales Team of the Year
Nimans
Pragma
ProVu
Siphon
Zycko 

Distributor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
Nimans

Distributor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Pragma
ProVu
DMSL

Vendor Best Partner Programme
Gamma
Pangea
Splicecom
TelcoSwitch
Teleware
Tollring
Unify

Vendor Channel Sales Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Sennheiser
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Virtual1

Vendor Channel Marketing Team of the Year
BT Wholesale
Entanet
Gamma
Inform Billing

Vendor Channel Marketing Campaign of the Year
Entanet
TelcoSwitch
Union Street
Xarios Technologies

Best Partner/Customer Event
BT Wholesale
Channel Telecom
Cisilion
Fidelity Group
Gamma
NGC Networks
Pragma

Best Partner/Customer Portal
Daisy Wholesale
Entanet
Fidelity Energy
Gamma
ICUK
Plan.com
ProVu
Virtual1

Best Company to Work For
Berry Telecom
Complete IT
Channel Telecom
Chess
Cisilion
Entanet
Exertis
Lily Comms
Peach Technologies
Virtual1

Best Apprentice Scheme
Boxx Communications
BT Wholesale
Databarracks
Entanet
Frontier Voice and Data
Lily Comms
ProVu
Union Street

Bamboo Technology and Tech OP have partnered with Gloucestershire College to stage a one day event on 28th April (at the Gloucester Campus) to raise awareness of the cyber security threat.

The Seven Cyber Sins event will give local business leaders and a small group of Gloucestershire College students a non-technical look at the growing threats faced by businesses.

Derek Hassack, Head of School at Gloucestershire College, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for some of our students to gain a better understanding of the cyber security threat and to spend the day working alongside senior leaders at major employers across the county."

Simon Leonard, Commercial Director at Tech OP, added: "The sad truth is that many businesses do not have the correct protection in place when it comes to cyber security. They are unaware of the nature of modern day security threats and do not understand how they may be compromised, and how significant the impact can be.

"This event will demonstrate - with real-world examples and using non-technical language - the range and breadth of cyber threats and how they are targeting staff and businesses every day."

Lorrin White, MD of Bamboo Technology, said: "Business leaders are overwhelmed by almost daily media reports highlighting the latest breaches, attacks and threats. But most don't understand the solutions or processes their businesses must have in place to protect both their own data, and that of their customers.

"It is not unreasonable today to think of cyber security planning in terms of when your business will be attacked, not if. With a lack of understanding or awareness and complacency being the biggest risks to any business, this event is set to be invaluable."

Gamma's strong performance last year has been underscored by its audited results for year ended 31st December 2016, reporting revenues of £213.5m (2015: £191.8m), up 11.3%, with gross profits of £98.8m (2015: £82.3m), up 20.0%.

Gamma witnessed strong growth in its indirect business with gross profit increasing from £64.1m to £78.2m (+22%). The number of channel partners grew from 834 to 970 (+16%).

Wins in the direct business drove gross profit up from £18.2m to £20.6m (+13%). New customers include a large financial institution, Reed, OCS, City Electrical Factors, Nandos and St John Ambulance.

Cloud PBX and SIP trunking connections continue to grow with the number of installed SIP Trunks up from 360,000 at 31st December 2015 to 511,000 one year later (a gain of +42%). The number of Cloud PBX users increased from 142,000 to 230,000 (+62%).

Gamma CEO Bob Falconer said: "We have seen no let up in the demand for our strategic products of SIP trunking and Cloud PBX, and we are particularly encouraged by the growing contribution from our data services following the investments we made to extend our network reach.

"Bringing a full MVNO into service in 2016 was a major engineering achievement. While it is still early days for our new mobile service it positions the business well for the future as we develop more converged fixed and mobile services.

"We are pleased with the growth in the number of channel partners choosing to use our services and we continue to make significant marketing and other investments.

"The Gamma direct business remains focused on the larger, more complex opportunities, and we were successful in agreeing a significant SIP Trunking contract with a large financial institution and to provide full voice, data and mobile services to companies such as Strutt & Parker and CEF.

"The public sector has also grown significantly, with particular success with NHS Trusts, educational establishments and Government departments such as the Department of Communities and Local Government for whom we are providing mobile services."

M2M connectivity and solutions provider Pangea is set to strengthen its growth ambitions following the appointment of former Telefonica IoT head honcho Bernie McPhillips as Sales Director.

During his 11 year stint at Telefonica McPhillips worked as Head of Wholesale Partners and more recently spearheaded the operator's IoT Wholesale Partner Channel.

Pangea MD Dan Cunliffe said: "Bernie's understanding of the IoT market and his experience of working with partners will be a key driver in creating new opportunities for Pangea and our partner channel."

According to Cunliffe Pangea has evolved into a 'global IoT ecosystem provider' generating a near six-fold increase in revenue having recruited upwards of 80 partners.

"In an ever-expanding world of data we believe that everything should be connected, whether it's devices, appliances, vehicles - and perhaps most importantly, people," said Cunliffe.

McPhillips added: "Pangea's revenue growth and partner acquisition have exceeded the expectations for a start-up, underpinned by core channel-only brand values. I am excited by the opportunity to help drive the business to the next level."

Westcon-Comstor's UC and Collaboration Practice hosted its 25th annual ski trip for its top 20 channel partners in Cervinia, Italy. The group included representatives from Capita IT Services, Maintel and Sabio.

"The incentive continues to be Westcon's most popular partner activity," said John Richardson, Marketing Director UK&I.

"Our partners strive all year to secure a place so we put a great deal of effort into making the trip a sensational experience for our winners."

Core Telecom CEO Mahmood Mazhar has agreed a new sponsorship with Olympic GB Boxer Qais Ashfaq.

The 23-year-old Leeds-based boxer competed at Rio 2016 and has high hopes for the future.

Core Telecom's sponsorship deal includes both financial support and the use of a Mercedes GLA.

Qais previously competed at 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow where he won a silver medal in the men's bantamweight division. He took bronze at the 2015 European Games and also won Gold at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games.

Core Telecom has supported and other aspirational sports people including GB weightlifter Sonny Webster and former British Light Heavyweight Champion Boxer Bob Ajisafe.

Mazhar said: "I fully respect how difficult it can be for many professional sports people to support themselves and my hope for Qais is to take this burden away and allow his talent to thrive."