'Stronger' Bell Micro ready for 2010 growth drive

Chief executive Don Bell praises staff, suppliers and banks as distributor puts troubles behind it

By Sara Yirrell

More from this author

28 Jan 2010

Be the first to comment

  • Digg
  • Tweet
Don Bell
Don Bell: We are on a higher plateau going into this year

Bell Micro is poised for continued growth in 2010 after shrugging off its financial restating woes and relisting on the stock market.

Last week, the distribution giant was given the thumbs up to relist on the New York stock market on Monday at the start of trading.

Speaking exclusively to CRN, Don Bell, chief executive of Bell Micro, said: “What a difference a year makes. We have completed our restatement process and are current with our financials.”

Further reading

The distributor is due to reveal its fourth quarter 2009 results later this month, and Bell said he is expecting sales to be between eight and 10 per cent up on Q3 2009 and also Q3 2008. European turnover is expected to be up 17 per cent on Q3 2009, and up 13 per cent from the year ago quarter, he added.

“We are poised for continued growth in 2010 and we feel that we have a little wind behind our back now. We are on a higher plateau going into the year than we were last year. Our suppliers are raising credit limits and we have really appreciated the support from our banks, customers and suppliers during the last 18-months, as well as the hard work of our staff,” Bell said.

Graeme Watt, president of worldwide distribution at Bell, said the firm was stronger because of its experiences.

“Looking back, we can say that 18-months to two-years ago we were at our toughest point,” he said. “We have had to make tougher decisions and go deeper than we would have gone otherwise. But as the market rebounds, I think we will rebound quicker than anybody else.”

See ChannelWeb on Monday for full interview.

display:none
Loading
We won't publish your address
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms & Conditions

Your comment will be moderated before publication.

Will Apple's attitude to the channel change in 2012?

50%

18%

31%

1%

CRN Partner Connect 2012

CRN Partner Connect logo

CRN's premier networking event is back on 17 May at the Ricoh Arena

Date: Thu 17 May 2012

CRN Fight Night 2012

One of the fights from CRN Fight Night 2010

Channel fighters preparing to square up once more on 24 May

Date: Thu 24 May 2012

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

Submit your email address and we'll send a link to a personal newsletter control panel

fragment image

The mobile enterprise: Secure the data, not the device

The proliferation of endpoint devices within the enterprise has highlighted the shortcomings of one of the traditional approaches to data security

fragment image

Measuring the ROI of Google Apps

This Forrester report compares the costs and benefits of legacy email and productivity software with Google Apps


Dave the dealer blog

Dave the dealer

Clocking off

Dave discovers that rozzers are seemingly living in the technology dark ages

View from the channel

Views from the Channel

Departing CEO has done Dixons a service

Mark Needham, founder of distributor Widget, argues that John Browett leaves for Apple with Dixons in better shape than when he arrived

To send to more than one email address, simply separate each address with a comma.