Dodwell back in the frame

Specialist security distributor Wick Hill has taken on board Bernie Dodwell as its new business development director.

Experienced Dodwell was made redundant from Allasso following InTechnology's acquisition of the distributor last year, which resulted in restructuring to bring it in line with its existing operation. It was based solely in the UK before buying pan-European Allasso.

Ian Kilpatrick, group managing director at Wick Hill, claimed the distributor is expecting growth over the next year and Dodwell will help Wick Hill to harness this.

"We are working with more VARs overall. Bernie will help us grow in new product areas, such as authentication," he said.

"Resellers are now looking for different things from distributors, such as increased services, technical support and marketing co-operation."

Kilpatrick added that Dodwell is a well-known name who has "good reseller relationships".

Allasso's acquisition by InTechnology and restructure is opening up opportunities to rivals, channel sources have claimed.

But Steve Pearce, chief operating officer at InTechnology, said he was not aware of any problems and the last quarter had been the best ever in terms of sales.

"We have new people that take time to settle in, but I am surprised there have been problems. If anything, we have more staff in sales than before," he said.

David Ellis, director of e-security at security distributor Unipalm, stressed that the skills and experience of staff are essential. "We are in a market that relies on their quality and expertise," he said.

"When a value-added distributor loses key people it risks losing resellers that depend on their expertise."

Neil Ledger, director at equIP, said: "Allasso seems to have lost momentum, which usually happens when a firm loses people."

karl_flinders@vnu.co.uk